With the highly anticipated “Stadium Tour” featuring Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts finally happening this summer, some are still concerned about whether Vince Neil will be in tour shape. However, Phil Collen isn’t one of those people.
The Def Leppard guitarist was asked in a new interview if he’s concerned about Neil being ready for the tour, and he said, “No, I talk to Nikki Sixx all the time. We’re friends, and I’ve known Vince forever. He’s gonna be part of our team. The way I look at this whole thing… We wanna take this tour to the rest of the world — in Europe, Australia, Japan, all over the place, South America — so it’s really important that everyone is part of the team. And we’re inspired. Me and Joe [Elliott] — actually, all the guys — we’re on the phone, and we start rehearsing in about a week…So, no. I can’t wait till we get out there. And hopefully Vince will be working out. We’ve got a trainer coming out. It’s gonna be really cool.”
Concern about Neil being ready for the “Stadium Tour” stems from a May 29, 2021 solo show in Boone, Iowa where the singer bowed out of his set 14 songs in during “Girls, Girls, Girls” after losing his voice. He would tell the crowd, “Hey guys. I’m sorry, you guys. It’s been a long time playin’. My f—in’ voice is gone. We love you and we uhh… hope to see you next time, man. Thank you.”
(WARNING: NSFW language ahead.)
There were signs earlier in the set that fans were in for a bumpy night. During just the second song of the set (“Dr. Feelgood”), Neil was garbling lyrics badly.
While this moment garnered many headlines, Collen didn’t seem phased about it at the time, either. In June 2021, he said on The Jeremy White Podcast, “Hey, look, he’s got a year. There’s a lot at stake when you go out. You want to be your best. Hopefully, we’ll be working out together and all that stuff. That’s the other thing — we do have a camaraderie, especially with Motley Crue. With Nikki [Sixx], we were talking just before the tour [was announced], like, ‘We’re gonna work out together. We’re gonna do all this stuff.’ With Vince, he’s got a year to go. Hopefully, everything is cool by then. I hope so. Fingers crossed.”
