Vincent Neil Wharton (born on February 8, 1961), aka Vince Neil, is an American singer-songwriter, mostly known for being the vocalist of legendary heavy metal act Mötley Crüe. Born in Hollywood, Wharton grew up in Southern California and developed a taste for rock music and heavy metal during his teenage years. After drummer Tommy Lee saw him perform live with his band Rock Candy at the infamous Starwood nightclub, he invited Wharton to audition for what would soon become Mötley Crüe. The tryout was successful and the singer soon embarked on a meteoric career with the band, debuting with 1981’s Too Fast for Love. In 1983, they had their big breakthrough with Shout at the Devil, which was followed by the multi-platinum Theatre of Pain (1985), Girls, Girls, Girls (1987), and Dr. Feelgood (1989), their first full-length to top the Billboard 200 chart. Despite the band’s ever-growing success, Wharton’s alcohol abuse got him kicked off the group in 1992, after which he released Exposed (1993), his first solo album. The LP reached Number 13 on the US Billboard 200 chart and had its subsequent promotional tour opening for Van Halen. Produced by The Dust Brothers, the industrial-sounding Carved in Stone arrived in 1995 and was considered a commercial flop by Warner Brothers, who eventually dropped Wharton from their roster. Two years later, the singer reunited with Mötley Crüe for the albums Generation Swine (1997) and New Tattoo (2000) before going on hiatus for a second time. After the release of the live album Live at the Whisky: One Night Only (2003), Wharton buried the hatched with Tommy Lee once again and joined Mötley Crüe for the 2005 Carnival of Sins tour, which was followed by the release of Saints of Los Angeles (2008), the group’s ninth album. In 2010, he returned with Tattoos & Tequila, his first solo studio album in 15 years and the soundtrack to his autobiographical book, Tattoos & Tequila: To Hell and Back with One of Rock's Most Notorious Frontmen. Composed almost entirely of covers of ‘70s classics, each one of the songs corresponded to a chapter in the book.
