Rockers Defend Vince Neil’s Teleprompter Reliance

Currently on the road for their summer “Stadium Tour” with Def Leppard, Poison, and Joan Jett, Motley Crue drew attention from fans at a recent July 5 show in St. Louis when lead singer Vince Neil was spotted using a teleprompter to remember song lyrics.

While some may not find using a teleprompter for lyrics to be such a musical sin — other major acts have used them such as Judas Priest and Guns N’ Roses — others despise the practice, most notably Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson. In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, Dickinson voiced his distaste for artists using autocues.

“I never realized that people were using autocues. What the fuck is that all about?” said Dickinson. “People pay good money and you can’t even remember the sodding words.”

The breaking of Vince Neil’s teleprompter use garnered negative reactions across the rock and metal community not pointed towards Neil but rather the media outlets who broke the story, calling into question the newsworthiness of a singer using a teleprompter to remember lyrics. One notable take on the matter came from Disturbed’s David Draiman who took to Twitter:

“All you parasitic vultures pretending to be journalists who broke the ‘big story’ that Vince Neil/@MotleyCrue uses a teleprompter onstage should really find another line of work,” said Draiman. “SO FUCKING WHAT? Most artists with extensive catalogs do. Leave the guy alone FFS.”

Shinedown’s Zach Meyers also took to Twitter to voice his distaste on the matter simply asking “Slow news day?”.

Stray From The Path’s Craig Reynolds had a comedic take on the news saying, “my brothers in christ do you know what metalcore is doing with laptops?”

Motley Crue continues their stadium tour Friday July 8 with a show at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. See below for upcoming tour dates as well as footage from the band’s July 5 show and visit here for ticketing info.

Motley Crue, Def Leppard, Poison + Joan Jett Summer 2022 U.S. Tour Dates

July 8 – Chicago, Ill @ Wrigley Field
July 10 – Detroit, Mich. @ Comerica Park
July 12 – Hershey, Pa. @ Hersheypark Stadium
July 14 – Cleveland, Ohio @ FirstEnergy Stadium
July 15 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Great American Park
July 17 – Milwaukee, Wis. @ American Family Field
July 19 – Kansas City, Mo. @ Kauffman Stadium
July 21 – Denver, Colo. @ Coors Field
Aug. 5 – Boston, Mass. @ Fenway Park
Aug. 6 – Boston, Mass. @ Fenway Park
Aug. 8 – Toronto, Ontario @ Rogers Centre
Aug. 10 – Orchard Park, N.Y. @ Highmark Stadium
Aug. 12 – Pittsburgh, Pa. @ PNC Park
Aug. 14 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ U.S. Bank Stadium
Aug. 16 – Indianapolis, Ind. @ Lucas Oil Stadium
Aug. 19 – Houston, Texas @ Minute Maid Park
Aug. 21 – San Antonio, Texas @ Alamodome
Aug. 22 – Arlington, Texas @ Globe Life Field
Aug. 25 – Glendale, Ariz. @ State Farm Stadium
Aug. 27 – Inglewood, Calif. @ SoFi Stadium
Aug. 28 – San Diego, Calif. @ Petco Park
Aug. 31 – Seattle, Wash. @ T-Mobile Park
Sept. 2 – Vancouver, British Columbia @ BC Place
Sept. 4 – Edmonton, Alberta @ Commonwealth Stad.
Sept. 7 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Oracle Park
Sept. 9 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ Allegiant Stadium