Steel Panther’s Satchel Weighs in on Vince Neil’s Shape, Says He’d Love to Have Tommy Lee on New Album

Appearing on the Loaded Radio show recently, Steel Panther guitarist Satchel, real name Russ Parrish, reflected on the band’s beef with Mötley Crüe. Satchel got to the topic when he was asked whether Crüe’s drummer Tommy Lee could ever join Steel Panther, to which he replied (transcript via Blabbermouth):

“We love Mötley Crüe, and we’re always gonna love Mötley Crüe and we’re always gonna be fans of them. And Tommy is, honestly — he’s a great drummer; he’s one of the best rock drummers. But I don’t know if Tommy is ready to play on a Steel Panther record. [Laughs]”

Nonetheless, Satchel added that he’d still love to have Tommy on the band’s album, offering:

“But if he is, we’d love to have him, ’cause he’s a great drummer and it would probably be really cool, whatever he does. ‘Cause the guy plays great. He’s awesome. He’s solid as a rock.”

Up next, Satchel was asked to weigh in on the issues that Tommy Lee supposedly has with Steel Panther to which he replied:

“I think Nikki [Sixx] had more of an issue with us than Tommy — or maybe they both did because they thought we were bagging on Vince [Neil]. But I think what Michael Starr [Steel Panther vocalist] meant when he said what he said about Vince was… It was just a lighthearted jab at how bitching Vince was back in 1983 compared to how he is now.”

Just to clarify, the beef that Satchel is referring to here goes back to 2019 when Steel Panther singer Michael Starr was asked to name one musician he’d bring back from the dead, giving Vince Neil as his choice. This caused Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx to publicly call them out on it on Twitter.

But these days, however, it seems that Steel Panther members have changed their minds, at least a little. Satchel added that Vince Neil now seems better and that he’s in good shape, explaining:

“But I’ll tell you what: I saw pictures of Vince recently, and he looks really good; he’s taking care of himself. So I wish all those guys the best. I like Mötley Crüe.”

Going back to 2019, Michael Starr commented that he’d bring Vince Neil back from the dead by offering:

“I’d bring back the Vince Neil from back in the day because that guy is dead.”

In 2020, Satchel also added some fuel to the fire after Nikki Sixx singled himself out as the most underrated bassist. In an interview from that year, Steel Panther guitarist reacted to the statement by saying:

“The most underrated bass player? [Laughs] Does he play the bass in that band? [Laughs]

“Nikki Sixx, I don’t think anybody really gives a shit how well he plays the bass.”

“Listen, everybody loves Mötley Crüe, everybody loves those songs. I give it up for Crüe, I love ’em – they’re great.”

Satchel took it one step further and said that Mötley Crüe were never a good live band, especially reflecting on Vince Neil’s live singing skills. He continued:

“But I’ve seen Mötley Crüe a bunch of times, and they’ve never sounded great live — but nobody gives a shit. He should be glad that they don’t really have to sound great live.”

“Vince [Neil] has never been a great live singer, but who gives a shit? They’ve got great songs.”

“Listen, we toured with those guys, and I think he [Sixx] said two words to me the whole fucking tour. I love those guys. They can hate us as much as they want. We’re gonna keep on fucking rocking. Those guys are great.

“And if he [Sixx] wants to bag on us, that’s cool. We’re a great live band. If he wants to come out and see us sometime and jam with us, he can sit in with us and I’ll tell him all the right notes to play on the bass.”

In an interview with Ultimate Guitar from 2020, Satchel was asked whether his band plans to steal the audience from Mötley Crüe with their live-streaming event, to which he replied:

“You know what? Mötley Crüe had tour plans. And that shit got canceled, right? I mean, I’m a fan of Mötley Crüe.”

“I think that Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx can act like total dickheads much of the time, but that’s also what comes with being a rock star sometimes.”

“The guys want to act like dickheads and they do – and that’s cool, I still like the songs. But we can’t steal their fans any more than they can steal ours.”

“People are gonna be fans of both bands and I’m always gonna love Mötley Crüe no matter how big of a dick Nikky Sixx is because I like how they sound.”

“Our bands are not mutually exclusive and you don’t have to hate Steel Panther to love Mötley Crüe and vice versa. And you don’t have to hate Motley Crue to say Nikki Sixx is a dick as well. [Laughs]

“I still love Mötley Crüe even though I think Nikki Sixx is a dick – these things are not mutually exclusive. [Laughs]”

In the same interview, Satchel was also asked whether they were still beefing with Mötley Crüe to which he replied:

“I don’t have anything going on with those guys. I don’t really give a fuck one way or the other.”

“Like, if I saw them, I probably wouldn’t go hang out with them ’cause Nikki Sixx seems like he doesn’t like my band so I probably wouldn’t buy him a beer.

“But I don’t have anything against Motley Crue and I wish them the best in the future. But it seems like we annoy Nikki Sixx – and I’m fine with being annoying to Nikki Sixx ’cause I don’t really give a fuck.”

“But I don’t think we’re going to be on tour with Motley Crue any time soon, that’s what I reckon.”

Photo: S. Bollmann (Steel Panther Rockharz 2022 10), Andreas Lawen, Fotandi (Vince Neil – Wacken Open Air 2018-1642)