In a recent interview with Joey De Maio, Elf’s David Feinstein talked about Ronnie James Dio’s car accident that was similar to Vince Neil’s Razzle tragedy.
The guitarist recalled the incident, saying:
“Ronnie was in the front seat. He kept the windshield and Ronnie… Actually, his whole scalp was torn back. I mean, he had over a hundred stitches in his head from here all the way around. You woke up and like, ‘What the hell happened?’ We didn’t really know. I didn’t know because I was in shock, and we found out that Nicky [Pantas] had died, and that was a very emotional thing for us.”
The car crash happened back in February 1968. Ronnie got over 150 stitches on his head, and David also got a broken ankle and facial injuries. The band had to change roles after the accident: Their original keyboardist Doug Thaler switched to guitar once he recovered, and they hired Mickey Lee Soule to play the keyboard.
Vince Neil Got Into A Car Crash, Too
A similar accident happened to Mötley Crüe’s Vince Neil, too. On December 8, 1984, Neil was driving in Redondo Beach, California, with Razzle as his passenger. Neil was drunk, lost control of the car, and crashed into another car. Razzle died, and two people in the other car got seriously hurt.
Neil had many broken bones and other injuries. The singer was accused of recklessly causing death and driving drunk. He admitted he did it and got 30 days in jail, had to follow the rules for 5 years, do 200 hours of community service, and pay $2.6 million to the victims’ families.
Watch the rest of Feinstein’s interview below.