The Night Hanoi Rocks Drummer Razzle Was Killed in a Car Crash
Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle was killed on Dec. 8, 1984, in a car accident with Motley Crue's Vince Neil at the wheel.
The two bands were at a party given in honor of the Finnish band's first U.S. tour, when Neil and Razzle – both of whom reportedly had already been drinking – decided to make a run to the liquor store. As the car made its way around a winding Hollywood road, Neil lost control of the vehicle and smashed into another car. All involved sustained injuries, but Razzle was less fortunate. He was taken to South Bay Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Born Nicholas Dingley, he was just 24 years old.
Neil was only given a 30-day jail sentence for the incident and got released 10 days early for good behavior. He expressed remorse decades later, admitting that he got off too easy for driving under the influence. "I wrote a $2.5 million check for vehicular manslaughter when Razzle died," he told Blender. "I should have gone to prison. I definitely deserved to go to prison. But I did 30 days in jail and got laid and drank beer, because that's the power of cash. That's fucked up."
Hanoi guitarist Andy McCoy gave Metal Express a first-hand explanation of what happened in a 2006 interview: "I was there. What happened was Razzle disappeared, so did Vince. So me and T-Bone, Tommy Lee, took his car and went looking for them. We drove past this accident, and I was like, What color was the car they were driving? Because we just passed a fuckking accident with a bright red sports car. Then I saw Razzle's hat on the street."
Singer Michael Monroe apparently never forgave Neil. "There was an accident, and unfortunately our drummer was killed," the Hanoi Rocks frontman said in 2011. "As far as Vince Neil, I have nothing to say. It was an accident. What happened happened, and it can't be changed. Everybody suffered from the whole thing."
Hanoi Rocks soldiered on briefly, bringing in former Clash drummer Terry Chimes to finish off some standing European dates, but shortly after, the band called it a day.