MOVIES’ MOTLEY CREW: THE 10 BEST, WORST & WEIRDEST ROCK STAR CAMEOS IN HOLLYWOOD FILMS
1. VINCE NEIL
DEJA VU DEBUT: VINCE NEIL IN FORD FAIRLANE
Motley Crue singer Vince Neil didn’t need any acting classes before stepping into the role of heavy metal singer Bobby Black, ill-fated frontman of Black Plague, in Andrew Dice Clay‘s big-screen comedy The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. The Dice Man, an avowed rock ‘n’ roll junkie, also invited a few of his other famous rock star friends to appear in the 1990 flick, including Sunset Strip refugees like legendary Brit bassist Phil Soussan and drummer Randy Castillo, who have both played on some of Ozzy’s greatest albums, and Quiet Riot guitarist Carlos Cavazzo. Neil tapped his real-life band to punch up the film’s soundtrack with the Crue classic “Rock ‘N’ Roll Junkie.”
2. GUNS N’ ROSES
COOLEST SCREEN DEBUT: GUNS N’ ROSES IN THE DEAD POOL
Seemingly possessed by Ozzy, Axl, Mick Jagger and Michael Jackson, Jim Carrey is brilliantly bad but entertaining to watch as a faux Axl Rose covering “Welcome to the Jungle” in the 1988 Clint Eastwood flick The Dead Pool. Fortunately, it’s the original Guns N’ Roses band that steps in to add some credibility to the flick and steal the spotlight with a brief bit in the cop drama. Axl, Duff McKagan, Slash, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin are featured in a funeral scene mourning the murder of Carrey’s Axl character.
3. OZZY OSBOURNE & GENE SIMMONS
BIZARRE BITS: OZZY & GENE SIMMONS IN TRICK OR TREAT
The only thing scary about the 1986 horror flick Trick or Treat, about a vengeful rock star zombie, is that the film was ever made. Saving the low-budget, bizarrely directed 1986 movie from being a total waste of film are guest appearances by rock legends Ozzy Osbourne and Gene Simmons.
Ozzy’s appearance in Trick or Treat is not as memorable as his stint in the 1997 blockbuster Private Parts, featuring the P.O.F.D. famously calling Howard Stern a “f**king jerk,” but it is worth a watch. Ozzy is in fine comedic form again in a tongue-in-cheek cameo that sees the sometimes Black Sabbath frontman taming his famous locks and adopting a clean-cut persona to play an evangelist ranting about dirty lyrics in heavy metal music. Talk about art imitating life!
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Gene Simmons has been moonlighting in Hollywood for awhile, including co-starring alongside Tom Selleck in the 1984 feature film Runaway. However, if you ever thought that Simmons could never make a film worse than the 1978 TV movie KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park, think again. The rock bassist and “God of Thunder” singer puts his famous deep vocals to work in another capacity in Trick or Treat , playing a creepy-cool rock radio DJ. Looking like the bastard offspring of Ted Nugent and Merle Haggard, Simmons sports a leather cowboy hat and Wolfman Jack-like growl as a disc jockey enlisted to help battle a troublesome zombie musician. Where’s the KISS Army when you need it?
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