You may have seen the Vanilla Ice apology for the music he has made, the fashion he has worn and oh yes, that haircut.
“It was a joke,” he tells Undercover News.Rob Van Winkle aka Vanilla Ice made the apology for a Virgin Mobile campaign and 700,000 people voted on whether to accept the apology or not.
Today, he is happy with who he was. “I’ve had therapy,” he says. “I am good now and can accept who I am because I accept my past. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
The reinvention of Vanilla Ice started about 5 years ago with an appearance at SXSW in Texas. Since then he has recorded and produced songs with acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, Slipknot and Soulfly.
“After working with Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit, Machine Head) I got a ton of respect,” he says. I’ve sold over 1 million records underground from that”.
It has resurrected a new group of fans for the Ice Ice Rapper. “I see Vanilla Ice tattoos at my shows all the time,” he says. I have had kids who have seen 140 shows. We can’t pick our fans, they pick us”.
He also has a fan and friend in Queen’s Brian May. So he should. He made Queen a lot of money when he recorded ‘Ice Ice Baby’ using the Queen and David Bowie hit ‘Under Pressure’ as the melody. “I paid $4 million up front and they then got another $8 million off the back,” he says. “I am a great friend with Brian. He comes to my shows and hangs out”.
However, Queen + Vanilla Ice have never performed ‘Ice Ice Baby’ together. “Never, but there could always be a first time. That song has sold nearly 40 million units. Last year alone it sold 700,000. I wrote it when I was 16 years old and then became the opening act for the opening act of the opening act of the star of the show”.
Rob Van Winkle is now a down-to-earth father of two. “Money doesn’t make you happy,” he says. “What do you buy after the Lamborghini and the yacht? I had it all. I made good investments and I didn’t need to work. I had to get over my demons. Britney Spears has the same problem I had. She can’t handle the fame. Now life is all about family and friends”.
Vanilla Ice was a surprise late additional to the V Festival in Australia.
Vanilla Ice says “sorry”:
