GOODBYE to the Legendary Viper Room 1986 - 2023

My LAST walk-around. The soon to be DEMOLISHED VIPER ROOM. The entire block of the Sunset Strip is to be DESTROYED for a new Hotel project

See also the Whisky-a-go-go The London Fog

"Scott Michaels knows where the bodies are buried!" - LA Times

Hi I'm Scott Michaels.

Scott Michaels - the owner of Dearly Departed Tours in Hollywood and the original "Celebrity Death Guy." Originally behind the helm of the infamous Grave Line Tours, I owned and operated Dearly Departed Tours on the streets of Hollywood for 16 years.

On top of providing content here, I also have a podcast, and a FREE DEATH A DAY CALENDAR - daily smartphone app linked below.
My Podcast with Mike Dorsey:

Mailing address:
Dearly Departed Tours
1717 E. Vista Chino A7-619
Palm Springs, CA 92262

#dearlydepartedtours

[paulahartsock]

I guess they call it progress. I call it getting rid of history 😢

[michellebelledejour]

Everything that made the Sunset Strip so full of life is being erased. It feels so dead now, it makes me sad. RIP Viper Room.

[masonmurry]

I can't comprehend how they are going to give people the opportunity to "experience" West Hollywood if they are tearing all of it down. Being surrounded by a bunch of brand new hotels is not a reason people go to visit there. You cannot enjoy history if you remove what makes it historic. Anyways, thanks you Scott for being a badass like always.

[MusicHealsMusicSaves]

Glad the Rainbow, the Roxy and the Whisky-A-Go-Go are Designated Historic

[GLK-London]

It's sad how Hollywood never seems to want to preserve any history. Another wonderful video, thank you.

[MichelleonSunset]

The L.A. I grew up in was so full of originality with deep pockets of history. Punks, skaters, rockabilly kids, hip-hop lovers, new swing revival, aging metal heads. Depending on what night you were out, they’d be on that block. Now it’s just full of desperation, everyone looks the same and is dying for attention. What a waste.

[karencooper-ray]

I lived near there in the early 90s, just off Sunset in an apartment on Poinsettia. I remember the night River Phoenix died. I was out walking my little dog very late (or very early), and I saw all of emergency vehicles racing down Sunset. So much history in those street blocks.

[movieedge]

It’s so sad that all those buildings are gonna be gone, especially the Viper room. knocking down history one building at a time 😢

[barbarajohnson]

I so wish I could have visited Hollywood in the 50’s and 60’s when the stars I grew up with were alive and at the top of their prime and the famous buildings were young and were where the action was. Sadly I was just too young at those times. Thank you Scott for sharing your videos.

[boomtownrat]

My dad was a waiter at the former Villa Nova restaurant from the early 1960s to 1967. The stories he use to tell about the celebrity clientele. The owners moved the restaurant to Newport Beach where it was a mainstay on PCH for many years. The 60s became the transition where old Hollywood was not frequenting the restaurants and night clubs on the strip but became the hang out for musicians and young people. Seeing the changes happening there in West Hollywood today, it reminds me of Dylan’s song: ‘Oh the times they are a-changing’ Sad.

[stirringthecauldronparax]

I worked the door at Filthy McNasty's for a while way back when. One night Evil Knievel and his crew stopped in and all of a sudden Filthy's rock band was playing Conga music. I couldn't see what was going on in the club until they formed a long Conga Line (band included) and danced out the door to Turner's and back. That's when the Sunset Strip was fun.

[sidecar]

I recall Johnny Rotten commenting on this new style of development. He observed that the message of such designs is that you don’t matter.☮️

[jamesf]

It's called "getting old" brother... most of the people that were around and made those places famous are dead and gone. Us who still remember are now becoming senior citizens. Even Johnny Depp is becoming an old man, so is Axle Rose. The young people don't even listen to rock. Nothing lasts forever. I'm sure that back in the 1890s, some pretty cool saloons existed, but they're gone now and no one remembers. Sad.

[c.joyceb.]

It's sad to see old memories being erased...

[paulcarlsen]

Thanks Scott and Troy! I now feel melancholy. Definitely “Sunset Stripped”.

[pippadot]

Very sad building to be gone. If anyone should show these places it's totally you Scott. All of these such iconic pieces of history. No one can tell these stories of nostalgia like you.

[omartyre]

Overpriced apartments and hotels...we totally need more of them in LA

[itkapatanka]

LA (or should I say West Hollywood) doesn't give a s**t about it's history. Thank you #dearlydepartedtours for trying to educate the people of LA.

[seascape]

Goodbye to a part of nostalgia and history that meant so much to so many people. Rest In Peace too River Phoenix. Really appreciate this update.

[ptarrow]

Elevated - a marketing word that describes replacing fun with boring and cheap with overpriced.