"Stop, collaborate and listen," Vanilla Ice visited Columbus Saturday for McFadden's anniversary party.
The South Campus Gateway bar, located at 1576 N. High St., was celebrating its two-year anniversary with the infamous star.
"We wanted to draw a big crowd so everyone could party with us for our second birthday," said Abby Bell, marketing and event coordinator for McFadden's Restaurant and Saloon.
Bell said the turnout Saturday was around 500 people.
"Having a celebrity always brings a larger than average crowd," she said.
Ice, whose real name is Robert Van Winkle has had an interesting past, which includes drug use and a recent arrest in April for allegedly pushing his wife. He gained notoriety in 1990 with his hit "Ice Ice Baby."
When asked what it was like to work with Ice, Bell said. "We have worked with Vanilla Ice before, he has come to the Columbus McFadden's and has also been to several of our other locations and has always been great with working the crowd and throwing the party."
Originally located on the corner of 42nd and 800 Second Avenue in New York City, McFadden's has many locations in the Eastern U.S.
McFadden's recently came to Columbus in mid-2006 after the completion of the Gateway renovation.
Bell said she was pleased with the event, "It was great to have Vanilla Ice here to make our second anniversary even more special."
The event also included a performance by "Jumping Dead Batteries" on Friday.
Ice's next appearance will be on July 31 at Club Overboard, a bar located in Destin, FL about an hour east of Pensacola.
He addresses his new image on his Web site, "The new Vanilla Ice is exactly that; no image, no polished made up gimmicks created by record companies. I will never be a puppet for the industry again. From this point on I will keep it real."
Andy Koenig can be reached at koenig.286@osu.edu.
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