The most difficult Guns N' Roses song for Duff to play live

Duff McKagan met her idol Prince and… it didn’t go well

Every rock star revered and praised by multitudes of fans was in turn a fan of other rock stars of the generation before his. The bassist of Guns N’ Roses Duff McKagan is no exception to the rule, in fact he had three idols: Prince, Iggy Pop and Lemmy Kilmister.

A guest on the Broken Record podcast, McKagan was asked if he had ever spoken to Prince The answer was yes, and his story begins.

“Yeah, I met him once. In Germany. I went on the Diamonds and Pearls tour. Guns N’ Roses were playing a stadium the next night, he was playing in the arena. I went in the back, I was a Guns N’ guy ‘Roses, and all that stuff, he found out I was there and wanted to talk to me. He knew I was a fan of his. But I was too drunk. While I was drinking I realized I was too drunk.’

Realizing that Duff was not in an acceptable condition, in order not to make a bad impression in front of one of his idols, he found a reason to leave. He continues his story like this: “I don’t remember what happened. I remember there were candles and stuff, and I was drunk. Prince was there and I didn’t want to be there. And I left.”

Years later, McKagan received an invitation to participate in a documentary produced by Prince. “Is Prince doing it? Certainly okay. So these guys came to my house, I had my basses out and I was dressed up a little.”

Prince he was not present with the crew, but was connected remotely. “I was getting messages and questions from Prince in real time.” He initially asked him about his contribution to the songs of the Guns ‘N Roses. Gradually, however, the questions, as Duff recalls, became more embarrassing. “They started getting like, ‘Why did Guns N’ Roses break up?’ He asked questions like anyone else would have asked at the time.” Duff McKagan he politely refused to answer Prince saying. “Let’s not get into this topic. It’s not something we talk about.”