Guns N’ Roses: Slash remembers why he and Axl Rose fought
In a recent interview, Slash returned to the argument between him and Axl Rose broke out in the nineties, which in 1996 led the guitarist to the decision to leave Guns N’ Roses. During the chat for “Guitar World”, the six-string player of the “Appetite for destruction” band said attributed the cause of problems between him and the singer at management of the group by management. Explaining what he believes led to the argument with Axl at the height of Guns N’ Roses’ success in the ’90s, Slash said:
“I think a lot of the problems that plagued Guns in the early days, especially in the ’90s, were related to management issues and situations that pitted me and Axl against each other. And it worked, it really worked.”
During the interview, the guitarist also revealed why today, however, he and the frontman get along perfectly, declaring:
“Without that element, he and I get along great. Duff and I have always gotten along, and I love working with Richard Fortus. We make a great guitar duo together, and he’s a great guy. We all get along really well and have fun doing what we do.”
When Slash left Guns N’ Roses in 1996, he was one of the last members of the “Appetite for Destruction” lineup to leave, followed by Duff McKagan the following year. Their departures made Axl Rose the only remaining member of that historic lineup. At least until 2016, when Slash and McKagan reunited with the frontman in Guns.
On the sidelines of the interview, Slash also thought about the feeling he felt returning to the ranks of the “Welcome to the jungle” band, telling the agreement with Richard Fortus – joined the group in 2002 – and ofidea of involving Izzy Stradlin – who left the band in the early nineties – on the “Not in this lifetime” reunion tour. “It was strange for me to be part of the band again“admitted the 60-year-old guitarist, born Saul Hudson: “We had just started rehearsing, and the depth of the material, the skill level and all that kind of stuff, from the ’90s onwards, they reflected the growth of each of us as musicians.” He continued: “We were all very motivated to improve and continue to evolve. But I don’t know where Izzy would have fit in at that time. I have no idea, because we never had a chance to play together in any of the initial rehearsals for the ‘Not in this lifetime’ tour.”
Guns N’ Roses will conclude their tour with the very long title “Because what you want & what you get are two completely different things” on November 8th, after a long series of dates which included – among other things – also a stop in Italy. For next year, the band has so far announced participation in the Monsters of Rock festival in Brazil and the Download Festival in the United Kingdom.
The news follows that of the band’s former manager, Alan Niven, who sued the group because Axl Rose and his companions were trying to block the release of his new memoir entitled “Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories”.
