Former Guns N' Roses Manager Alan Niven Sues Band In Order To Release Autobiography

Alan Niven, the former manager of Guns N’ Roses, has sued the band to release his autobiography, Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories.

In a lawsuit, Niven has alleged that the American rockers have threatened him over the publication of the book and says it’s “languishing” in a warehouse.

Niven also claimed that the band had invoked a confidentiality clause he signed upon his departure with Axl Rose and co. in 1991, further alleging that at least one member of the rock group “encouraged” him to write a book of his music stories.

In 1991, it was reported that Niven was dismissed from the band at the request of frontman Axl Rose.

Consequence of Sound reports that Niven has sued the band for “declaratory judgment of non-enforceability of contract; declaratory judgment of non-breach of contract; and tortious interference with contract or business expectancy.”

In addition to his work with Guns N’ Roses, Niven has enjoyed a decades-long career in the rock business. The New Zealand-born manager has written tales about The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Berlin, The Angels, Judas Priest, Elton John, Alice Cooper, and others in his book.

At the time of publication, Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories is available to pre-order on Amazon, with a tentative release date of 31 March 2026. You can see the book cover below.

In an excerpt of his lawsuit shared with Consequence of Sound, Niven claimed that his autobiography presently “languishes” in a warehouse. He alleged that in May, the group invoked the confidentiality clause from their 1991 agreement and “blocked” the release of Sound N’ Fury by way of “threats” against Niven and publishers, ECW Press.

Niven’s statement continued, “GNR takes this position despite the following facts (among others): the Agreement was not signed by all of its members (a material term); GNR’s members have commented publicly on Niven; one member encouraged him to write the book; and he has been speaking about his time in GNR for over a decade.

“Sound N’ Fury’s publication has been delayed for months, even though it received a favorable [sic] review from the Los Angeles Times and has received many preorders.”

This week, it was announced that Guns N’ Roses would headline next year’s Download Festival in the UK alongside nu-metal outfits Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park.

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