How The Unlikely Guns N’ Roses Reunion Came Together

When it comes to rock’n’roll icons, they don’t come any bigger than Guns N’ Roses, so when the band’s classic line-up confirmed their reunion at the start of the year followed by Aussie tour dates, fans were thrown into a state of shock; after all, the chances of frontman Axl Rose and guitar legend Slash sharing the stage didn’t seem likely for many years.

In an interview with Brazil news outlet Fantástico Globo, Rose and bassist Duff McKagan attributed the miraculous star alignment to Coachella boss Paul Tollett, who locked them down for their first headline slot together in more than two decades.

“He started talking about it, it seemed real, so at that point I just told my people that they could go ahead and start talking to people and see what’s going on," Rose said. "Then as it became more real than I texted Fernando and asked for Slash's number."

The Appetite For Destruction-era reunion is one that even Rose’s manager, Fernando Lebeis, didn’t believe at first, saying, “If this is a joke, I'm gonna kill you" when he asked for the number.

Rose had Slash over for dinner after the lines of communications had opened and then they all met for what McKagan describes as an easy-going set of rehearsals, where he and Slash lead the charge in terms of what material would be played from Chinese Democracy.

“I really got to discover, in the best of ways, the album Chinese Democracy that [Axl] made, the songs he had worked on,” he said. “I had listened to the record, but when you start to play the songs, as a player, you really start to discover all the layers.”

“Getting into rehearsals it was really just one day at a time,” McKagan said.

“I don’t know that I thought too much about how far ahead. It was just really cool to be playing some of that music with the guys I was playing it with.”

Any other touring commitments that Rose has with AC/DC is unlikely to impact the Guns N’ Roses reunion, with the vocalist saying McKagan and Slash have been “really supportive of it”.

“It’s pretty radical,” laughed McKagan.

“I’ll do that as long as Angus wants to do it and we can make it work,” said Rose. “I love that it’s my job, and that Angus [Young] is my boss.”

As far as iconic drummer Steven Adler joining the party again or rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, Rose was unsure.

“Steven has played with us but he isn't 100%, he's had back surgery. And Izzy, I don't even know what to say, we make arrangements and then he goes and does other things. With Izzy you never know what to expect.”

Check out theGuide for all Guns N’ Roses Australian dates and ticketing info.

NOTE: The Music is currently running an exclusive offer for SA readers, in which they can buy Diamond and Premium tickets to Guns N' Roses' upcoming how at Adelaide Oval on Saturday 18 February for 50% off.

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