It’s very apparent that Axl Rose is the only one preventing the original Guns N’ Roses lineup from playing at the band’s Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony next month.
Since the band’s nomination last fall – even before GNR were confirmed as inductees – and beyond, various former members have publicly expressing appreciation for the historical recognition the event brings, while cautiously managing fans’, and their own, hopes that the classic lineup will put aside the past for a few minutes and actually reunite on stage to play a couple of songs.
The latest to speak on the subject is Slash, currently doing press interviews for his new album, “Apocalyptic Love,” due out May 22.
In a new session with Loudwire, Slash had this to say:
"I would love to play. It's just, one of those things where I know that it's not going to happen, so… I just did an interview and said, 'I don't think we're playing.' [Laughs]. I mean I think it would be cool to play, but very early on when the whole thing came up, it became apparent that it wasn't going to happen — and you know, that doesn't surprise me. We've been at odds for… well, not at odds, but we just haven't had any sort of communication in a long time so… that's basically it. That's all I can tell you."
In a rare interview last December, Axl spoke to the Los Angeles Times about the event.
“I've got mixed emotions about what the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually really is, but at the same time, there's a lot of people — the fans — that it just means something to them, and they're happy. It's like you won the Heisman or something,” said Axl.
Randall Roberts of the Times wrote that the last thing Rose wants to do, he stresses, is ruin it for others. He refers to Marlon Brando sending an American Indian activist to accept his Oscar and give a protest speech "and everybody getting … off, or when Michael Moore got up at the Academy Awards and said whatever about George Bush. People don't want that associated with their awards shows, even if you have a big audience. In one way it might be right, but it usually backfires on whoever does it. So I really don't want to spoil it for everybody else — or take the beating."
Then he said curtly of the induction performance:
"There is no plan yet. There really is no plan. We're still busy with this lineup. We're gonna be busy — we're gonna be busy all next year. We'll be putting out new stuff as soon as we can figure out what our deal is with labels, blah blah blah."
During the extended conversation, Rose went on to explain the source of the friction between himself and Slash.
"It was really a fight with me and Slash," says Rose of the forces that took down the band. "Izzy [Stradlin] was doing the same thing, but the fight with me and Slash started the day I met him. He came in, popped my tape out and put his in and wanted me in his band. And I didn't want to join his band. We've had that war since Day 1."
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