Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash talks about reuniting with Axl Rose after two decades apart in a new appearance on Chris Jericho’s “Talk Is Jericho” podcast.
Slash exited the band’s lineup in 1996 as work bogged down on a follow-up to 1991’s pair of “Use Your Illusion” albums, and over frustration with Rose’s constant lateness for the group’s live shows.
"The Guns N’ Roses lineup that we've been doing this last couple of years with… it's sort of amazing, because of Guns N’ Roses’ history, but suddenly, it's this really, really well-oiled machine that's super functional," Slash tells Jericho (hear full podcast below). "So the one thing you don't have to worry about is… It's like I walk into a room with me and the band and [we are about] to get to work, everybody is ready to go. So that's a blessing, because when it's disorganized or not everybody is together, it makes it impossible to do this much work. So I don't have that issue to deal with, which is cool. And they don't have to deal with it with me either. [Laughs]"
When the guitarist reconnected with Rose in 2015, it gave both rockers a chance to sort out and settle old differences before considering the possibility of working together again.
"There was definitely some new ground to cover as to some of the catalysts who were causing… and a lot of it was not really between he and I – it had to do with outside parties that were part of the entourage, so to speak – and that explained a lot," says Slash. "But then there was different things between he and I that we needed to talk about because of how we handled those outside influences. So it was just good that we finally did talk, because, man – it was 20 years that we did not say one word to each other… You're talking about two of the stubbornest people you could ever come across."
Slash, Rose, Duff McKagan and most of the Axl-led GNR lineup from the past decade went on to launch a reunion tour with a rare club show at The Troubadour in Los Angeles on April 1, 2016; now in its third year, the trek is among the top five biggest-selling concert tours in music history with sales of more than $500 million.
Beyond the sizable payday for all involved, Slash reveals things really boiled down to the fun of playing music with his former bandmates again.
"I think that was part of the beauty of it – I didn't have any expectations,” says the guitarist. “I think it was more of a positive thing for me to go in and just be in a room with Axl and Duff and actually just play. And so that was in and of itself the coolest thing about it.
“And so the desire to go and do those couple of shows at Coachella and the warm-up shows, that was just gonna be a blast. It wasn't really about how big of a response there was gonna be or how well it was [gonna be received] – I don't think we were thinking about that. It was just fun to go out and get together and play.
“And then, all of a sudden, the response became something that we had – at least for me personally – I had no idea it would be like that. And that was throughout the whole tour. So it was pretty special."
Guns N’ Roses will continue the reunion run with its first-ever concert in the state of Hawaii this fall when they will perform at Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium on Saturday, December 8.
Ahead of the tropical date, Slash is currently playing dates on a fall tour of North America in support of his new album, “Living The Dream.”
See also:
Guns N’ Roses announce first-ever concert in Hawaii
VIDEO: Slash streams live performance of Driving Rain
Slash releases animated live action video for Driving Rain
Slash streams new Living The Dream song My Antidote
Search Guns N Roses at hennemusic
