Joe Satriani has looked back on the time he recommended Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal for the Guns N’ Roses gig – after hearing Axl Rose was on the look out for the “craziest guitar player ever” to join the band.

In 2006, Guns N’ Roses were on the hunt for a new electric guitar player, following the departure of Buckethead two years earlier. They didn’t just want any ol’ guitarist to step in and fill the role, though – they needed someone who could match their outgoing bandmate for both ability and eccentricity.

When Satriani caught wind of this search via producer Eric Cadieux, he knew exactly who to put up for the job.

“One day [Eric] calls up and he says that Axl is looking for the craziest guitar player ever. It was one of the things that he was demanding,” Satch recalls in a new interview on the Appetite For Distortion podcast.

“And I think they already had Buckethead, and I was thinking, 'Who would I recommend? Who's the craziest and the best?' And I knew there was only one guy. It had to be Ron Thal – Bumblefoot.”

As Satch explains in the interview, he’d crossed paths with Bumblefoot years earlier, after a rather unfortunate communication error involving comments made in the press prompted the two virtuosos to smooth over the misunderstanding with an onstage jam.

Satch, unsurprisingly, was blown away by Bumblefoot’s abstract and expansive playing ability. He believed he would be perfect for Buckethead’s replacement.

He continues, “Ron came to my mind, and I said, 'Eric, you have to get this guy Ron Thal into Axl's band. And tell Axl that there's no one else who can stand next to Buckethead and look even stranger and play just as good,' because they're two premier guitar players.”

Satriani’s recommendation was taken on board, and he was given the green light to break the news of an audition to Bumblefoot himself.

“My conversation with Ron was pretty funny, because the last thing he expected was me to call him and say, 'How would you like to audition for Guns N' Roses?' He had accepted, I think, the fact that he was just the oddest guitar player.

“[He never thought] that the most accepted rock band at the moment was ever going to be calling him for an audition. But he did it anyway, I think as an experiment in life, just to see how much fun it would be. And he got the gig, because he was himself. And I think Axl could see right away he's a genius.”

Speaking about receiving Satch’s recommendation for the Guns N’ Roses gig, Bumblefoot once recalled to Guitar World, “He mentioned to me that he had dropped my name to someone in the Guns N’ Roses camp because they were looking for a new guy to replace Buckethead.

“He wanted me to know that if anyone from Guns got in touch it wasn’t a joke. And soon after that I heard from [GNR keyboardist] Chris Pitman.”

Bumblefoot ended up becoming a key part of the GNR legacy, contributing to Chinese Democracy and remaining a part of the touring band until his departure in 2014.

After Slash and Duff McKagan exited Guns N’ Roses in the mid-’90s, things went kinda sideways for a bit. The band kept rolling, but it was host to a cavalcade of guitar players, from Buckethead to Paul Tobias to Robin Finck to DJ Ashba to Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal.

As you can imagine, all that change did not give rise to new music. It’s not that Axl Rose wasn’t writing tunes; it’s just that honing them proved… difficult. But things shifted for the better – on the guitar side, at least – when Richard Fortus, who at the time was touring with Enrique Iglesias, was drafted into Guns in 2002. Fortus brought immediate stability to a situation that was anything but stable.

23 years later, GN’R is still wreaking havoc on a stadium stage near you, but things are very different. “It seems to me that we’re much more unified,” Fortus says today – but that shift only came after Slash and McKagan re-entered Guns’ orbit in 2016.

“When I first came into the band, it was split into factions,” Fortus says. “There was Buckethead, Brain [Bryan Mantia, drums] and Chris Pitman [keyboards/bass] as one little faction. And then there was myself, Tommy Stinson [bass], Robin [Finck] and Dizzy [Reed, keyboards]. That was another faction. And there was Axl, a faction unto himself. [Laughs] It was a different feeling to the band, but now everything feels solidified.”

It hasn’t always been this way for Guns N’ Roses, who first welcomed us to the proverbial jungle in 1987 with Appetite for Destruction and then soaked us with an enduring November rain in the early ’90s.

Back then, lineup volatility and infighting were pretty much standard, but not anymore. Maybe it’s age, maybe it's the fact that drugs and alcohol are no longer part of the equation – or perhaps it’s the simple fact that the world doesn’t usually offer second chances, but it has done so for Rose, Slash and Duff. Whatever the reason, Fortus, who – for those keeping score – is Guns N’ Roses’ longest-tenured six-stringer, is having the time of his life.

“Sometimes Slash and I will play the same thing in harmony or an octave part that we’ve never played before or not worked out at all,” Fortus says. “It’s freakish to me how similar our approach is. It sounds a little metaphysical, but it’s really strange how in-sync we are.”

He goes on to say that the main reason for Guns’ modern-day harmonious functionality comes down to the fact that the band is “very united.” “That’s the biggest difference,” he says. “It’s night and day.”

And Slash is at the core of it all.

“Tommy Stinson led the charge when I was first brought into the band,” Fortus says. “He came from a punk-rock ethos of not wanting to over-rehearse, because it was pointless. You know, you do your rehearsing onstage, because no matter what you do, it’s not going to translate onstage, which is true in a way.

“But Slash comes from a completely different perspective. He loves to rehearse, so that when we walk onstage we never have to think about playing. I love that. I understand both sides, but I really enjoy having the music become muscle memory.”

Rehearsing is one thing, and it’s undoubtedly made Guns a tighter unit, but Fortus came into the picture during an era when being a GN’R guitarist meant you weren’t long for this world. That, along with the fact that he’s now occupying a role once held by Izzy Stradlin and Gilby Clarke, means he’s needed to remain on his toes as Slash’s sidekick.

“It’s always fun,” he says. “But when Slash came in, I had to rethink everything because I needed to be able to support his tone, the way he plays and the way he creates. It’s been me thinking, ‘Okay, how can I do that?’ For example, I love P90 pickups, but they don’t work with Slash’s tone. So it’s been about me going back to the chalkboard.”

Guns N’ Roses has plenty of huge shows planned. Beyond that, there have been whispers of the band’s first new record since 2008’s Chinese Democracy, which is significant because GN’R hasn’t dropped a proper full-length featuring Slash and McKagan since 1993’s covers album, The Spaghetti Incident? But to date, we’ve only seen a few singles, like 2023’s The General and an EP from 2022 called Hard Skool. But that might change.

“I think we probably will [put out a new record],” Fortus says. “I can’t see us not doing that in the future, although it seems people don’t really care about albums anymore. It’s hard to say. I’m sure there are quite a few people that would. It's a great honor [to be in Guns], and I'm really glad to have been a part of it, and I think the band is on top form right now.”

You’ve been in Guns for 23 years now. Has the response the band is getting – compared to what it was when you started – been surprising?

When we started with Slash and Duff back in the band, the reaction was overwhelming, but that was expected. It wasn’t a shock to be playing stadiums and doing multiple nights, because it was a big event. What’s shocking is that every time we go out, it continues. We’re still playing stadiums. I expected it to die down once the initial reaction wore off, but it’s continued. It’s incredible.

GN’R was at a crossroads when you joined in 2002. How do you view your role now compared to then?

It’s been a pretty massive change. Robin Finck was my favorite guitarist I played with, besides Slash, and was the one I felt most unified with. With Slash, it’s a whole different level. I’ve never played with another guitar player I feel so in-sync with.

What’s an example of how things work between you two?

There’s a section in Rocket Queen where it’s completely open. I’ll play a solo and then Slash plays a solo, and it’s a completely different solo every time. The other night, I played a melody at the beginning, and when Slash played his solo, he quoted that melody.

I thought, that’s what I’ve always dreamed a band to be, you know? And he didn’t even realize he did it! It’s almost jazz – when someone plays a theme and someone else picks up on that theme. That’s as good as it gets. He’s such a natural musician. It’s such a joy to play with somebody like that.

You’re occupying a role once filled by Izzy Stradlin and Gilby Clarke. Do you play their parts straight, or do you have freedom to improvise?

I can’t really speak to the Gilby thing as much, but with Izzy, there are certain things I view as integral. There’s never been a time when Slash has said to me, “I think you should copy what Izzy did here.” He’s very much in the moment. He’s come back to me and said, “I listened to this live recording we did, and I didn’t realize you were doing that. That’s really cool.”

But he’s never said, “I think you should do this…” He is very trusting with how I approach things. But there are things that – out of respect to the genius of Izzy and what makes this band legendary – I play what I think is integral to the song.

There are moments with a lot of the stuff that I interpret in my own way, but I feel very akin to Izzy’s approach and where he was coming from with the songs. I think about that spirit when I approach a song.

The recording of Chinese Democracy took place over many years. What was that like?

My parts on those songs came about very quickly, because they were already written when I came into the band. The only thing I wrote on that record was the chorus to Better. Everything else was done. I was just putting on parts, which was challenging because everything had to be structured with three guitar players.

We were working out parts that had come before, as well as for the new songs, so everything was very structured because everything has to have its place when you have three guitar players. You have to keep out of each other’s way.

That was something Buckethead did a really good job at. He understood how to make that work. He would lay out on the verses, come in on the choruses and then come in with a solo or play things that would augment what Robin and I were doing.

It must have been interesting to watch Buckethead work within the Guns paradigm, since he’s not traditionally been associated with that style of music.

True, but ultimately, he’s very musical. He understood the big picture of what was going on and always came at it from that perspective. He’s incredibly prolific, right? He’s put out, like, 137 albums or something. [Laughs] But he’s very much the type of guy that does his own thing.

That’s the aspect about the Buckethead – and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal – era of Guns that sticks out, and perhaps why it was a little musically volatile.

It’s difficult for somebody that’s used to doing that. Ron was used to doing his own music. Being in a band is a very different thing than sitting in your studio or your bedroom and creating your own music. When you’re out playing bars and clubs as a band, it’s a very different thing, a very different dynamic.

When you look at what Duff and Slash have brought to the table over the last nine years, does any of what we’re talking about from the Chinese Democracy era remain?

I really don’t think so. [Laughs] There’s an organic quality that Slash and Duff bring that is inherent to who they are as musicians. It speaks to where they’ve come from and what they’ve brought back into this.

When you look at where you started when you joined GN’R and compare it to today, can you track the changes in your rig?

My journey has been very long and arduous when it comes to gear and the things I have to cover. [Laughs] A lot of the stuff I’m playing now isn’t the stuff I played on Chinese Democracy; I’m covering a lot of what Buckethead did.

I went through periods where I was using multiple amps and channels, but now it’s simplified. When we play live, we run a mono mix, and it’s an analog desk. It’s very old-school.

Does that help bring the classic GN’R guitar sound to the forefront?

I think it brings a lot more dimension and danger into the sound. Slash and I run mono rigs because it’s a mono PA, so it’d be silly for us to have stereo rigs. But I’ve simplified things; I have two amplifiers that I run and that I hit all the time.

I’m just running two single-channel amps, a 100-watt head, a Magnatone combo and a Magnatone Twilighter mono combo. I’m hitting them together throughout the night. I’m constantly on my volume knob, as is Slash. My clean sound is just dropping down the volume.

Where did that approach come from?

It’s very old-school. I simplified it and approached it in a Malcolm Young type of way. For the older stuff, my job is to support what Slash is doing, and for there to be a natural juxtaposition between two guitars.

So I wanted to go with a cleaner type of tone, similar to Malcolm, and how he spits around Angus Young’s tone. It’s the same type of dynamic. It’s also like Joe Perry and Brad Whitford; you can tell the district guitar tones apart and hear how one supports the other.

Has Slash been a big influence on how you look at gear since he rejoined?

Slash is a legend, so he has a sonic fingerprint that is very much him, although his tone has changed a lot since he first got in the band. I think he plays with a lot less gain, and his tone has gotten bigger, which makes my job harder. [Laughs] But obviously, my signature Gretsch has been the biggest piece in the puzzle for me – and lower-gain amps.

There’s an argument to be made that your Gretsch Falcon G6636TRF signature guitar is as synonymous with GN’R as Slash’s Les Paul at this point.

That’s pretty cool. I hate to keep going back to it, but Malcolm Young had the perfect rock rhythm tone. I’ve got to cover more ground than Malcolm, but I loved how huge-sounding the Gretsch is.

I love how there’s a lot of low-end and a lot of top-end, but I need to be able to do more than just that, so we’ve spent a lot of time working with Gretsch on those pickups. They were fantastic to work with.

What’s the secret sauce to those pickups that separates them from standard Gretsch Filter’Trons?

The key to my signature model is the pickups and electronics. We came up with something that is unique and not like anything else in the Gretsch line.

Those pickups are a hybrid of vintage Filter’Trons and vintage PAFs in tone and construction. John Gaudesi, who’s no longer with Gretsch, brought his pickup winder to rehearsal, and he had our front-of-house engineer in the control room, listening on reference monitors while we were in rehearsals.

My tech had four prototypes, and we’d swap the pickups in and out quickly, so we had a rotation of four guitars, and John would wind pickups based on our comments. We’d make comments, the control room would make comments, and he’d go, “I know what I need to do. Let me try this magnet or this wind,” and we narrowed it down until we came up with the right formula.

Some of the more fun guitar moments in Guns’ current show are the classics, like Paradise City and November Rain. How do you approach those?

I make subtle changes to things based on what Slash is doing, or on the way things are going in rehearsal or live. Things change all the time, and it’s been a process to where things just develop.

I’m sure it’s the same way if you watch a Rolling Stones video from 1981; it’s fascinating for me to watch how their guitar parts have changed so much since then and how different they were in ’81 from the original recordings. Songs just develop over time when you play them live every night.

When you came into GN’R 23 years ago, given all the early volatility, did you have a vision of how things would play out?

No. [Laughs] I just took each year as it came. I never had a big vision as far as how I saw things going. Nor did I anticipate still being here with Axl after a quarter of a century. I never really thought about it. I think about the next six months. What I’m consistently focused on is what’s coming up next, whether it be with Guns, another artist or whatever.

How do you see GN’R’s future unfolding?

I see us continuing to put out new music, but like I said, I don’t think about things more than a year out. That’s my focus. It’s always on the next rung in the ladder. I’m not looking at where I’ve come from or where I’m going, long term. I’m just constantly trying to move up.

• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.

Slash has revealed that a new Guns N’ Roses album is an inevitability, and the band has plenty of material ready to go.

The album will be the band's first since 2008’s Chinese Democracy, and Slash’s first with the group since the 1991 double-album, Use Your Illusion, and the ill-fated The Spaghetti Incident? album two years later.

However, the top-hatted electric guitar hero was quick to temper expectations. It doesn’t sound like it’s coming anytime soon.

“There’s so much material at this point – it’s a matter of having the discipline to sit down and fucking get into it,” he says in the new issue of Guitar World. “But the thing with Guns is, in my experience, you can never plan ahead. You can never sit down and go, ‘We’re going to take this time, and we’re going to do this.’ Every time we’ve done that, it falls apart.”

Slash co-founded the band in 1985 and they quickly exploded onto the scene with their debut album Appetite for Destruction, which became one of the best-selling debut albums of all time.

After a tumultuous tenure peppered with extracurricular activities from all those in the band, Slash left in 1996, forming Slash's Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, and Slash ft. Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators in the interim. He also released a blues-honouring solo album, The Orgy of the Damned, last year, featuring a wide-ranging cast of guest stars.

He then rejoined GNR in 2016, after the likes of Buckethead, Robin Finck, DJ Ashba, and Richard Fortus all featured during his time away. The latter remains a part of the group.

They’ve toured extensively since – including a recent Saudi Arabia show that was so hot it melted Fortus’ pickups – but this is the first time that new music has been actively discussed.

Slash wants to ensure the band learns from the mistakes of the past rather than forcing the ideas to come.

“It just spontaneously happens through some sort of inspiration that triggers it,” he admits. “So it’s coming. I know it’s coming because everybody is thinking about it. It’ll just happen when it happens.”

Elsewhere, GNR have paid tribute to the late John Sykes with a thunderous cover of a Thin Lizzy classic, and Zakk Wylde has discussed the time he came close to joining the band.

GNR are the cover stars of the latest Guitar World issue. Head to Magazines Direct to pick up a copy.

Alice in Chain's founder, lead guitarist, main songwriter, and co-lead vocalist Jerry Cantrell has etched his name in the rock history books as an integral part of the hugely influential '90s grunge guitar sound. However, as an aspiring artist cutting his teeth in Seattle, Cantrell sought every way possible to make a mark – including attempting to hand over an Alice in Chains demo tape to a certain classic rock band, back in 1988.

“Like all young artists, sometimes you run into somebody that's one of your heroes and, you know, pass them on your demo tape or whatever,” he explains on the Broken Record podcast.

“I lived right behind the Seattle Center, and that's where they [Guns N' Roses] were playing. So, I handed it to his [Axl Rose's] security guard, and his security guard threw it away as they were walking, so it wasn't Axl's fault.”

Fast forward to Cantrell actually making it with Alice in Chains, and he eventually got to know the Guns N' Roses members personally. Naturally, he relayed this anecdote from these early days…

“Now, I told Axl that story too, and we laughed about that as well!” he concludes.

Years later, in a true full circle moment, Alice in Chains would go on to tour with the classic rock greats as the openers of their 2016 reunion tour.

In other Jerry Cantrell news, the guitarist recently opened up about temporarily losing his trusty G&L 'Blue Dress' Rampage – the guitar behind practically every key Alice in Chains record – last year.

Brilliant, eccentric German guitar hero Michael Schenker debuted with the Scorpions before joining UFO in 1974, then breaking out on his own with The Michael Schenker Group. He favours a black and white Flying V and helped popularise cocked-wah guitar tone. His new album is an all-star celebration of his UFO days, featuring Slash, Axl Rose and other heavy friends.

What guitar did you learn on?

“It was a guitar that was lying around. It must have been an acoustic. My brother Rudolf [Scorpions guitarist] got a Gibson for his birthday instead of a motorbike. It must have been that one that I secretly played against his will!

“The first song I played was something to do with San Francisco. It was a hit in those days. [Hums San Francisco by The Mamas And The Papas] Yeah! And there was a solo in there, and I learnt that. I was nine years old and I was very happy.”

Was was there a moment when you felt you had arrived as a player?

“No, it has always been the same for me. Right from the moment when I was nine years old and picked up a guitar, I was always amazed with what I could discover, and it never stopped. I am in the same place!

How much did you practise in those early days and how often do you practise now?

“It is more like play and discover. That’s different. It is less technical. It is more like looking for gold, and once in a while I find a piece of gold. This will automatically become part of my developed style.”

What is the one song or performance that you’re most proud of?

“I’m happy with everything. For me, it is never about a song. I am a lead guitarist! Ha! Lead guitarists think differently. My whole life has always been about development, so every moment is special, and every moment is different. We can never compare any of them."

What was your biggest motivation as a player?

“I wanted to express myself. That was my devotion. It still is and I have done it for 50 years, without listening to music so I don’t get influenced, and that’s where the uniqueness comes from. Focus on opening up what’s unique about yourself. Anybody who makes that decision can do it. I am a musical monk or something. That’s my mission. Self-expression is my mission.

“That’s what I want, in every sense, not just music. I just love to self-express and really do what I like to do. I am just in a place where I choose to do it this way instead of copying anyone else. What you do with the guitar expresses your personality.”

What technique did you have to work hardest to master?

“There is no technique for me. Technique is very, very much in the background. The important thing was to find the note. I felt like I knew it was there, somewhere, and I have to find it! And the last thing on my mind was if I do it the right way or the wrong way, as long as I found that note.

“And of course, that’s what I did. Day after day after day, I basically developed – technically – the wrong way of playing compared to today where you have the guitar schools, where you learn the perfect position of the hand, how to hold your fingers and play with all five fingers. But I couldn’t have found my notes. I couldn’t have written the songs I wrote if I would have followed that first. I just didn’t care if I did it the right or wrong way.”

As a player, do you have any bad habits?

“There are no bad habits! There is only one thing: to make good music however you do it. Hey, there is no right or wrong for me. I can get better technically because I have plenty of time to get my fingers into easier positions, but the thing is, there are certain ways of playing, like my style, that you cannot necessarily get across if I play it perfectly positioned with my fingers based on what’s taught at guitar schools.

“It’s like fishing. How you find the note, how you strike or sweep over the strings, how you hit them, that is how the sound comes together. It’s not technical. Technicality makes everything clinical.

“But fishing for notes as a priority makes everything three dimensional, analogue. It gives it warmth. It’s not perfect – it’s feeling. It’s more feeling than having the right position of your fingers playing guitar.”

In your early days, what guitar was the game changer for you?

“A triangle guitar! Yeah, very strange. I had never seen a Flying V, but when I was at school, doing this project, building something out of wood, I wanted to make a guitar and ended up building a triangle guitar, which is similar to a Flying V, but it’s not the Flying V.

“You put a Flying V next to a Les Paul, next to a Strat, on the floor, it won’t do anything. It becomes something with the person who picks up the guitar. That’s what that guitar becomes. I found the Flying V by coincidence. Like many things in my life, it happened by itself. So maybe I was meant to have that guitar.

“I discovered that guitar by accident. I liked the combination of my amplifier with that guitar. It was closer to the sound I imagined, and I found that I was able to do a really good vibrato by putting the V between my legs, so that the neck would not wobble around. I was able to lock it in and so that was one of the main reasons why I felt good about that guitar.”

With your new album of classic UFO material, was there anything you learned about your playing when revisiting songs you wrote 50 years ago?

“I don’t analyse things. I just do it. I don’t analyse what I have done, or why I did it, I just do it because that is the moment of being an artist. You just do it. Less thought!”

What do you play when you’re just relaxing and playing for fun?

“Again, I don’t think. I just pick up the guitar and play. But one thing I do in order to keep shape is I play to a metronome to make sure I am not slowing down in any way, because when you get older the way we perceive time is different from when we are younger, so sometimes you think you are playing as fast as you did the day before but it is do with the biological rhythm. I always measure by a metronome, at a certain speed. I have to make sure that I can play my old songs.”

Do you have any favourite tracks from revisiting your UFO years?

“I love This Kid’s with Biff [Byford, Saxon frontman]. I was amazed. I always wanted to do something with Biff. Every song is different but everybody did a great version. I don’t like comparing things. I just like to listen to it and not compare it like the Olympics! There are so many different qualities, different feelings, but all of them are unique in their own way, so I don’t give them points for their performances.

“It is all great stuff, what they did. When I heard Dee Snider [ex-Twisted Sister singer] I went, ‘Wow!’ I didn’t know he had a great voice like this. Kai Hansen [Helloween guitarist/vocalist] was another one. He did a fantastic job on Rock Bottom. And when I heard Joel Hoekstra, he sounds like a saxophone on his guitar. He’s really, really unique. It was fun. It still is fun listening to the different approaches. I didn’t expect anything, but when I heard it I was extremely happy with it.”

And Axl Rose?

“Axl originally sang three songs, but he didn’t like his versions of Only You Can Rock Me and Too Hot To Handle, so he decided to stick with Love To Love, which is a fantastic version.

Can you recall a moment when you felt like you’d failed as a player or felt embarrassed by a performance?

“That’s a big question. Of course you can feel embarrassed when you play a bum note. But I don’t really focus on that. I’d rather focus on the good moments. You know, I played bum notes on Strangers In The Night [UFO’s legendary 1979 live album], and today those bum notes are the right notes! Because everybody got used to it.

“And people ask me, ‘Michael, how do you make this work, playing a major over a minor?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ But they might have been asking about those bum notes!”

• My Years With UFO is out now via EarMUSIC.

2024 has delivered some weird and wonderful matchups – from Johnny Depp paying tribute to Jeff Beck with Andrea Bocelli to Matteo Mancuso and Joe Bonamasssa trading fiery licks. Now it has seen the return of another unlikely duo: Billy Joel and Axl Rose.

The pair performed together back in 2017, taking on AC/DC’s peerless driving anthem Highway To Hell, and last night (July 25) they did it again at Madison Square Garden.

Mr. Joel even donned a Fender Stratocaster for the occasion.

The combination of single coils and a barely overdriven, possibly chorus-tinted guitar tone doesn’t exactly match up to Angus Young’s iconic SG through a Marshall stack combination – and it would be hard to imagine Bon Scott or Brian Johnson in the sparkly blazer Axl Rose wore for the performance – but it’s great entertainment.

It was the final night of the US leg of the Piano Man’s current world tour, and Joel looked to bow out in style.

Granted, Axl Rose arguably sounded better when he performed with the band proper in 2016 when he was a surprising – and impressive – stand-in for Johnson, who was suffering from hearing difficulties.

The song was preceded by another cover, a take on Paul McCartney’s Bond theme Live and Let Die, which Guns N’ Roses famously reimagined on Use Your Illusion.

Joel was back behind the keys for that track, but it’s the slightly parallel universe vibes of their Highway To Hell cover, which, going off the video footage, definitely got butts off seats, that will live longest in the memory.

“Who knew Billy could play guitar?” quipped one commenter on YouTube.

However, it must be noted that Joel stuck strictly to rhythm duties, with touring guitarist Tommy Byrnes handling the guitar solo.

The pair then made it a triple-header, closing the show with one of Billy Joel’s own, You May Be Right, to ensure the MSG finale lived up to its billing.

Now, if only we could find out where to buy one of those jackets…

UFO's Michael Schenker has just announced a new album that celebrates the guitarist's tenure with the band – with a twist. Aptly titled My Years with UFO, the record finds Schenker inviting a Rolodex of rock luminaries to join him – including Slash, Adrian Vandenberg, Joel Hoekstra and Axl Rose.

My Years with UFO marks the 50th anniversary of Schenker's era with UFO between 1972 and 1978. Schenker joined the band when he was just 17 years old. He not only toured the world as a teenager, but also became the driving force behind some of the band's most popular tracks, including Rock Bottom, Doctor Doctor and Only You Can Rock.

The first single from My Years with UFO is Mother Mary, originally released in 1975. The new version features Slash's signature guitar work, including multiple ripping solos. H.E.AT's ex-vocalist Erik Grönwall lends his vocals to the reimagined track, which still manages to stay true to the quintessential UFO sound.

The other artists involved in this project are Axl Rose, Hansen, Roger Glover, Joey Tempest, Biff Byford, Jeff Scott Soto, John Norum, Dee Snider, Joel Hoekstra, Joe Lynn Turner, Carmine Appice, Adrian Vandenberg, Michael Voss, and Stephen Pearcy.

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Natural Thing feat. Dee Snider & Joel Hoekstra
2. Only You Can Rock Me feat. Joey Tempest & Roger Glover
3. Doctor Doctor feat. Joe Lynn Turner & Carmine Appice
4. Mother Mary feat. Slash & Erik Grönwall
5. This Kids feat. Biff Byford
6. Love to Love feat. Axl Rose
7. Lights Out feat. Jeff Scott Soto & John Norum
8. Rock Bottom feat. Kai Hansen
9. Too Hot Too Handle feat. Joe Lynn Turner, Adrian Vandenberg & Carmen Appice
10. Let It Roll feat. Michael Voss
11. Shoot Shoot feat. Stephen Pearcy

In a recent interview with Classic Rock, Schenker discussed how he ended up joining UFO after the band he was in at the time, Scorpions, supported them in Germany. “About one month after the tour, they contacted me and asked me to join. I’d always said to the Scorpions, ‘If any band from England asks me to join, no matter who it is, I’m doing it.’

“No-one in Germany understood what I was doing, and the scene was lame. I said to Scorpions, 'Sorry guys, I told you I would do this,' and I left. It wasn’t so much about UFO, it was about the opportunity to play in England. I wanted to develop and go to the next level. I was full of energy and ideas, and I wasn’t afraid of anything.”

My Years with UFO will be released worldwide on September 20 and is now available for pre-order.

After Guns N’ Roses electric guitar titans Slash and Gilby Clarke left the band in the mid-’90s following the release of Use Your Illusion I and II, Axl Rose and co were forced to call upon a number of stand-in six-string slingers to plug the gap.

Among those were Buckethead, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal and Richard Fortus, all of whom featured to varying degrees across the Chinese Democracy tracklist. Another axeman who appeared in a more ad-hoc role was Queen’s Brian May, though his own contributions were comparably less impactful.

For whatever reason, May’s efforts – which were reportedly to be found on Catcher in the Rye – were ultimately cut from the final mix.

Speaking in the latest issue of Classic Rock, May reflected upon the “odd experience” of playing guitar on the album, which was recorded over a nine year-period, and recalled the sporadic, on-off nature of working with Axl Rose.

When asked about his fling with Chinese Democracy, May reflected, “It was an odd experience. I think it was about midway through the whole thing. By that point Axl was pretty much a recluse. 

“He was working in his house, and I was working in the studio at the bottom of the hill with his engineer at the time, and he only rarely came down. Now and again he would call in and get all enthusiastic and talk a lot, and then he’d be gone again. I don’t think any of what I played actually got onto the album.”

It was initially reported in 2008 that May’s involvement with Chinese Democracy would be short lived, with the Queen icon posting a statement at the time that said he “did put quite a lot of work in, and was proud of it”.

“But I could understand if Axl wants to have an album which reflects the work of the members of the band as it is, right now,” May continued. “I do have mixes of the tracks with my guitar on, work tapes at the time, but they will remain private, out of respect for Axl.”

May initially recorded his guitar parts for Catcher in the Rye and a number of other tracks in 1999, some nine years before the insanely long-awaited album’s eventual release.

Later in the interview, May went on to say that, after his fleeting Chinese Democracy cameo, he fell out of touch with Rose, and admitted he tends to “be a bit shy and reclusive myself” – a trait that made him reflect, “I regret terribly that I didn’t keep in touch more with Ed Van Halen.”

Visit Magazines Direct to pick up the latest – and 500th – issue of Classic Rock, which features interviews with rock ‘n’ roll’s finest, including Jimmy Page, Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and Geddy Lee.

It’s been a busy few months for Guns N’ Roses. Despite being in the midst of a US tour with the Wolfgang Van Halen-fronted Mammoth WVH, the iconic rock band has still found time to release two new songs in as many months, Hard Skool and Absurd.

Now, it’s been announced that both of the tracks will feature on an all-new EP, titled Hard Skool, which will be the first time in 28 years that electric guitar titan Slash, Axl Rose and Duff McKagan have all joined forces for a studio effort.

The trio will be joined on the record by the current members of the GNR lineup, which is completed by Richard Fortus and Frank Ferrer, as well as keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese.

Due February 25 2022, the EP’s tracklist will contain the two already released ex-Chinese Democracy cuts, as well as live recordings of the band’s ‘91 power ballad Don’t Cry and Appetite For Destruction track You’re Crazy.

The last effort to feature all three members from GNR’s original lineup was 1993’s The Spaghetti Incident?, with Slash and McKagan permanently rejoining the fold back in 2016.

Since then, the band have embarked on various tours around the world, though hopes for new material were seemingly dashed after three years without a hint of any recording intentions.

That was until 2019, when McKagan came out and announced the reconciled Guns N’ Roses crew had begun preliminary work on a new album, telling Trunk Nation Radio (via NME), “There’s never been a direct schedule on how we do things. 

“I’ve heard some magnificent stuff that Axl has, really cool stuff he’s been working on. So I’m excited about the possibilities of that, of course.

“The album is real,” he continued. “But the fun part and the cool part about Guns N’ Roses is we don’t really talk about it. What happens next just happens.”

And, while Hard Skool isn’t the full-length album that McKagan and co hinted at two years ago, GNR fans finally have something to look forward to – even if they have already heard the two new tracks from the EP.

Nevertheless, it may yet be a sign of things to come, with Hard Skool potentially acting as a gateway towards even more records for the original cadre of GNR bandmates in the future.

As for now, the band are continuing to make their way through their hectic concert schedule, with only three dates in North Carolina and Florida remaining on the North American leg of the We’re F’N Back tour, after three Mexico dates were postponed.

During their recent show at Royal Farms Arena, Baltimore, on September 26, Guns N’ Roses reportedly performed Hard Skool live for the first time – footage of which can be found below.

• Hard Skool is available to preorder now.

After Slash teased a brand-new song in a TikTok video of a Guns N' Roses soundcheck last week, the rock 'n' roll greats have revealed all, sharing new single, Hard Skool.

Like previous single Absurd – their first new cut since 2008, released last month – the new track was written for the band's 2008 album Chinese Democracy under the working title Jackie Chan, but was axed from its tracklist prior to its release.

A quintessential GNR cut, Hard Skool leads with a brooding bassline from Duff McKagan, before guitarists Slash and Richard Fortus enter the fray with a bountiful supply of high-gain electric guitar riffs and true-to-form soaring leads.

Rumors of Hard Skool's release began circulating last week when frontman Axl Rose reportedly told a fan that a new song would be released “soon”.

Though GNR have soundchecked the new track several times before – including before their show at the Hollywood Palladium in 2019 – they have yet to perform it live. 

But given that the band are currently embarking on a mammoth US tour right now – with Wolfgang Van Halen-fronted Mammoth WVH, actually – we'd wager it'll work its way onto the setlist.

Guns N' Roses have performed to hundred of thousands of fans on the trek thus far, but it hasn't been without the occasional mishap. Earlier this month, during their September 4 show at the BottleRock Music Festival in Napa Valley, the band had their set cut short when they played over the event's pre-planned curfew.

Halfway through Appetite for Destruction mega-hit Paradise City – for which the band recruited Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl – event organizers pulled the plug, though in typical rebellious rock 'n' roll fashion, they carried on and finished the track anyway – and ultimately released pro-shot footage of what the performance should have sounded like.

Jerry Cantrell once gave Axl Rose a demo tape when Alice in Chains were in their nascent years – and the Guns N' Roses frontman threw it away.

As he explained in a speech honoring Slash at the Sunset Strip Music Festival in 2010, he went to see GNR in concert, and “brought a demo tape down to give the band”.

"I met Axl after the show actually," Cantrell continues. "I gave it to him, and as he was walking away I saw him throw it away."

Now, in a new conversation on the Appetite for Distortion podcast, Cantrell remembers the experience, adding that although his demo tape was binned, Guns N' Roses remained a major influence on the early sound of Alice in Chains.

“I did speak to him about it at a club in New York,” the AIC guitarist says. “We had never really met before, other than just kind of meeting backstage at the show in Seattle at the arena where I gave him the demo tape.

“I can't remember what was on it. They were an important band to us, and Appetite [for Destruction] is one of a handful of records that's one of those epic things that transcends space and time and the band. It's a worldwide massive record and it's perfect.”

He also remembers being in a club with The Cult's Billy Duffy, when Axl Rose entered the room.

“He comes over and is like, ‘I heard you telling that story about you giving me that demo tape – are you still with that girl that you met there?’

“It's kind of just one of those fun things, when you're proud of your band when you're kind of unknown, and they were pretty damn huge. People still give me their demo tapes all the time.”

Jerry Cantrell's been a busy man in 2021, releasing two tracks from his newly announced fourth solo album, Brighten, and unveiling his brand-new Murphy Lab-aged “Wino” Les Paul Custom signature model with Gibson.

Back at the turn of the ‘90s, Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses were seen as two opposing musical forces – and indeed, the dust-up between the two acts’ frontmen, Kurt Cobain and Axl Rose, at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards is the stuff of rock legend.

Over the years, however, tensions (not to mention silly genre distinctions) have faded. So much so that the former Nirvana drummer and current Foo Fighters leader even guested, alongside Guns bassist Duff McKagan, on Watch This, a track on electric guitar player Slash’s 2010 self-titled solo album.

As Grohl recalled to Classic Rock in a new interview, “We were young and were fucked up and in this bizarre fantasy world of rock ’n’ roll. We were fucking kids. And the years went by and we all realized: ‘Come on, man, life is too short.’ ”

A few years later, Grohl had another collaboration with the Gunners, although this one was a bit more bizarre. When Rose broke his foot at a warm-up show for the band’s 2016 Not In This Lifetime… reunion tour, McKagan phoned Grohl to ask if they could borrow the throne he had used onstage after breaking his leg during a Foo Fighters show in Sweden in 2015.

“So Axl took it out with Guns N’ Roses, then he took it out with AC/DC, and then all of a sudden I became the guy you come to if you break a limb on tour, like Thrones R Us,” Grohl told Classic Rock.

Afterward, Rose dispatched Slash to procure a six-string thank-you for Grohl.

“He had Slash go pick me a guitar,” Grohl said. “And he picked me an early-’60s Gibson ES-335 Dot, which to this day is the nicest fucking guitar I have ever played in my life. 

"It was an incredibly kind and classy gesture, and I was very appreciative.”

Slash recently launched the latest in his line of Gibson signature models, the "Victoria" Goldtop Les Paul – which, as it turns out, was named after the person who stole his old guitars.

Guns N' Roses have extended the latest U.S. leg of their Not in This Lifetime tour, with eight additional dates scattered across the United States.

Beginning in late September in Charlotte, the dates will take the reunited hard-rock juggernaut across the United States—with a couple mid-October dates in Mexico for good measure.

You can check out the band's full itinerary below.

When asked last year about the potential for a new album from Guns N' Roses, Slash, who rejoined the band in 2016, told Guitar World: "There’s talk about doing some recording. I think we all would love to do something that we thought was really cool. We just haven’t really sat down and put our noses to the grindstone to do it. We haven’t really had time. But there’s been a couple things that we’ve dicked around with at soundchecks."

For tickets and more info, head on over to gunsnroses.com.

Guns N' Roses 2019 North American Tour Dates

September 25 – Charlotte, NC @ Spectrum Center
September 28 – Louisville, KY @ Louder Than Life Festival
October 1 – Jacksonville, FL @ VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena
October 4 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
October 7 – Wichita, KS @ INTRUST Bank Arena
October 11 – Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
October 13 – Manchester, TN @ Exit 111 Festival
October 15 – Lincoln, NE @ Pinnacle Bank Arena
October 18 – Guadalajara, MX @ Estadio Jalisco
October 20 – Tijuana, MX @ Estadio Caliente
October 23 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Chesapeake Energy Arena
October 25 – New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Festival
October 29 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Vivint Smart Home Arena
November 1 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace
November 2 – Las Vegas, NV @ The Colosseum at Caesars Palace

"Rock the Rock," a tune Axl Rose recorded for the New Looney Tunes TV show, has surfaced. It's the Guns N' Roses frontman's first new song in 10 years. 

According to Blabbermouth, Rose appeared on the episode of the show that premiered on December 24. 

The premise of Rose's appearance was reportedly as follows: Rose asks Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and co. how to get to the Civic Center, where he is scheduled to perform that night with his band Steel Underpants. 

After the Looney Tunes characters inform Rose that there is a giant asteroid heading towards earth, he tells them his new speakers can "shake mountains to the ground."

Bugs Bunny then proposes that Rose play loud enough to destroy the asteroid before it can land, with the Looney Tunes crew serving as his backing band. The group then proceeds to play "Rock the Rock," ultimately blowing up the asteroid and saving the world.

You can check out the zany clip above.

Guns N' Roses have premiered a previously unreleased, piano-only 1986 demo of their legendary 1991 ballad, "November Rain." You can check it out above.

Recorded as part of the band's 1986 "Sound City Session," the demo was marked for inclusion in the band's upcoming Appetite for Destruction box set.

The Appetite for Destruction reissue—which is set for release tomorrow, June 29, via Universal Music Group—will be available in a number of different packages, ranging from a single-disc, remastered version of the original album, (the first time the album has ever been remastered) to the Locked N' Loaded box set edition, which will set you back $999. You can read about the different packages in more detail right here.

Preorder any of one of the sets right here.

During their set at the Firenze Rocks Festival in Florence, Italy, Foo Fighters surprised the assembled masses by bringing out none other than Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan for a fierce cover of Guns N' Roses' "It's So Easy." You can watch fan-filmed footage of the performance above.

This isn't the first time that Guns N' Roses' ongoing Not In This Lifetime tour and Foo Fighters' Concrete and Gold tour have crossed paths, resulting in a live cameo. Just last November, Guns N' Roses invited Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl onstage for a rollicking rendition of Guns N' Roses' "Paradise City" at a Tulsa, Oklahoma show.

Throughout the current, European leg of the Not In This Lifetime tour, Guns N' Roses have been pulling out some surprises of their own. Last week—at a show in Odense, Denmark—the band played B-side "Shadow of Your Love" live for the first time since 1987. The band also surprised and thrilled audiences with a cover of Velvet Revolver's "Slither" at a show at Olympiastadion in Berlin.

You can check out Guns N' Roses' full itinerary below.

Stop by gunsnroses.com for more detailed ticket information.

Guns N' Roses 2018 Tour Dates:

• 6/18 - Paris, France - Download Festival
• 6/21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
• 6/24 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarktgelände
• 6/26 - Bordeaux, France - Matmut Stadium
• 6/29 - Madrid, Spain - Download Festival
• 7/01 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olympico
• 7/04 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffertpark
• 7/07 - Leipzig, Germany - Festwiese
• 7/09 - Chorzow, Poland - Stadion Slaski
• 7/13 - Moscow, Russia - Otkritie Arena
• 7/16 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tallinn Song Festival Ground
• 7/19 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
• 7/21 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium

11/8: Jakarta, Indonesia

11/11: Manila, Philippines

11/14: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

11/17: Taipei, Taiwan

11/20: Hong Kong, China

11/21: Hong Kong, China

11/25: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Last night—during their show at Dyrskuepladsen in Odense, Denmark—Guns N' Roses performed "Shadow of Your Love" live for the first time since 1987. You can watch some fan-filmed footage of the performance above.

"Shadow of Your Love" was originally released as a B-side on the "It's So Easy/Mr. Brownstone" single in 1987, and also appeared on the 1988 Live From the Jungle EP and (in a different version) as the B-side to the "Live and Let Die" single in 1991.

Recently, the song has been given new life as the lead single from the band's upcoming Appetite for Destruction box set. The box set will be available June 29 via Universal Music Group.

You can preorder the Appetite for Destruction box set right here, and check out the original recording of "Shadow of Your Love" below.

Last night, Guns N' Roses kicked off their European tour with a show at Olympiastadion in Berlin. During the show, the band surprised and thrilled the assembled masses with a cover of Velvet Revolver's "Slither," the first time the band has ever performed the song live. You can watch fan-filmed footage of the cover above.

Velvet Revolver featured then-former Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, and released two albums before disbanding in 2008 following the departure of frontman Scott Weiland.

"Slither" was the band's biggest hit, and even won the band a Grammy—for Best Hard Rock Performance—in 2004.

Guns N' Roses are just getting started with their latest run of Not in This Lifetime tour dates. You can check out their full itinerary below.

Stop by gunsnroses.com for more detailed ticket information.

Guns N' Roses 2018 Tour Dates:

• 6/03 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion
• 6/06 - Odense, Denmark - Dyreskuepladsen
• 6/09 - Donnington, UK - Download Festival
• 6/12 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Veltins Arena
• 6/15 - Firenze, Italy - Firenze Rocks
• 6/18 - Paris, France - Download Festival
• 6/21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
• 6/24 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarktgelände
• 6/26 - Bordeaux, France - Matmut Stadium
• 6/29 - Madrid, Spain - Download Festival
• 7/01 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olympico
• 7/04 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffertpark
• 7/07 - Leipzig, Germany - Festwiese
• 7/09 - Chorzow, Poland - Stadion Slaski
• 7/13 - Moscow, Russia - Otkritie Arena
• 7/16 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tallinn Song Festival Ground
• 7/19 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
• 7/21 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium

11/8: Jakarta, Indonesia

11/11: Manila, Philippines

11/14: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

11/17: Taipei, Taiwan

11/20: Hong Kong, China

11/21: Hong Kong, China

11/25: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Guns N' Roses have released the previously unseen music video for the Appetite for Destruction song, "It's So Easy." You can check it out above.

Filmed live in 1989 at the infamous Cathouse in Hollywood, "It's So Easy" was never completely finished and remained in the vaults, unseen and unreleased. The footage was recently uncovered for inclusion in the band's upcoming Appetite for Destruction box set.

It has been digitally restored in 4K UHD from 16mm film transfers with the original conceptual scenes edited back in with the live footage, just as the band originally intended.

The Appetite for Destruction box set will be available June 29 via Universal Music Group.

You can preorder it right here.

Guns N' Roses have announced yet another leg of their Not in This Lifetime tour, one that will bring the band to Asia.

The dates—which are set for November—will take the band to Indonesia, the Phillippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates. You can check out their full itinerary—including the dates for their summer tour of Europe—below.

Guns N' Roses also recently announced a massive reissue of their blockbuster 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, featuring dozens of previously unreleased bonus tracks. The reissue is set to arrive in four different packages, and will be available June 29 via Universal Music Group. You can preorder any of one of the sets right here.

Guns N' Roses 2018 Tour Dates:

• 6/03 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion
• 6/06 - Odense, Denmark - Dyreskuepladsen
• 6/09 - Donnington, UK - Download Festival
• 6/12 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Veltins Arena
• 6/15 - Firenze, Italy - Firenze Rocks
• 6/18 - Paris, France - Download Festival
• 6/21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
• 6/24 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarktgelände
• 6/26 - Bordeaux, France - Matmut Stadium
• 6/29 - Madrid, Spain - Download Festival
• 7/01 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olympico
• 7/04 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffertpark
• 7/07 - Leipzig, Germany - Festwiese
• 7/09 - Chorzow, Poland - Stadion Slaski
• 7/13 - Moscow, Russia - Otkritie Arena
• 7/16 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tallinn Song Festival Ground
• 7/19 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
• 7/21 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium

11/8: Jakarta, Indonesia

11/11: Manila, Philippines

11/14: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

11/17: Taipei, Taiwan

11/20: Hong Kong, China

11/21: Hong Kong, China

11/25: Abu Dhabi, UAE

Well, I guess we know now what that mysterious Appetite for Destruction-themed Guns N' Roses billboard we told you about earlier this week was teasing. Guns N' Roses have announced an enormous reissue of their blockbuster 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction.

The reissue will be available in a number of different packages, ranging from a single-disc, remastered version of the original album, (the first time the album has ever been remastered) to the Locked N' Loaded box set edition, which will set you back $999. We'll break the packages down in further detail below.

The Deluxe Edition of the reissue is a 2-CD, $19.98 set featuring the remastered version of the original album, plus a disc of 18 highlights from the Super Deluxe Edition of the set, including 7 previously unreleased tracks like “Shadow of Your Love,” the 1986 Sound City Session tracks and the 1988 acoustic version of “Move to the City.” It also features expanded album art, with unreleased photos from Axl Rose's archive, and memorabilia.

The Super Deluxe Edition of the reissue is a 4-CD, $179 set featuring 49 previously unreleased tracks, a 96-page hardcover book featuring unreleased photos from Axl Rose's archive and a number of assorted merchandise including replica concert tickets, a wall poster, temporary band member tattoos , a Robert Williams painting litho, and a replica “Welcome to the Jungle” video shoot invite flyer originally drawn by Slash. You can watch an unboxing video of the massive set below.

The Locked N' Loaded box set has all the features of the Super Deluxe Edition, plus seven 12-inch 180g audiophile vinyl discs, seven 7-inch singles on yellow vinyl, a dozen lithos newly visualizing each song on Appetite, 5 custom hand-made metal-cast band skull face rings, 5 hand-made metal-cast band skull face lapel pins, buttons, patches, replica concert tickets and gig flyers, 5 metal skull face and signature-stamped guitar picks, a turntable mat, wall posters, replica ‘85/’86 club days banner, a numbered certificate of authenticity and more.

Each of the reissue packages will be available June 29 via Universal Music Group. You can preorder any of one of the sets right here.

A mysterious billboard—featuring all five members of the Appetite for Destruction-era lineup of Guns N' Roses—has been spotted in the Camden area of London, Alternative Nation reports.

The billboard links to a site called gnr.fm, which is blank, save for a message that says "Destruction is Coming." It also provides links to the band's social media pages.

The gnr.fm URL is reportedly registered to Universal Music Group, which inevitably has led some to conclude that the publicity campaign is meant to tease a reissue of Appetite for Destruction. Others though, are speculating that the billboard is teasing a full reunion of the Appetite-era lineup of Guns N' Roses.

The band's ongoing Not in This Lifetime tour reunited Axl Rose—the hard-rock juggernaut's sole constant member through the years—with Slash, the band's long-estranged superstar guitarist, and bassist Duff McKagan. Original guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler, however, were not invited to join the tour full-time.

Adler has made occasional guest appearances onstage with the band during the tour, while Stradlin reportedly walked out on a reunion with the band after a soundcheck prior to one of the Not in This Lifetime tour stops.

Zakk Wylde's a busy man. Between his upcoming six-string duties on Ozzy Osbourne's farewell tour and Black Label Society's new album, Grimmest Hits, he certainly has plenty to talk about.

In a recent interview with Eon Music though, Wylde opened up about another subject, his legendary audition with Guns N' Roses in 1995.

"Axl was telling me that he and the other guys were talking about getting another guitar player," Wylde said. "He said they were just talking about guys and this and that, and Axl just said, 'Well what about Zakk?'"

"I know all the guys, but I'd never met Axl before, but I knew Duff and I knew Slash, so it was just kind of just throwing it around as a joke, and then it was, 'Why don't we just ask Zakk what he's doing and have him come down?' So, I just went down to jam with the guys. It's not even like an audition at that point; Jimmy Page is not going to audition for The Rolling Stones, it's just like, 'Jimmy, do you want to come down and jam with us?' 'Yeah, okay, no problem.' So, it was more that—just a bunch of clowns getting together and jamming."

When asked how far the sessions went, Wylde said "We jammed a bunch of things, but nothing was happening at the time with the fellas. It was Slash, Axl, Duff, Matt, Dizzy was down there—so all the guys, and then I just came in, and it was jamming. We did demos and stuff over at Duff's house in the studio. We just had a bunch of riffs and stuff like that, but nothing was going on; it was in limbo, it was just laying there, and I was like, 'I've got such an outstanding booze bill, I've got to pay this debt off,' so I said, 'Fellas, I’ve got to get back to work, just let me know what's going on.'"

"I remember Ozzy was just like, 'Zakk, are you going to be jamming with the fellas, or are we going to do this,?'" Wylde recalled. "And I said, 'Oz, I have no idea. I've got to ask the guys, and I'll see if I can get you an answer.'"

"Then it kept going, and then it prolonged, and Ozzy was like, 'Zakk, I'm just going to get somebody else, dude. I can't be sitting around, because I'm getting ready to tour,' and I was like, 'I completely understand.' That's when Father Joe [Holmes] came in and was playing with the boss. And then I'd got all these riffs laying around, and I thought, 'To hell with it, I'll just do it myself,' and that's when Black Label was born, and here we are 20 years later."

Though Guns N' Roses' long-running Not in This Lifetime tour has been dubbed a "reunion" tour by many, that label isn't entirely accurate.

Yes, the tour reunited Axl Rose—the hard-rock juggernaut's sole constant member through the years—with Slash, the band's long-estranged superstar guitarist, and bassist Duff McKagan. Original guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler, however, were not invited to join the tour full-time.

While Adler has made occasional guest appearances onstage with the band during the tour, Stradlin has not appeared with the band. According to former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven however, this was not supposed to be the case.

Appearing on the Appetite for Distortion podcast, Niven said "He [Stradlin] did get as far as flying out and doing a soundcheck, and then he left after the soundcheck, he didn't want to have anything to do with it."

According to Niven, the soundcheck with Stradlin took place last year, "Somewhere out in the Midwest." "Obviously had it gone well and everybody had been happy, and there had been a little bit of brotherhood, I’m sure he would have stayed with it," Niven continued, "But something must have really upset him, because he left after the soundcheck, and never turned up for another one or an appearance. I would think right now he is probably a little pissed off.”

You can listen to Niven's interview below. The passage in question begins at around the 1:43:45 mark.

The current incarnation of Guns N' Roses will head to Europe this summer for a lengthy tour of stadiums and festivals. You can see their itinerary below.

Guns N' Roses Summer 2018 Tour Dates
6/03 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion
6/06 - Odense, Denmark - Dyreskuepladsen
6/09 - Donnington, UK - Download Festival
6/12 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Veltins Arena
6/15 - Firenze, Italy - Firenze Rocks
6/18 - Paris, France - Download Festival
6/21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
6/24 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarktgelände
6/26 - Bordeaux, France - Matmut Stadium
6/29 - Madrid, Spain - Download Festival
7/01 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olympico
7/04 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffertpark
7/07 - Leipzig, Germany - Festwiese
7/09 - Chorzow, Poland - Stadion Slaski
7/13 - Moscow, Russia - Otkritie Arena
7/16 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tallinn Song Festival Ground
7/19 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
7/21 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium

Throughout their ongoing Not in this Lifetime tour, Guns N' Roses haven't been shy about inviting famous friends onstage.

Last month, during a show at New York City's Madison Square Garden, the band brought Pink onstage to assist them with the G N R Lies ballad, "Paradise," and—during their show last week at Houston's Toyota Center—the band brought out ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to assist on that same song.

Last night, November 14, the band played the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Foo Fighters—in the midst of their own Concrete and Gold tour—happens to be playing the same venue tonight.

Never one to miss a collaboration, Axl Rose decided to bring Grohl—who "just happened to be in the neighborhood"—onstage for "Paradise City."

You can watch the performance above.

Guns N' Roses recently extended their Not in This Lifetime tour into 2018, announcing an extensive European trek that will take place throughout the summer.

You can stop by gunsnroses.com for more detailed ticket information.

Guns N' Roses have extended their Not in This Lifetime tour for another year, announcing a run of European dates that will take place next summer.

The dates—which begin in early June and extend through the end of July—will take the band across the continent, and include a headlining slot at the Download Festival.

The tour—which brought original members Slash and Duff McKagan back into the fold—has been a remarkable commercial success, even by the band's lofty standards. According to Billboard, the band's North American stadium tour this summer alone brought in $55 million. Before that leg of the tour had even begun, the Not in This Lifetime tour had already grossed a staggering $230 million.

You can check out the full itinerary below, and stop by gunsnroses.com for more detailed ticket information.

Guns N' Roses Summer 2018 Tour Dates
6/03 - Berlin, Germany - Olympiastadion
6/06 - Odense, Denmark - Dyreskuepladsen
6/09 - Donnington, UK - Download Festival
6/12 - Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Veltins Arena
6/15 - Firenze, Italy - Firenze Rocks
6/18 - Paris, France - Download Festival
6/21 - Dessel, Belgium - Graspop Metal Meeting
6/24 - Mannheim, Germany - Maimarktgelände
6/26 - Bordeaux, France - Matmut Stadium
6/29 - Madrid, Spain - Download Festival
7/01 - Barcelona, Spain - Estadio Olympico
7/04 - Nijmegen, Netherlands - Goffertpark
7/07 - Leipzig, Germany - Festwiese
7/09 - Chorzow, Poland - Stadion Slaski
7/13 - Moscow, Russia - Otkritie Arena
7/16 - Tallinn, Estonia - Tallinn Song Festival Ground
7/19 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
7/21 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium

During the first of their three dates at New York's Madison Square Garden Wednesday night, Guns N' Roses brought out a somewhat unexpected guest for the G N' R Lies song, "Patience."

In what appeared to be an off-the-cuff decision, frontman Axl Rose invited pop star Pink up to the stage to help him out with some of the song's closing lines. Though seemingly caught off guard by the invitation, Pink didn't take long to get in step with the band, and seemed to enjoy singing with Rose, who was all smiles.

Throughout the Not in This Lifetime tour—which brought original members Slash and Duff McKagan back into the fold—Guns N' Roses seem to have revelled in the looser, more spontaneous moments of their lengthy concerts.

At a show in Edmonton in August, for instance, the band took the time to pay tribute to country icon Glenn Campbell—who had passed away a few weeks before—and to the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, with loose but lively covers of "Wichita Lineman" and "I Got You (I Feel Good)."

You can check out this unlikely duet for yourself below.

During their performance Wednesday night, August 30, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Guns N' Roses took the time to play a couple of unexpected covers, tackling classics by country legend Glen Campbell and the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

Lest you think that Guns N' Roses have decided to don cowboy hats and pursue a country career, frontman Axl Rose told the crowd "It's not what you think," before launching into the Campbell hit, "Wichita Lineman." "We're going to play something we've never played before. It might not be your thing, but we're just trying to pay a tribute to someone."

For good measure, the band also performed James Brown's "I Got You (I Feel Good)" in its entirety—complete with a smoldering solo from Slash—for the first time. The band (sans Slash and Duff McKagan) had previously performed a snippet of the song at Rock in Rio in 2006.

You can watch both of the performances below.

Guns N' Roses headed to Australia earlier this week, kicking off speculation that AC/DC main man Angus Young might join the band on stage during their brief stay.

While that remains to be seen, Angus has already found a clever way to welcome the GNR gang to his country: an airport prank.

GNR bassist Duff McKagan revealed—via Instagram—that Young played a practical joke on the band after they touched down at Sydney Airport for the latest leg of their ridiculously successful Not in This Lifetime... Tour.

It seems GNR were held on the plane for a very long time, for what airline staffers called "security checks."

So Axl, Slash, Duff, Richard Fortus and the gang waited ... and waited ... and waited ... until Angus suddenly showed up in an orange vest posing as an airport worker.

Unfortunately, there are no pics or videos of the incident (come on, guys—break out those iPhones!), but we do have a pic of the very nice flowers Angus sent the band. They were accompanied by a “Welcome to Sydney!” card signed by Angus and his wife, Ella.

Lebeis Fernando, a member of GNR's management team, posted the pic, adding, "I have missed these two, Angus and Ella. AC/DC Family."

I have missed these two, Angus and Ella. AC⚡️DC Family.

A photo posted by Fernando Lebeis (@flebeis) on Feb 8, 2017 at 3:30am PST

OK, enough with the flowers. Back to business: GNR are performing Friday and Saturday night (February 9 and 10) at Sydney’s ANZ Stadium, and people are expecting—or at least hoping for—an on-stage visit from Angus.

This would reprise his surprise GNR guest appearance at the 2016 Coachella Festival, where Angus, Axl and the gang performed AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" and "Riff Raff."

Stay tuned for updates!

AC/DC and Axl Rose were back together again this past Saturday for the first of their 10 rescheduled Rock or Bust U.S. shows.

Performing in Greensboro, North Carolina, the group surprised fans by playing “Live Wire,” from their 1975 album, T.N.T. AC/DC hasn’t performed the cut since October 1982. That performance is streaming below along with pro-shot footage of “Back in Black” from the same show and a rehearsal reel for the Rock or Bust U.S. tour.

On their previous jaunt this spring, Rose and AC/DC made a habit of pulling out deep cuts from the band’s catalog, including tracks like “Touch Too Much,” “Dog Eat Dog,” “Riff Raff,” “Rock n’ Roll Damnation,” and “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It).”

Rose appeared at Saturday’s show fresh from the North American leg of Guns N’ Roses’ Not in This Lifetime summer tour, which wrapped up on August 22 in San Diego. His tenure with AC/DC began last April following singer Brian Johnson’s announcement that he could no longer perform due to hearing loss. The 10 North American shows scheduled for August and September are makeup dates for performances that were cancelled following Johnson’s departure. The remaining dates are below.

AC/DC Rescheduled North American Tour Dates

• August 30 - Fort Lauderdale, FL, BB&T Center
• September 1 - Atlanta, GA, Phillips Arena
• September 4 - Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
• September 6 - Cleveland, OH, Quicken Loans Arena
• September 9 - Detroit, MI, The Palace
• September 11 - Buffalo, NY, First Niagara Center
• September 14 - New York, NY, Madison Square Garden
• September 17 - Washington, DC, Verizon Center
• September 20 - Philadelphia, PA, Wells Fargo Center

Loudwire just launched its new Loudwire Podcast!, with Black Label Society guitarist Zakk Wylde as its premiere guest.

During the hour-long chat, hosts Graham Hartmann and Joe DiVita got Zakk’s thoughts on a range of topics, including his August 15 opening slot on Guns N’ Roses’ reunion tour and which lineup he prefers: Ozzy-era Black Sabbath or Dio-era Black Sabbath.

Zakk also shares a classic Ozzy Osbourne story at the end of the podcast, so stick around for the whole thing.

A new Loudwire Podcast! will be released every other Thursday. The podcasts are available on iTunes.

Zakk is currently on tour in support of his latest album, Book of Shadows II.

The interview begins at 2:40.

Zakk continues, “Axl would say [AC/DC former singer] Bon Scott was my guy, when we were talking about all the musicians who inspired us. So it’s a perfect fit… For Axl, I’m sure he’s beyond honored that he’s up there jamming with Angus and the guys. And he’s singing his ass off. How is this a bad thing?”

2. He Thinks Angus Young Should Keep AC/DC Going Despite Cliff Williams’ Departure at the End of This Tour.
“I got some of my buddies that are huge AC/DC guys that are just like, ‘Dude, there’s nobody in the band left if Cliff walks away.’ I get that, but it’s like, if we manage Angus and he’s like, ’I wanna still keep making music; I just wrote a whole ton of new riffs and a whole ton of new songs,’ the whole thing will be like, ‘Well, if you wanna keep rolling, let’s keep this thing going.’ I support him either way.”

3. In the Debate over the Ozzy vs. Ronnie James Dio Era of Black Sabbath, He Chooses Ozzy. (18:52)
But he also points out that both Ozzy and Sabbath changed their sound so much after their split that they essentially became two different acts. “The sound changed so dramatically and drastically,” Zakk notes. “[The breakup] was pretty much the best thing that could happen to both of them. It was almost like you hit the reset button on both of them, on Ozzy and [on] Geezer and Tony and Bill. It was like you hit the reset button and all this freshness just came out again—Ozzy with Randy [Rhoads] and when Saint Ronnie joined Tony and Geezer and Bill. But the music was so drastically different from when the Boss [Ozzy]was in Black Sabbath.”

4. He Doesn’t Think Down Tuning Has Much to Do with the Power of Tony Iommi’s Riffs. (23:08)
“The down tuning’s fine and all,” Zakk says. “But if he was still playing in A-440 and he’s playing ‘Into the Void’—it’s what he wrote. It’s those riffs, man. I mean yeah, down tuning is low and I get it, because it just sounds heavier sonically. But if he was still A440 and playing ‘Into the Void’ on an acoustic guitar, that’s still, like, the heaviest riff.”

5. He Thinks Judas Priest is the Defining Metal Band. (24:45)
“Judas Priest is more metal than Black Sabbath. Sabbath is more blues and stuff like that, where Priest to me is the defining metal band.”

6. Vocal Chops Are Overrated. (27:20)
In a continuation of the Ozzy-vs-Dio debate, Zakk says Ozzy’s lack of vocal chops is inconsequential. “Half the guys we love wouldn’t even make it on American Idol. I’m talking whether it’s Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen….any of these cats. These guys that are legendary artists would last about two seconds on American Idol and they’d get laughed out of the place.”

7. He’d Put Ozzy’s vocals on Sabotage up Against Any Other Heavy Metal Vocal Performance.
“It’s one of the hands-down top three greatest vocal rock performances of all time,” Zakk says. “His vocals on Sabotage are beyond stellar. It’s just the blues licks in his voice, the rasp in his voice, and how much he’s pushing, and the emotion and everything like that. Hands down, I’d put it up against all his peers, whether it’s Ian Gillan, Robert Plant...all the guys that are known for having amazing vocal chops. Hands down, I’d put that in the ring against anybody.”

Guns N’ Roses were in the middle of performing their classic song “November Rain” on August 5 in Houston, Texas, when a technical glitch made Axl Rose call the song to a halt.

“Stop!” he commanded. “What the fuck is that?” he said, looking around the stage.

The incident, which begins around the 4:30 mark in the video below, appeared to be caused by a problem with one of the keyboards, which was repeatedly sounding some high and extremely off-key notes.

• “Can we stop it at least?” Axl asked, before telling the audience, “Wow, the piano’s broken.”
• As the group continued with the tune, a few more odd notes could be heard, causing Rose to smile and shake his head. “I don’t mind ghosts or gremlins,” he remarked just after the song ended, “but they should probably learn the fucking song.”
• Whatever the cause of the problem, Rose took it all in stride and carried on with the show, undoubtedly to the relief of all concerned.

Angus Young says it might have been better if AC/DC had quit after his brother Malcolm was diagnosed with dementia in 2014.

Speaking with Rolling Stone, the AC/DC lead guitarist admitted that the long-running band is at a crossroads. Since Malcolm’s departure, the band has parted ways with drummer Phil Rudd. Longtime lead singer Brian Johnson left in March due to hearing problems, and bassist Cliff Williams has announced he’ll retire later this year, following the group’s Rock or Bust tour. Young isn’t quite sure what’s next for the group or for him.

“Cliff made it known before we’d even started touring—this would be his last,” he tells Rolling Stone. “Besides myself, Cliff has been there the longest, since 1977.”

Young also reveals how Axl Rose came to fill in following Johnson’s sudden departure from the tour.

“Axl contacted a production guy who had done stuff for us,” he reveals. “He said, ‘I know these guys. They have a work ethic. They want to finish these dates.’ He volunteered. He came to a rehearsal place we set up in Atlanta, and he’d done his homework. He had a few songs like ‘Touch Too Much’ [from 1979’s Highway to Hell] – ‘Can you play this one?’ ‘No, we never learned it.’ We had never attempted to play it live.”

Speaking about his brother’s condition, Young indicates Malcolm is slipping further away. “It’s hard to communicate,” he says. “I do pass on messages. I can’t be 100 percent sure it goes in there. But I let him know there are a lot of people missing him.”

When asked, “Do you now wonder if it was time to quit when Malcolm couldn’t continue–that you pushed the band too far?” Angus admits it’s possible.

“That might be the case,” he says. “But Malcolm was always one to battle through. He would look at me in times of crisis and go, ‘We’ll just go in and do some work. We’ll sit and write some songs.’ He had that drive, and I feel obligated to keep it going, maybe because I was there in the beginning with him.”

For that matter, Rose has indicated he’d like to continue working with AC/DC and is writing material for the band.

But for now, Angus says, AC/DC is committed only to finishing the tour. And if AC/DC’s is finished, Angus says there aren’t a lot of people he’d care to play with.

You can read the full interview at RollingStone.com.

Guns N’ Roses added the Chinese Democracy track “Catcher in the Rye” to their set at the Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on July 20. This marked the first time the song has been played on their Not in This Lifetime Tour, and the first time guitarist Slash performed it live.

Singer Axl Rose wrote “Catcher in the Rye” after watching a documentary about Mark David Chapman, John Lennon’s killer. After shooting Lennon in December 1980, Chapman had remained at the scene reading a copy of the J.D. Salinger novel Catcher in the Rye, a book he referred to as “my statement.”

Guns N' Roses kicked off their Not in This Lifetime tour in full force last night at Ford Field in Detroit.

The two-and-a-half-hour set stood in stark contrast to the band's earlier warmup shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas this past spring. This was different—this was a rock powerhouse flexing its muscle in front of 40,000 fans.

For starters, Axl Rose stood up this time—no longer needing the throne he borrowed from Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl after breaking a bone in his foot a few months ago. He, along with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, ruled the stage this time around. Rose did, however, sit down—at the piano—for a powerful performance of "November Rain."

After kicking things off with "It's So Easy," the band launched into a career-spanning set that featured two dozen songs, including "Sweet Child O' Mine," “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Chinese Democracy” and “Civil War.” Below, you can check out the band's complete set list, plus several decent-quality clips from the performance.

The tour continues June 26 in Washington, D.C., then moves on to another 19 cities throughout North America. Alice In Chains also will perform on the tour June 26 through July 3; Lenny Kravitz will join the lineup July 19 through July 24. For more information, check out gunsnroses.com.

GUNS N' ROSES' JUNE 23 SET LIST

It's So Easy
Mr. Brownstone
Chinese Democracy
Welcome to the Jungle
Double Talkin' Jive
Estranged
Live and Let Die (Paul McCartney and Wings)
Rocket Queen
You Could Be Mine
You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory (Johnny Thunders)
Raw Power (Iggy and the Stooges)
This I Love
Civil War
Coma
Band intros into Slash solo - Speak Softly Love (Love Theme from The Godfather/Andy Williams)
Sweet Child O' Mine
Better
Out Ta Get Me
Jam (Wish You Were Here/Pink Floyd)
November Rain
Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan)
Nightrain

Encore:
Don't Cry
The Seeker (The Who)
Paradise City

Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC have one thing in common: lead singer Axl Rose. So wouldn’t it make sense for the two groups to tour together?

Rose apparently thinks so. Guns N’ Roses’ former manager Vicky Hamilton told the Let There Be Talk podcast that Axl wants the bands to hit the road together once they wrap up their summer schedules.

“I heard [Axl] said that he’s going on tour with Guns N’ Roses, and AC/DC is gonna open,” Hamilton said. “And he’s gonna sing both sets. I’m like, Okay…”

Hamilton, who managed Guns N’ Roses when they were starting out in the Eighties, recently released her memoir, Appetite for Dysfunction: A Cautionary Tale, about her years in the music business.

Regarding Rose’s stint in AC/DC as replacement for longtime singer Brian Johnson, Hamilton says, “I think it’s cool. He sounds pretty good. He’s pulling it off, and I think he’s happy making one of his childhood dreams come true.”

• Hamilton also spoke about the possibility of founding drummer Steven Adler joining Guns N’ Roses on tour. Adler was slated to perform with the band this past April for its reunion shows featuring Slash and Duff McKagan but was sidelined by a back injury. Adler was filmed drumming along with the GN’R hit “Paradise City” four days ago, raising hopes that he’ll be along for the tour later this month. You can see that clip here.
• Guns N’ Roses launch their North American tour on June 23 and continue through August 22. The band recently announced their confirmed opening acts, which include Chris Stapleton, Billy Talent and Skrillex, each of whom will play one show. The band will be joined by the Cult for four concerts, Alice in Chains for five, and Lenny Kravitz for four.

Rose will hit the road briefly with AC/DC from August 27 to September 20 to fulfill U.S. dates that were postponed due to Brian Johnson’s health issues. The band was forced to miss 10 shows in March when Johnson was warned by his doctor that he was in danger of losing his hearing.

After that, both band’s schedules are open.

Guns N’ Roses Tour Dates with Current Opening Acts

06/23 Detroit, Ford Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
06/26 Washington, D.C., Fedex Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
06/29 Kansas City, MO, Arrowhead Stadium (feat. Alice In Chains)
07/01 Chicago, Soldier Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
07/03 Chicago, Soldier Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
07/06 Cincinnati, Paul Brown Stadium
07/09 Nashville, Nissan Stadium (feat. Chris Stapleton)
07/12 Pittsburgh, Heinz Field
07/14 Philadelphia, Lincoln Financial Field
07/16 Toronto, Rogers Centre (feat. Billy Talent)
07/19 Foxborough, MA, Gilette Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
07/20 Foxborough, MA, Gilette Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
07/23 East Rutherford, N.J, MetLife Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
07/24 East Rutherford, N.J., MetLife Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
07/27 Atlanta, Georgia Dome (feat. The Cult)
07/29 Orlando, Orlando Citrus Bowl (feat. The Cult)
07/31 New Orleans, Mercedes-Benz Superdome (feat. The Cult)
08/03 Arlington, Texas, AT&T Stadium (feat. The Cult)
08/05 Houston, NRG Park (feat. Skrillex)
08/09 San Francisco, AT&T Park
08/12 Seattle, CenturyLink Field
08/15 Glendale, AZ, University of Phoenix Stadium
08/18 Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium
08/22 San Diego, Qualcomm Stadium

Though they recently revealed that Alice in Chains and Lenny Kravitz would open select dates on their forthcoming "Not in This Lifetime" tour, Guns N' Roses had still yet to reveal who would open the vast majority of their stadium dates this coming summer.

That is, until today.

Today, the band revealed a slew of different openers for different dates on the tour, coming from an eclectic variety of genres.

For instance, country superstar Chris Stapleton will open the band's July 9 show at the Nissan Stadium in Nashville, while EDM icon Skrillex will open the band's August 5 show at the NRG Park in Houston.

In addition, Canadian rocker Billy Talent will open proceedings at the band's July 16 date at Toronto's Rogers Centre, while The Cult will open four shows during the tour's Southern swing from July 27-August 3.

You can see the full lineup of tour dates (with openers) below, and get tickets for the shows here.

• 06/23 — Detroit, Mich. — Ford Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
• 06/26 — Washington, D.C. — Fedex Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
• 06/29 — Kansas City, Mo. — Arrowhead Stadium (feat. Alice In Chains)
• 07/01 — Chicago, Ill. — Soldier Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
• 07/03 — Chicago, Ill. — Soldier Field (feat. Alice In Chains)
• 07/06 — Cincinnati, Ohio — Paul Brown Stadium
• 07/09 — Nashville, Tenn. — Nissan Stadium (feat. Chris Stapleton)
• 07/12 — Pittsburgh, Pa. — Heinz Field
• 07/14 — Philadelphia, Pa. — Lincoln Financial Field
• 07/16 — Toronto, Ontario — Rogers Centre (feat. Billy Talent)
• 07/19 — Foxborough, Mass. — Gilette Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
• 07/20 — Foxborough, Mass. — Gilette Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
• 07/23 — East Rutherford, N.J — MetLife Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
• 07/24 — East Rutherford, N.J. — MetLife Stadium (feat. Lenny Kravitz)
• 07/27 — Atlanta, Ga. — Georgia Dome (feat. The Cult)
• 07/29 — Orlando, Fla. — Orlando Citrus Bowl (feat. The Cult)
• 07/31 — New Orleans, La. — Mercedes-Benz Superdome (feat. The Cult)
• 08/03 — Arlington, Texas — AT&T Stadium (feat. The Cult)
• 08/05 — Houston, Texas — NRG Park (feat. Skrillex)
• 08/09 — San Francisco, Calif. — AT&T Park
• 08/12 — Seattle, Wash. — CenturyLink Field
• 08/15 — Glendale, Ariz. — University of Phoenix Stadium
• 08/18 — Los Angeles, Calif. — Dodger Stadium
• 08/22 — San Diego, Calif. — Qualcomm Stadium

Axl Rose has asked Google to remove a famously unflattering 2010 photo of him, dubbed "Fat Axl" by the Internet, from the web entirely.

TorrentFreak has revealed that Rose has sent Google a Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice to Google claiming ownership of the image in question.

The photo was taken by Boris Minkevich of the Winnipeg Free Press during a January 2010 Guns N’ Roses performance from the Chinese Democracy World Tour at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Canada.

Google has yet to comply with Rose's demand, which is centered around a claim that all professional photographers at Axl Rose performances must sign a release which cedes copyright of their photographs to Rose.

Minkevich has said that those who have used the photo for anynumber of memes are stealing it, regardless of who is in the right in the dispute. “Either way the photo was stolen off our website with no permission granted by the Winnipeg Free Press,” he said.

While packing out stadiums across Europe to rave reviews from critics and fans alike this summer, AC/DC have today announced full details of their re-scheduled U.S. tour dates.

• The AC/DC 'Rock or Bust World Tour' returns to America for 10 final shows in August and September 2016. They are in Greensboro, Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Columbus, Cleveland. Detroit, Buffalo, New York, Washington and Philadelphia. Original tickets will be honored for all rescheduled dates, refunds are available at point of purchase.
• AC/DC have played to more than 4 million fans on the 'Rock or Bust World Tour,' and the current lineup of Angus Young, Cliff Williams, Stevie Young, Chris Slade and Axl Rose are set to continue their global trek with a return, for the final leg, to the USA (for the new USA tour schedule see below).
• The second leg of AC/DC's European tour which kicked off in Lisbon on May 7 has been greeted with acclaim from all quarters. Rolling Stone headlined with ''AC/DC is a triumph - this new union is one of the touring hits of the summer'' while the Guardian in London called the gig - "triumphant...a rock n roll victory on wheels..." The Telegraph critic added: "Angus Young is a consummate showman rocks the duck walk... Axl hit every note and sent it to the heavens... simply great."
• Not for the first time last year, AC/DC were hailed as the biggest selling live act in the world when, sadly, vocalist Brian Johnson was forced to step down midway through the U.S. tour after being advised by doctors that he risked total hearing loss if he continued to perform live. For the shows in Europe with Axl Rose on vocals, AC/DC have been surprising fans by including rarely played tunes from their formidable archive such as 'Rock 'n' Roll Damnation', 'Riff Raff', 'Touch Too Much' and 'If You Want Blood (You've Got It).'

Angus Young commented: "This band has got a ton of energy and you're going to see a fusion of all that terrific chemistry that we have felt ever since rehearsals in Lisbon. I want to get back out there onstage in the US with these guys so our audience can see and feel it too."

The rescheduled AC/DC 'Rock or Bust' U.S. dates are:

8/27/16 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
8/30/16 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center
9/1/16 Atlanta, GA Phillips Arena
9/4/16 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena
9/6/16 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena
9/9/16 Detroit, MI The Palace
9/11/16 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center
9/14/16 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
9/17/16 Washington, DC Verizon Center
9/20/16 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center

AC/DC have mostly stuck to the script during their current European tour with Axl Rose on vocals. However, this past Sunday night in Prague, they busted out a true surprise, performing the classic Highway to Hell track “Touch Too Much” live for the first time since 1979.

Here's their entire set from Sunday night:

• Rock or Bust
• Shoot to Thrill
• Hell Ain't a Bad Place to Be
• Back in Black
• Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
• Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
• Rock 'n' Roll Damnation
• Thunderstruck
• High Voltage
• Rock 'n' Roll Train
• Hells Bells
• Given the Dog a Bone
• Dog Eat Dog
• If You Want Blood (You've Got It)
• Sin City
• You Shook Me All Night Long
• Shot Down in Flames
• Have a Drink on Me
• T.N.T.
• Whole Lotta Rosie
• Let There Be Rock

ENCORE

Highway to Hell
Touch Too Much
For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

This past Friday night, AC/DC—featuring Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose—pulled into the Stade Velodrome in Marseilles, France. The show featured the band's first performance of "If You Want Blood (You Got It)" since October 2003.

You can watch them play this Highway to Hell favorite below.

This past Tuesday night, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose played his second show with AC/DC, this time in Seville, Spain.

The band played the same set at Seville's Estadio de La Cartuja that they played in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 7.

Rose apparently still needs his throne (well, Dave Grohl's throne), the result of his snapping his metatarsal bone April 1 during GNR's reunion show at the Troubadour in LA. You can check out several of the performances below.

Seville setlist:

• 01. Rock Or Bust
• 02. Shoot To Thrill
• 03. Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
• 04. Back In Black
• 05. Got Some Rock & Roll Thunder
• 06. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
• 07. Rock 'N' Roll Damnation
• 08. Thunderstruck
• 09. High Voltage
• 10. Rock 'N' Roll Train
• 11. Hells Bells
• 12. Given The Dog A Bone
• 13. Sin City
• 14. You Shook Me All Night Long
• 15. Shot Down In Flames
• 16. Have A Drink On Me
• 17. T.N.T.
• 18. Whole Lotta Rosie
• 19. Let There Be Rock

Encore:

20. Highway To Hell
21. Riff Raff
22. For Those About To Rock (We Salute You)

AC/DC and their new (if temporary) frontman, Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose, have made their first officlal appearance together.

In the brand-new clip below, Rose, along with AC/DC's Angus Young and Cliff Williams, announce AC/DC's May 7 performance in Lisbon, Portugal, which kicks off their European Rock or Bust trek.

Even though the news of Rose sitting in with AC/DC has been official for several weeks, seeing Angus and Axl in a video together drives home the fact that this is real—this is happening! If you happen to be in Europe this week and want to track down these guys, head here for more information.

Yesterday, we shared two mysterious audio clips of what seems to be Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose rehearsing with AC/DC.

Today we're adding a few more leaked clips, leaving you with—in total—the following songs:

“Thunderstruck,” “Shoot to Thrill,” “Hells Bells,” “Hell Ain’t a Bad Place to Be” and “Back in Black.”

Of course, because there are no photos or videos among the leaked files, we can't be 100 percent sure this really is Rose and AC/DC. However, two clips mention Lisbon, Portugal, where AC/DC are scheduled to perform May 7, as part of their Rock or Bust tour.

Two brief videos that are said to feature audio of Axl Rose rehearsing with AC/DC have emerged online in the past day. The clips, below, contain snippets of Rose and the group playing “Thunderstruck” and “Shoot to Thrill.”

Both clips are brief and contain no relevant video. Considering they were recorded from outside the studio, it’s obvious the band is rehearsing at full volume. And you were wondering why Brian Johnson’s hearing is shot?

It’s not clear where the rehearsals are taking place. One of the video titles suggests the location is Lisbon, the site of AC/DC’s first show with Axl Rose on May 7. Full tour information is available on AC/DC’s website.

These clips may not be around for very long. Enjoy them now.

“Thunderstruck”

“Shoot to Thrill”

Late Saturday night, AC/DC officially announced the departure of longtime frontman Brian Johnson and his—at least temporary—replacement by Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose.

• Here's the complete press release:
• "AC/DC band members would like to thank Brian Johnson for his contributions and dedication to the band throughout the years. We wish him all the best with his hearing issues and future ventures.

"As much as we want this tour to end as it started, we understand, respect and support Brian's decision to stop touring and save his hearing. We are dedicated to fulfilling the remainder of our touring commitments to everyone that has supported us over the years, and are fortunate that Axl Rose has kindly offered his support to help us fulfill this commitment."

AC/DC will resume their Rock or Bust World Tour with Rose on vocals. The band's European stadium tour dates begin May 7 in Lisbon, Portugal, and will run through June 12 in Aarhus, Denmark, as previously announced. Following this European run of dates with AC/DC, Rose will head out on the Not in This Lifetime summer stadium tour with Guns N' Roses.

AC/DC's 10 postponed U.S. shows will be rescheduled and announced imminently, also with Rose on vocals.

According to several reports, Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose might be filling in for AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson for the remainder of the venerable Australian band's tour.

AC/DC recently rescheduled a few U.S. dates after Johnson was warned by doctors to "stop touring immediately or risk total hearing loss."

The group even issued a statement confirming that the remaining dates of their U.S. tour will be "made up later in the year, likely with a guest vocalist."

Well, as Alternative Nation is reporting, Jason Bailey, an Atlanta disc jockey, has claimed that a "very very good source" informed him that Rose will join AC/DC for the rest of their tour dates after being "flown in" to Atlanta to audition with the band.

"This is what I’m being told; Axl was meeting with AC/DC, because it’s all but a done deal that Axl will front AC/DC for the 10 remaining shows. All 10, including Atlanta," Atlanta Radio 100.5 DJ is quoted as saying.

"From what I was told, this was all kind of new inside information to me, Angus [Young] is a very black and white guy," he added. "He’s like, Brian, for health reasons, can’t continue fronting the band. He was supposed to retire after the last tour, so they wanted to continue going out on the road and continue making music, so if you can’t do it, we appreciate your services, but the show must go on. They’re in town, they were auditioning people for the job, and then they flew Axl in. Again, this is from my source."

Johnson has been AC/DC’s lead vocalist since 1980. He joined the group following the death of Bon Scott.

Meanwhile, the "classic"-era lineup of Guns N' Roses is set to reunite this summer for a slew of dates, including Coachella next month.

Stay tuned for updates on this story. Stranger things have happened, folks!

Slash has revealed that he and Axl Rose are on friendly terms again. In a new interview with Sweden’s Aftonbladet the guitarist says he and the singer have put aside their differences and have been speaking to one another.

“It was probably way overdue, you know?” Slash said. “But it’s very cool at this point to dispel some of that negative stuff that was going on for so long.”

The animosity between Slash and Rose goes back years. The guitarist quit Guns N’ Roses in October 1996 and told Rolling Stone in 2012, “[Axl] hates my guts. It’s over a lot of different stuff; I don’t even know.”

Slash had noted in May that the two had begun to make peace, saying, “We don’t have all those issues anymore. There’s not a lot of controversy. It’s something that’s more perpetuated by the media than anything.”

The timing of a reconciliation seems fortuitous. Guitarists DJ Ashba and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal recently announced their departures from Guns N’ Roses, leaving the group in need of an ax slinger or two.

But Slash is not about to commit to any future collaborations with Rose.

“Oh, I couldn’t answer that one,” he says, adding, “Let’s get off the subject because that’s an old one.”

Rose, for his part, has shown little interest in working with his former bandmates. When the original GN’R lineup was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, Rose didn’t attend the ceremony and wrote an open letter putting any hopes of a reunion to rest.

“Let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever,” he wrote. “Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn’t owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another’s, or in this case several others’, expense.”

The recent, ultra-popular (but unscientific) list naming Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose as the greatest singer of all time based on vocal range has stirred up the web quite a bit, to such an extent that Rose himself has issued a response.

Rose explained that he feels "flattered and humbled," but hardly sees himself as the greatest singer ever.

Rose went on to share a list of vocalists he thinks should be ranked above him. "From what I could tell, the original article was for the most part only talking about the professionally recorded vocal range of the singers they compared calling the entire group 'The World's Greatest Singers.' It's very flattering and humbling to be included in such an illustrious ensemble."

"If I had to say who I thought the best singers were, I'd say first that I don't know there's a definitive answer as in my opinion it's subjective, and second that my focus is primarily rock singers," he continued.

"That said, I enjoy Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Dan McCafferty, Janice Joplin, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Don Henley, Jeff Lynne, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Scott, Etta James, Fiona Apple, Chrissie Hynde, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and a ton of others (predominantly '70s rock singers) and would rather hear ANY of them anytime rather than me! Peace! Axl," Rose concluded.

This past Wednesday, April 23, Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose received the Ronnie James Dio Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented to him by his friend, actor Nicolas Cage.

Watch the full presentation below (which also features Andrew Dice Clay), and let us know what you think in the comments!