Richard Fortus was part of Guns N’ Roses’ post-Slash era that saw the likes of Buckethead, Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, and DJ Ashba all come and go. But when the top-hatted maverick returned to the fold in 2016, Fortus remained part of the picture, and that’s seen his role in the band change over time.

“It’s been a pretty massive change,” Fortus tells Guitar World, reflecting on how different things are now compared to when he joined. Back in 2002, the band was at a crossroads, with Axl Rose and company labouring over Chinese Democracy between relentless touring.

“Robin Finck was my favorite guitarist I played with, besides Slash, and was the one I felt most unified with,” he continues, revealing his second favorite GNR player. “With Slash, it's a whole different level. I've never played with another guitar player I feel so in-sync with.”

Fortus has been responsible for covering the parts once played by Izzy Stradlin and Gilby Clarke – the latter of whom temporarily joined Alice Cooper’s band earlier this year after Orianthi withdrew due to injury. So, does he play their parts note-for-note?

“I can't really speak to the Gilby thing as much, but with Izzy, there are certain things I view as integral,” Fortus underlines. “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 of how I approach things,” he continues. “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.”

Fortus played a role in Chinese Democracy – when it was finally released into the world in 2008 – and is set to feature on its successor. Speaking in the same issue of GW, Slash has seemingly confirmed their plans to write his first album with the band in decades. But they’re also in no rush to finish it.

Slash has also discussed how he wasn’t convinced about Sweet Child O’ Mine’s potential at first. Fortus, meanwhile, experienced a first during a recent show in Saudi Arabia, when the gig was so hot that it melted his pickups.

Guns N’ Roses’ full cover story can be read in the new issue of Guitar World. Head to Magazines Direct to grab a copy.

Several years ago we saw a Slash-played B.C. Rich, used to write many of Guns N’ Roses’ earliest songs, hit the auction block.

Now another electric guitar rarity from the early Guns days is going up for sale – a Gibson ES-175D reportedly owned by Izzy Stradlin and used at the Appetite For Destruction recording sessions.

The hollow-body model, finished in Arctic White, will be offered with a starting bid of $50,000.

According to seller Backstage Auctions, Stradlin received the guitar from Gibson artist rep Roger Bell in 1987. Stradlin subsequently used it at the Appetite For Destruction sessions, as well as in various concerts, most notably the February 2, 1988 Guns N' Roses show at the Ritz in New York, which was filmed by MTV and rebroadcast on the network incessantly in subsequent years.

Soon after, Stradlin sold the guitar to Howie Hubberman, who was involved with Guns N’ Roses on the management end early on and who also owned Hollywood’s Guitars R Us.

Backstage Auctions reports that “Izzy's girlfriend at the time alerted two of her friends who played in a local Sunset Strip rock band. They bought this guitar, as well as a 1987 black Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion, from Howie's store and for the past 32 years the guitars have been in their possession. They sold the guitars in 2020 to a veteran music industry executive, who is making this illustrious arctic white Gibson ES-175D guitar available for this auction.”

The guitar, unsurprisingly, exhibits some wear and tear, including “rope burn” from the yellow rope used by Stradlin along with his guitar strap, glue marks left where the bridge was reattached after it became dislodged when the guitar was restrung and an exposed screw hole from where the pickguard was removed.

The guitar has serial number 80787552 and was made on March 19, 1987 at Gibson’s Nashville plant. Former Guns N' Roses managers Alan Niven and Doug Goldstein, as well as Stradlin’s attorney, were contacted and verified its provenance.

The ES-175D comes with the original case, a professional summary document by the current owner and a signed and notarized statement from Hubberman.

For more information, head to Backstage Auctions.

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.

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.

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.

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

Izzy Stradlin, the occasionally reclusive former Guns N' Roses guitarist and co-founder, has turned up on John Mellencamp's rootsy new album, Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, which was released last month.

Stradlin plays on one song, "Grandview," which you can hear via the lyric video below. The track also features contributions by country singer Martina McBride and former Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch.

NPR calls “Grandview” the album’s "only real rocker," describing it as “sung from the perspective a working-class middle-aged man whose biggest dream is outfitting himself with a trailer and getting out of town.”

Stradlin made his first appearance on a Mellencamp tune almost 20 years ago, when he played on “Miss Missy” from Mellencamp's self-titled 1998 album. Both gents happen to be from Indiana.

Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin just released his cover of the JJ.Cale song “Call Me the Breeze.” The song first appeared on Cale’s 1972 album, Naturally, but was made famous when Lynyrd Skynyrd covered it on their 1974 album, Second Helping.

Stradlin’s version features guest appearances by vocalist Lauren Barth and guitarst Jesse Aycock. The track was recorded this past summer at Brotheryn Studios in Ojai, California and at Fellowship Hall Sound in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Izzy Stradlin reportedly turned down a five-figure fee to appear with Guns N’ Roses at last April’s reunion shows, according to band insider MSL.

Writing on the GN’R Insider website, MSL says Stradlin was offered the fee for each show he would have played with the group.

“We know Izzy was in rehearsals at one point and was negotiating to appear at a few of the April gigs,” MSL writes. “Equal pay was never discussed. A 5-figure fee per cameo is what was being negotiated. But there is a lot of room for negotiation on a 5-figure fee. 10k? 99k?

“Whatever it was, they were far apart and Izzy bailed. He doesn’t need their chump change and they don’t need to throw away a bunch of money on a guy that isn’t gonna sell many tix.”

Axl Rose said in a July interviewed that he was confused about Stradlin’s decision not to join the reunion, noting, “It’s like you could have a conversation and think it’s one way and the next day it’s another way.”

In response, Stradlin posted a September 7 tweet that read, “Bullshit. They didn’t want to split the loot equally. Simple as that. Moving right along…”

The band’s April dates included their warm-up gig at the Los Angeles Troubadour, a pair of show at the Las Vegas T-Mobile Arena, two dates at Foro Sol in Mexico City and the group’s headlining appearances at Coachella Music Festival. It’s not know which shows Stradlin might have performed at or if he would have joined the group for its 21-city reunion tour, dubbed Not in This Lifetime….According to Billboard, Guns N’ Roses grossed $116.8 million from the North American leg of that tour. The band will hit Latin America this fall, with dates lined up in 11 cities across the continent.

Earlier this week, we—and the rest of the world—shared a video featuring a July interview with Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose and Duff McKagan.

In the clip, which you can check out here, Rose is asked why original Guns N' Roses member Izzy Stradlin wasn't involved with the band's 2016 reunion and subsequent tour.

"I don't really know what to say about Izzy," Rose said about the guitarist. "It's like you could have a conversation and think it's one way and the next day it's another way. And I'm not trying to take any shots at Izzy. It's just his thing is kind of his thing, whatever that is." Rose added, when talking to Brazil's Globo TV, that he wasn't optimistic about Stradlin rejoining his former bandmates.

Well, Stradlin took to his Twitter account yesterday to respond to Rose's comments, writing, "Bullshit. They didn't want to split the loot equally. Simple as that. Moving right along... ." You can see his tweet below.

Stradlin, who co-founded GNR with Rose in 1985, has kept a low profile over the years, resurfacing every now and then to make a few surprise appearances at GNR shows, as he did in Las Vegas in 2012. His last solo album, 2010's Wave of Heat, featured a guest appearance by McKagan.

GNR's "reunion" lineup tour featured Rose, Slash and McKagan, with the occasional appearance by drummer Steven Adler. All we can say is, stay tuned!

Many Guns N’ Roses fans were unhappy when they learned that founding guitarist Izzy Stradlin wouldn’t be part of the classic lineup’s reunion along with Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.

There’s some good news for them, however. Stradlin has been working on new music and plans to release a song later this month.

Stradlin shared a clip of the tune, which has the working title of “Walkin’,” and you can hear it below.

The guitarist’s last album was Wave of Heat, issued in 2010 as an iTunes-only release.

MIXING NEW SONG FOR JUNE RELEASE !
WORKING TITLE "WALKIN" pic.twitter.com/OJdI1WLJYk

— Izzy Stradlin (@IzzyStradlin999) June 11, 2016

Former Guns N' Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin has made his second public appearance in the span of a few weeks, joining Aerosmith on stage Monday night in Los Angeles for a performance of "Mama Kin." Check out the footage below.

"Mama Kin" appeared on Aerosmith's self-titled debut album 1973 and was subsequently covered by Guns N' Roses for the 1988 EP, G N' R Lies.

Last month, Stradlin appeared at the final two shows of Guns N' Roses' Las Vegas residency, joining the current lineup of the band for a rendition of the Use Your Illusion-era cut, "14 Years."

Also attendance for Monday night's Aerosmith concert was actor Johnny Depp, who performed covers of The Beatles' "Come Together" and Fleetwood Mac's "Stop Messin' Around" with the band. Bonus clips of Depp's performance can be found below as well.

Aerosmith released their latest studio album, Music From Another Dimension!, last month. For the full scoop behind the album, pick up the Holiday 2012 issue of Guitar World right now in our online store.

Closing out their first-ever Las Vegas residency with a bang, the current incarnation of Guns N' Roses was joined by original member Izzy Stradlin on both Friday and Saturday night for a rendition of the Use Your Illusion classic, "14 Years." Check out the fan-filmed video below.

Stradlin joined Axl Rose in sitting out the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction earlier this year, issuing a statement beforehand thanking Guns N' Roses fans.

"Big thanks to all my bandmates who helped get us to where we are today," he wrote. "And, of course, thank youto all of the people on this planet (including, but not limited to, the entire universe and beyond, etc., etc., etc.) who have supported Guns N' Roses from day one. Adios, Amigos!"

Guns N' Roses kicked off a series of intimate shows last night at New York City's Roseland Ballroom.

You can watch good-quality footage of the band performing "Civil War" from last night's show below.

The Roseland show from last night marked the first of three NYC shows the band will play during fashion week, the other two being at Terminal 5 and Webster Hall -- which will be transformed into The Ritz for one night only in honor of the band's famed 1988 show at the venue.

"In many ways, the Roseland show could have happened at any point in the 25 years since the band released its seminal first album, Appetite for Destruction," said a New York Times review.

"The nearly three-hour show was laden with familiar extravagances: grandiose guitar solos, the band’s aggressively priapic stage presence, Mr. Rose’s multiple costume changes and pliant snake dance. Yet it was a far more streamlined production than past outings; it almost started on time, for one, with nary an onstage tantrum."

According to Izzy Stradlin’s web site, chopaway.com, the former Guns N’ Roses guitarist will make his new album available exclusively on iTunes sometime between now and June. Titled Miami, the album will be offered in the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe simultaneously.

Miami features the regular lineup of Stradlin on vocals and guitar, Rick Richards on lead guitar and Taz Bentley on drums. JT Longoria, who performed on Stradlin’s last album, Like a Dog, returns to cover bass duties on the album, and friend Joey Huffman takes keyboards.

Bentley, who appears on all of Izzy’s solo albums dating from 1998 to 2007, said of the Miami recording sessions, "We had such a good time recording this one. We did it before Christmas and when we got back home decided it was so much fun that we should go back and do some more."

Describing the sound of the forthcoming album, Bentley added, "This recording is more loose. We spent time jamming the songs out a pinch more than normal. I was in a great place mentally so I think that carried over into the recordings. Izzy, Rick and I found a hole-in-the-wall Cuban restaurant that we would walk to every day for lunch. The vibe was relaxed and the songs are as strong and diverse as always."