Steven Adler discussed Guns N’ Roses members Melissa Reese, Richard Fortus, and Dizzy Reed in a new interview with Eddie Trunk.
“Oh, dude. The reason they fit perfect in that band is ’cause they’re like fucking ghosts. ‘Cause Axl doesn’t wanna see nobody. I would walk into the studio, I’d say hi to them, and then I’d turn around, and they’d be gone. And then when I was done playing, all of a sudden, [they’d be there] again. And I’m, like, ‘Where did you go?’ Very nice people — very quiet, just the way Axl likes it: nice and quiet.”
He also explained why Izzy Stradlin refuses to play with the band, “Because he wants to do it like me — the right way or not at all. And the reason I did it and needed to do it was because I got kicked out of the band for reasons I still don’t know. To say that I’m a drug addict in that band and getting kicked out for drugs is ridiculous. They were doing drugs way more than me, so it’s like calling the kettle black. But it was different stuff. Axl wanted more control of the thing. Then he wanted control of Izzy, and then he wanted control of Slash and Duff, and so one at a time everybody left until it was the Axl Rose band. But he still called it Guns N’ Roses. And I don’t blame him — I would too, ’cause that name is worth billions. So I’d use it if I could myself. [Laughs] I’d get Steven Tyler to sing though. [Laughs] Like I said, [Izzy] wants to do it the right way, with the five of us, and I needed to do it, because I neeed closure. I got kicked out, and all of a sudden… I had a road crew, I had management, I had accountants, I had stage people, I had a band, and then one day, literally in one afternoon, I had nobody — I was all alone. And I was scared shitless. I didn’t know what to do. What do I do? All I knew was what I was doing. And then I was left all alone. So being able to at least play the one or two songs at the five shows I did was severe closure for me.”
He later said, “If we did it the right way, yes. I can’t watch somebody… I will share the stage with Frank any day. I’ll do the ‘Appetite’ stuff, which is the great stuff anyways and the fun stuff anyways, and I’ll do the ‘Lies’ stuff, I’ll do a couple of ‘Illusions’ [songs], and let Frank, in the middle of the set, play the ‘Chinese Democracy’ stuff, some of the ‘Illusions’ stuff. If we split it, I wouldn’t mind sharing the stage with him at all. I mean, if that’s what it came down to, I’m cool with that. He’s a great guy. [But] I can’t [just play one or two songs per show anymore]. It’s just too hard. It’s too hard. I wanna play more, and I want Izzy to be there. It was the five of us that made magic, and I know we can make that magic again, ’cause it’s just who we are. Even though we’re twenty-five years older, I know if we got in a room together and started playing, it would be fucking magic.”
