One of the most musically-versatile rock bands of the ’90s also happens to be one of the more influential ones. Of course, I’m talking about Faith No More, who on such ’90s classics as Angel Dust and King for a Day…Fool for a Lifetime took on a myriad of styles: alternative, metal, rap, funk, experimental, easy listening, Middle Eastern, etc.
And as a result, the band found themselves on bills with a wide variety of artists: Soundgarden, Voivod, Robert Plant, Billy Idol, Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, etc. And subsequently, being listed as an influence from many renowned artists (Korn, System of a Down, Deftones, Slipknot, Dillinger Escape Plan, etc.).
Bottum spoke with Alternative Nation just before the release of his autobiography, The Royal We, on November 4, 2025 via Akashic, and was willing to discuss the book, his career, and what it was like for FNM to tour with a band like G n’ R back in the day. This is part 1 of our multi-part interview, which will include a full Faith No More biography.
Alternative Nation: Now that it’s been a few years since the release of Faith No More’s last album, Sol Invictus, what do you think of it now?
Roddy Bottum: I haven’t listened to it for a while. I think, like maybe four years ago, we were going to do some reunion shows that didn’t happen…or some just regular shows that didn’t happen right at the onset of Covid. I started listening to it again, just to sort of prepare myself, and rehearse the songs on keyboards, and get my part of it together. And I liked it – I liked that record. I like the piano on it quite a bit. Billy [Gould] wrote a big part of that record, and a lot of it’s sort of a testament to his sort of like, prowess. But yeah, I like it.
Alternative Nation: What do you recall about Faith No More’s reunion shows?
Roddy Bottum: When we did the first reunion tour, we had broken up for like…almost 15 years. And it was kind of like, I used to have dreams when I was younger – I get to school and, “Oh my God, I forgot to study for the test!” And then the test is right then, and I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m gonna fail!” At some point after Faith No More broke up, I kept having these dreams that I would show up, “Oh my God. Faith No More was doing a reunion tour, and I forgot to learn the songs!” It became this thing that sort of replaced that dream scenario for me. So, I kept having these dreams. That was a nightmare I kept having.
And then we structured a whole tour and learned the songs and played the songs and did the tour, and it’s like, I was able to address that nightmare in a real, actual physical sense. And I think it was key in moving forward in my life in some weird way. Plus, it was just really fun. Billy and I have been friends since we were, like, I don’t know, 9 or 10 years old. So, it was fun to sort of tap back into that friendship and just hang out.
Alternative Nation: Are you in touch with your FNM band mates?
Roddy Bottum: Sure.
Alternative Nation: Would you consider playing shows again with them if the opportunity arose?
Roddy Bottum: I don’t think so. No.
Alternative Nation: Is there a specific reason why you wouldn’t?
Roddy Bottum: It’s not just me. I don’t think anyone’s sort of up for it at this point. We had a bunch of shows that we were gonna play, and they got canceled, just for various reasons. But I don’t think the course that we were on has fixed itself. I just don’t see it happening again, honestly. I think we did a really good job. We played a bunch of reunion tours, and I think we did what we kind of set out to do.
So I don’t think anyone’s upset about it or anything. But I mean, for sure, getting back together would mean a big paycheck, but I think all of us are pretty good with what we did, sort of just like, artistically with the band and committing to ourselves and playing with each other. I think we’re all pretty good with the decisions that we’ve made up to now, and I don’t see what could really happen more getting back together and doing more shows.
Alternative Nation: What about if the day comes that Faith No More gets into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
Roddy Bottum: I don’t see that happening. I mean, we were such a weird band. I don’t really see a big institution like that taking us on. We were very offbeat and weird and unorthodox, and we never played by the rules. I don’t see an institution like that accepting us into their sort of spectrum.
