During an interview on SiriusXM’s ‘Trunk Nation LA Invasion: Live From The Rainbow Bar & Grill’, Gilby Clarke was asked if he is surprised by the massive success of Guns N’ Roses reunion tour featuring Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan. “Yes, definitely,” he said. “I mean, to this level. I think we all expected great things, I think we all thought that they were gonna sell out everywhere, but, to be honest, I didn’t think that it would last this long and do this well; I definitely didn’t expect that.”
“I don’t really talk to [Guns N’ Roses], although I actually saw everybody yesterday. They were rehearsing and I was getting my gear. We were at the same place.”
Clarke confirmed that his chance encounter with GN’R was a good one. “Oh, absolutely,” he said. “I mean, I’m still cool with Axl; I’m still cool with everybody. I have no ill feelings or anything.”
Clarke said they did reach out to him to be part of the reunion, in a role similar to Steven Adler.
“They did. Yeah, they did. When it first started, they did reach out to me to come and play.” However, according to the guitarist, he had to decline the offer for a very good reason. “My daughter, Frankie, has a band [Frankie + The Studs],” he said. “They asked me the same day my daughter’s band was playing Lollapalooza [in July 2016], which was like the biggest break for her band. It was the same day they were playing Lollapalooza and I had to be there, and I couldn’t really give that up to go [jam with GN’R].”
He is still open to playing with them again. “I have nothing against it,” he said. “It’s just that didn’t work out for me.”