Gilby Clarke discussed Guns N’ Roses’ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in a new interview on the “Hangin’ & Bangin’: Artists On Lockdown” show.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t really follow that stuff, so I didn’t even know that GN’R had been nominated, let alone [that they] accepted or all that; I really wasn’t paying attention. And then I got a call from Matt, and Matt told me what was happening. And I go, ‘Woah. That’s kind of weird.’ ‘Cause, actually, I didn’t get inducted as part of the band; Matt and Dizzy [Reed, keyboards] did, along with the original five guys. And I thought it was a little odd. But by the time I found out, it was past what was going down.
“I didn’t think anybody was gonna play or anything. Two days before the show, Duff calls me and says, ‘Hey, we’re gonna play.’ And I go, ‘Oh, well, have a good time.’ [Laughs] And I go, ‘Who’s gonna play?’ I go, ‘I thought Axl [Rose, vocals] is not going and Izzy’s not going.’ And he goes, ‘Well, they’re not, but we wanna do something.’ He goes, ‘Will you come out?’ So, my wife and I flew out and we did the show. We literally rehearsed for it at three o’clock in the morning the night before. And that may sound weird, but Duff had a show in Cleveland the night before — he was doing something with his own band — and so we literally rehearsed after his show at three o’clock in the morning. I played with Steven, Slash and Duff, and then Myles Kennedy sang.”
Gilby came to accept that he wouldn’t be an inducted member. “I didn’t think it was so strange, because the Red Hot Chili Peppers were getting inducted at the same time, and they did the same thing; they picked and chose [the musicians that were being inducted]. Dave Navarro, who had been on two milti-million-selling records, wasn’t inducted with the Chili Peppers, but a guitar player that played on the first album was. So, when I started hearing about all this stuff, I go, ‘Are we getting paid for it? No. Who cares?’ Whether you care or don’t care, I don’t really know if it affects anything. I always say it’s one more line in your bio that no one’s paying attention to anyway.”
