While Steven Adler did do a few guest performances with Guns N’ Roses in 2016, but Izzy Stradlin never played with the ‘Not In This Lifetime’ Guns N’ Roses lineup for the Adler performances to complete an original lineup reunion.
Duff McKagan told 92.9 The Bear in a new interview, “I will tell you this: Things are very positive in our camp and they started that way and they remain so, if not more. But in classic Guns N’ Roses fashion, I will tell you nothing.”
Duff said regarding Izzy Stradlin possibly playing with Guns N’ Roses again, “That is something that we tried to make happen at the beginning. It just didn’t work out.”
Izzy said last year that he and Guns N’ Roses were unable “to reach a happy middle ground through the negotiation process.”
Axl Rose told Brazil’s Globo TV in 2016 about Stradlin, “I don’t really know what to say about Izzy. 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.”
On Twitter, Izzy called Rose’s comments “bullshit” and said that Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan didn’t want to
“split the loot equally.”
In a new WRIF interview, McKagan was asked if he is underrated as a bassist, “I don’t know where I’m rated. I don’t pay attention to that. I’m really so just all into my craft. It’s not a contest. I try to play the best…
“Any musician in any band — for a really good band — you know your part in the band,” he continued. “If you’re a drummer, be the best drummer you can be. If you’re a bass player, make yourself as valuable as you can to that band. If you’re a rhythm guitar player, lead guitar player, singer…
“I didn’t start off as a bass player, and Guns was the first band I really, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna be a bass player. This is what I’m gonna do,'” he added. “And I really dove into it head first. And [I] listened to Prince, I listened to John Paul Jones, I listened to Paul Simonon from The Clash and Lemmy, and Killing Joke — all these cool, different bands that really inspired my bass playing. And I just kind of took it from there.”
