Wall Street Journal reporter Neil Shah is reporting that sources have told him that a new Izzy Stradlin Twitter account is indeed the legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist. He tweeted, “Two sources tell me that @IzzyStradlin999 is real.” Further confirmation appears to have come just minutes ago, with Stradlin tweeting a new video of himself playing guitar, and also tweeting Alternative Nation.
The first tweet from the @IzzyStradlin999 account on February 22nd read:
“Izzy Stradlin fact.. At this point in time , I`ve no involvement in the upcoming April 2016 GNR shows.”
Watch the video Stradlin just tweeted of himself performing “Sunshine” by Jonathan Edwards below.
Recorded this today . Its an old fave called "Sunshine" written by Jonathan Edwards .
Izzy pic.twitter.com/MRD09XJfaR— Izzy Stradlin (@IzzyStradlin999) March 1, 2016
Stradlin has also tweeted Alternative Nation.
@AltNationNet Cheers !
— Izzy Stradlin (@IzzyStradlin999) March 1, 2016
GNRevolution have shared a timeline of Izzy’s Twitter account:
FACTS/PROOF
1) Never before seen selfie of Izzy.
2) Proof of my 10 years+ track record as far as Izzy news goes. (Source)
3) I’ve confirmed Izzy hasn’t been “hacked” as he answered 2 security questions through email and later phoned me.
4) Izzy asked his friend Paul about his career on Twitter and Paul replied. No fans would know about @N3LSA.
5) Izzy asked Bernard Fowler to share a photo of them backstage. The photo was shared on Twitter, but fans had already seen the photo months ago and claimed it verified nothing.
6) The partner of Rick Richards (Georgia Satellites/Izzy Stradlin) has said on Facebook “IzzyStradlin999 is legitimately on Twitter.”.
FANS DOUBTS ABOUT AUTHENTICITY
1) Izzy tweeted a Youtube video entitled “YO SOL AXL ROSE” which was a spanish GNR cover band. Fans questioned why Izzy would choose to post such a video. [Now deleted]
2) Izzy tweeted an Abraham Lincoln meme questioning the authenticity of “quotes on the internet”. [Now deleted.]
3) Izzy tweeted to Rick Nielsen that he’d bought a computer, opened a Twitter account, and had quit avocado farming. Now deleted, but it lead to some funny fanart on social media:
(Source)
(Source)
4) Izzys tweets were disappearing almost immediately after fans started talking about them on the message boards.
5) The always media shy Izzy has sent multiple tweets to Rolling Stone, Ultimate Classic Rock and Loudwire but none have run his original statement about not being involved in the Guns N Roses shows in April 2016.
(Source)
6) The associate editor of Rolling Stone, Andy Greene, has been unable to verify that the account is genuine. His “bullshit detector” was at 99.5% but the following day he was “much less skeptical”. Izzy has deleted all tweets to Andy Greene.
(Source)
7) Izzy doesn’t follow a single member of Guns N Roses on Twitter.
8) No GNR band members past or present follow Izzy on Twitter.
9) Izzy claims to have started the “verification” process on Twitter, but their is still no blue tick. [Tweet now deleted]
10) Izzy tweeted the below “Stradlin Identity” meme which had been posted on mygnrforum.com saying it should settle the real/fake debate once and for all [Tweet deleted, but here’s the pic he shared]
11) Izzy tweeted his and Steven Adlers recording of “Do You Love Me” – Source
12) All of the “proof” is debatable.