The rumor was sparked in May by an online gossip website claiming that an unnamed source told them that Axl Rose was considering retirement following the band's recent Las Vegas residency.

Reed addressed the report during the interview. "You know, so much of that crap gets out there, you can't believe any of it," Reed told Billboard. "At this point, having been in the band for so long, nothing surprises me.

"When I hear things like that I immediately dismiss them until I hear further. I'm never really concerned enough to even ask where it came from, or why, because if it's that important I'll be getting a phone call."

Reed did confirm that the band is taking some time off following the recent end of their residency but vows that they will be back. "Guns are definitely taking some time off, but we'll see. I'm not sure if we're gonna be doing anything else this year. Hopefully we will, but definitely next year. We can't stay away too long."

As for new music, Axl Rose recently confirmed in an interview with Revolver Magazine that Guns N' Roses has a wealth of material. "We recorded a lot of things before 'Chinese' was out," Axl said. "We've worked more on some of those things and we've written a few new things. But basically, we have what I call kind of the second half of 'Chinese'. That's already recorded.

"And then we have a remix album made of the songs from 'Chinese'. That's been done for a while, too. But after Vegas, we're going to start looking very seriously at what we're doing in that regard."