(hennemusic) Guns N' Roses bassist Duff McKagan has confirmed that the group invited former bandmate Izzy Stradlin to join them on the Not In This Lifetime reunion tour.
Launched in the spring of 2016 and wrapped up last December in Hawaii, the trek saw McKagan reteam with Axl Rose and Slash for the multi-year series, which went on to become one of the most successful in music history.
Now, McKagan says Stradlin was offered a chance to perform alongside the trio. "That is something that we tried to make happen at the beginning," the bassist tells 92.9 The Bear in Loveland, CO while promoting the May 31 release of his new album, "Tenderness." "It just didn't work out."
Stradlin - who co-founded Guns N' Roses with childhood friend Rose in 1985 - first shot down rumors of his involvement in the tour in 2016, before the singer commented on the rocker's status in a fall 2016 interview with Brazilian TV, explaining: "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."
Rose's comments earned a prompt online reply from Stradlin in a tweet (since deleted), saying his absence from the reunion was about money: "They didn't want to split the loot equally. Simple as that."
Last year, former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven revealed that Stradlin bailed on a guest appearance with the band in 2017.
"[Izzy] did get as far as flying out and doing a soundcheck, and he left after a soundcheck, he didn't want to have anything to do with it," Niven told the Appetite For Distortion podcast. "It was last year, it was somewhere out in the midwest, when they were doing stadiums. Obviously had it gone well and everybody had been happy, and there had been a little bit of brotherhood, I'm sure he would have stayed with it. But something must have really upset him, because he left after the soundcheck, and never turned up for another one or an appearance. I would think right now he is probably a little pissed off." Read more and listen to Duff's full interview here.
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