What Sorum Would Have Done Differently in Guns N' Roses

Michael Angulia | 12-26-2023

Guns N' Roses

Former Guns N' Roses drummer Matt Sorum revealed that looking back he would have handled his time in the band differently if he had the benefit of hindsight.

Sorum, who took the place of original drummer Steven Adler and went on to appear on their "Use Your illusion" albums, made the comments during an appearance on the Black Oxygen Inspiration podcast.

He said, "It got scary. In retrospect, maybe, being a little bit older, I would have handled it differently, but it got a little bit out of control because it became so big. We were moving fast.

There was a lot of people around us. There was a lot of, I can't say confusion, but, I don't know. I was starting to kind of get out of sorts because we were the biggest band in the world at that time.

"There was nothing bigger, and it was intense because there was a lot of people coming at you, like old friends, just like infiltrating. And thank God I didn't have a cell phone or text in those days. Like imagine like if you had a text.

"And I'll admit it. I fell into too much drinking. And the band was pretty famous for that. So, in a way, I felt obligated to do it because we were, and I've explained it before, I always said that I felt like a pirate on a pirate ship. There was just this sort of gang mentality amongst us, and I wanted to be part of the gang.

"I didn't have one tattoo when I joined Guns N' Roses. It's almost like when you're a kid in school and you're hanging with some other guys, this is how that feels. It's, like, 'Okay, I'm gonna go get the tattoos. I'm gonna drink.' I always drank.

"But my point is things got a little bit confusing only because it was just so big. And there was a lot of kind of Hollywood sycophants around, a lot of what I call, I used to call them spot welders. And some of it I liked. And it was weird, because, I'd say to any young musician that gets successful, watch out for your ego. Just be careful, because that's what happened. And it's cliche - it's very cliche."