Steven Adler says he isn’t allowed to talk about his reunion gigs with Guns N’ Roses
"I can't even tell you why I can't tell you any more"
Guns N’ Roses’ former drummer Steven Adler claims he’s not allowed to speak about his 2016 reunion performances with the band.
The 52-year-old rocker, who was part of the ‘classic’ Guns line-up from 1985 to 1990, made four cameo appearances on the Not In This Lifetime… Tour in Cincinnati, Nashville, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires last year guesting on the ‘Appetite For Destruction’ classics ‘Out ta Get Me’ and ‘My Michelle’.
Despite previously speaking candidly about the performances and revealing his ambitions to reunite with Guns N’ Roses once again, Adler has now told Rolling Stone he has been forced to stay silent on the reunion.
"I had the best experience last year playing with them last year," Adler told the US magazine. "I wish Izzy (Stradlin) was there, but it was so great since I finally got to have some closure. It was wonderful.
“I don't have nothing else to say about it. I'm really sorry. That's all I can tell you. There's nothing to say. I literally, literally honest to god literally, I can't even tell you why I can't tell you any more. Literally, okay? I really can't. I just can't."
In an interview with the One on One With Mitch Lafon podcast last month, Adler spoke about the gut wrenching moment Duff McKagan told him he wouldn’t be part of the reunion tour.
He said: “The understanding was I was going to do all the Appetite, the live, and three or four of the Use Your Illusions songs (on the Not In This Lifetime tour), and then Frank, who is a wonderful awesome guy, he was going to do like the Chinese Democracy stuff and a couple of the other songs.
“I had been playing like 25 songs twice a day for almost two years, every day, so I was ready to go. Then the second rehearsal, I came into the rehearsal in March, and f***in’ second day, I just stretched, all I did was stretch. I pulled my arm and went ow. I went, I just did something. Then we played another 7 songs, and then my back was really sore, and I came home at about 8 at night, then by midnight I couldn’t even stand up. It was just terrible.
“I was out for two weeks, and then I got the epidural after about a week, and then I had the surgery. I was ready when they did the Troubadour show, and Duff called me and said, ‘Dude, you’re not going to play with us anymore, you’re not going to do these shows.’ I went, ‘You’re the worst f***ing person in the world,’ and I hung up on him. I called him back and left a message saying, ‘I’m so sorry I said that.’ When I said he was the worst person in the world, I didn’t mean he was, I was thinking I was the worst person in the world.
“I couldn’t even get back with my f***in’ guys after they gave me this opportunity, but I said it to him. When you have resentment, you say things that you’re feeling, and I was feeling it about me, and I said it about him. I couldn’t apologise to him enough, because he knows I love him more than anything. Obviously, I got to apologise, because we did shows together, and he understood.”
Guns N’ Roses play two dates at London Stadium this June. The Friday show is sold out but you can still buy tickets for the Saturday from Kerrang! Radio Tickets** **now.