What were Izzy's reasons for leaving?

[sandman]

I just read through the Steven thread and saw some articles that were posted that I had not seen before. very interesting stuff.

so i was wondering, what were the exact reasons and theories as to why Izzy left the band.

I always assumed it was because he wasn't a big fan of touring. but is there more to it?



(if there's already a thread on this, please direct me to it. thanks.)

[Pandora]

My theory is that it was a combination of several factors :

- he never planned on the band becoming so big (huge stadiums, lavish videos) and the pressure that came with it

- he didn't agree with the musical direction the band was taking

- he didn't like to tour (his subsequent solo career bears witness to that)

- he was tired of Axl's erratic behavior

- he had a hard time being around drunk / wasted people while he was trying to maintain a certain level of sobriety.

Hmmm, that's about it I think. The first reason was probably the most decisive IMO.

[IzzyDutch]

2001 Hardrock Magazine interview

What was the last straw, which made you leave the
band?


After the first part of the Use Your Illusion tour,
Axl wanted to make me sign a contract which put me
aside a little, which meant that I was less paid. I
couldn't believe it. This contract came from a guy who
I grew up with. We'd always taken Guns N' Roses as a
friends' thing and, at one go, roughly, the singer
said to me: "now, we're doing business." Why was I
going to continue? Where was the fun? That was the
last straw, but there'd been antecedents which had
made me flip: during our first concert in London
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Donnington), kids died during the
show. What the fuck is that? Is that rock 'n' roll?
It's to have fun and then read in the newspaper of an
airport that kids died during your concert? It's fun
to play in stadiums every evening and to start a riot
in Saint Louis because the singer threw a fit? You
really manage at some point to say to yourself: "none
of this is funny anymore." Axl didn't do his job of
frontman anymore. And, besides, the others were
totally smashed, I didn't even manage to make them
learn covers: we would have been able to pass the time
when Axl leaves the scene, to entertain the kids.
Instead we came up with a drum solo. What's more
annoying than a drum solo?

I imagine that you were his closest friend in group
given that you'd both grown up in Lafayette. You
couln't manage to reason with him?


When he began to gain some money and to get laid, he
wasn't controllable any more. Everybody was too
wasted. I still managed to control myself, but I saw
Steven, Slash and Duff literally killing themselves
before my eyes. I don't even know any more if Steven
was still in the group in fact: what was that bullshit
anyway? A musician is fired from Guns N' Roses because
he's on drugs while the group spent all of their time
on that? I stopped everything a year before leaving
the band. So, during this year, I attended the
spectacle of my friends killing themselves. I didn't
want to be an accomplice to that, I didn't want to
wake up one day next to Slash's corpse telling myself
that indirectly, I'd participated in it. And so, I
left.


But you returned to help carry out some shows a little
later when Gilby Clarke broke his hand...


It's simple. I'd returned to Indiana, I lived
peacefully, and one day, Axl called me. He asked me
whether, effectively, I could help them on some
concerts. I asked where these shows would take place,
and it answered in Istanbul, in Athens, in London...
you think that I hesitated (laughter)?! I love to
travel and see new countries! Besides, Alan Niven, my
manager, who was also that of Guns in the beginning,
explained to me that the band still owed me some
money. He advised me to accept to make them pay what
they still owed me. It's only afterwards that I
realized that Alan was going to get 20% of this sum
(laughter)! I did these shows and I didn't enjoy
myself a lot because Duff and Slash were always still
wasted. I don't want to pretend I'm a saint, 'cause I
did everything, but when you're clean, there's nothing
funny about seeing your friends like that.

[Pandora]

Thanks IzzyDutch, I think that interview covers pretty much all my points 

[sandman]

Thanks IzzyDutch, I think that interview covers pretty much all my points?

yes, your points were right on! 

thanks for the posts.

there's always several sides to everything. so if there's any interviews with other members giving their take on izzy leaving i'd appreciate that as well.

but it does seem like it's pretty clear that it was a combination of the things you mentioned, pandora.

AND does anyone know what izzy's relationship with axl has been like over the last 10 years?

[IzzyDutch]

When Izzy left they where pissed, Slash said in an interview about TSI? that playing with Gilby sounds much more tight, he always got irretated about Izzy's playing. But he just said that cause he was mad at Izzy, he didn't mean it

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Lobby/1117/duffsbeautif.html

MG: Was it the drugs??
 
 DM: Not so much. You know what it was? It was the fame. It was the press. It was the almost unlimited power. We got too f.ckin' huge, too fast. It got so big, so fast, that in most countries, we couldn't even go out after the show when we were on tour. I remember we'd all be sittin' in the damn hotel room watching CNN just to see what was going on. It was that kind of isolation, that kind of fame ? And, of course, us trying so hard to be bad boys like The Rolling Stones. For me, personally, it was one of the darkest points of my life when we were that big. It was so unreal. Izzy left halfway through the Illusions tour. We still were holding on to that band family thing. And like a trooper, he came back out on the road with us -- even though his heart wasn't in it -- when Gilby broke his wrist. Later, he told me we were like zombies. Nobody on the stage was even talking to each other. It wasn't because we hated each other, we were just kind of going through the motions. So scary. In Europe and South America, especially, it was fanatical, and we were just dazed. WE WERE F.CKING ZOMBIES! Izzy couldn't believe the change. I mean, we were hell-bent on doing whatever we had to do to continue. There were riots in the streets. We couldn't go from our cars to the gig. That shit scared the hell out of me. Yet, through it all, I still thought we were gonna pull it together after we got off that long tour. It started to happen again for a second for us. I got excited again ? For about a minute. But no, it was just too big a business, and none of us had the training for that.


MG: At what point did you think it was gonna come back together??
 
DM: We started going to Slash's house. I'd gone out on the road promoting my first solo record [1993's Believe In Me]. I was touring Europe and Japan, then I got sick. That's when I started visiting Slash at his house. He has a little studio there and we had a batch of songs. But ya' know what? Without Izzy, we just weren't writing the old way. We had a bunch of great songs, but the way we used to write wasn't all sitting in a room and trying to force ourselves to be a family. We just were But there was a point up there where it was looking good and we started cranking out songs, but it just started falling apart.


And off topic about Steven, interesting piece...

MG: Talked to Steven Adler lately [original Guns drummer]? I know you're trying out new drummers, why not Adler??
 
 DM: I'd use him in a second, but he's another one of those guys that you know the phone call is gonna come ? I mean, I hate to say that, because I love the guy, but I think he's back in jail now. Drugs ? I saw him about two years ago -- Izzy, Wes and I went to his house. We tried to talk to him -- "Hey man, you're gonna die," we said. It didn't work. He was a mess. If I let him drum in my band, he'd fool himself into thinking he was OK because I was using him. I'd be what's called an "enabler." And I won't do that.


With Axl, he visisted his house once, they talked Axl showed him his house. Then after that he visisted him a few more times when he was riding his motorcylce and drove around his house. Every time someone else opened the door and said he wasn't there. Then the last time Axl stormed out of the door and told him to "get the fuck out of his property". Izzy said he felt like a big load fell of his shoulders when he walked out. It was the last time they talked. In a 2001 interview he was asked: "Are you still friends with Axl?" He replied: "Yeah, we just don't talk to each other (laughs)".

[IzzyDutch]

Thanks IzzyDutch, I think that interview covers pretty much all my points?

Yep

[Pandora]

AND does anyone know what izzy's relationship with axl has been like over the last 10 years?

"Non-existant" would probably be a good way to describe it 

[Doc Emmett Brown]

DM: I'd use him in a second, but he's another one of those guys that you know the phone call is gonna come ? I mean, I hate to say that, because I love the guy, but I think he's back in jail now. Drugs ? I saw him about two years ago -- Izzy, Wes and I went to his house. We tried to talk to him -- "Hey man, you're gonna die," we said.

Reading that sentence gives me the chills.  Didnt Wes die from OD?  So the phone call came for Wes...  not Steven.  Wouldnt it be ironic if Steven outlives the rest of them.

I think it's cool that Izzy keeps in touch with Steven, Slash, and Duff.  I know he was bitter in the past and said some things he might not have meant, but he seems to be a lot happier now.

[sandman]

reading that interview its clear that the main reason he left was axl. primarily axl trying to get him to give up ownershhip and to get paid less. as well as axl's behavior (walking off stage, not being a good leader, etc.).

and a secondary reason was the other band member's drug addictions.

[*Izzy*]

reading that interview its clear that the main reason he left was axl. primarily axl trying to get him to give up ownershhip and to get paid less. as well as axl's behavior (walking off stage, not being a good leader, etc.).

and a secondary reason was the other band member's drug addictions.

And the Donnington incident/The bands fame was out of control

  Izzy?

[IzzyDutch]

DM: I'd use him in a second, but he's another one of those guys that you know the phone call is gonna come ? I mean, I hate to say that, because I love the guy, but I think he's back in jail now. Drugs ? I saw him about two years ago -- Izzy, Wes and I went to his house. We tried to talk to him -- "Hey man, you're gonna die," we said.

Reading that sentence gives me the chills.? Didnt Wes die from OD?? So the phone call came for Wes...? not Steven.? Wouldnt it be ironic if Steven outlives the rest of them.

I think it's cool that Izzy keeps in touch with Steven, Slash, and Duff.? I know he was bitter in the past and said some things he might not have meant, but he seems to be a lot happier now.

West Arkeen died of an accidental drug overdose around 8:00 am on May 30, 1997. He tried to overcome the pain from when his gas oven exploded and he got 2nd and 3rd degree burns on almost 1/3 of his body.

[Doc Emmett Brown]

West Arkeen died of an accidental drug overdose around 8:00 am on May 30, 1997. He tried to overcome the pain from when his gas oven exploded and he got 2nd and 3rd degree burns on almost 1/3 of his body.

woah...I had no idea that happened... I just imagined it was from cocaine or something.  I've read in some articles that the GNR guys used to crash at his house and write songs, and that he was good friends with Duff & Izzy. 

Poor guy 

[Axllover]

I heard that he left GNR coz the band got too big..and  he wanted to spend some more time with his family..

[nyd]

There are lots of articles about Izzy leaving the band on my Izzy site www.izzy.34sp.com

Most of them are a really interesting read, especially Izzy and Mick Wall 2001

[Walapino]

thanks for that link nyd, Izzy fucking rocks. Its just sad to read those stories and how pathetic it got.. I agree what the fuck was that bullshit contract that he was trying to be forced to sign by Axl??

[Dr. Blutarsky]

Vanilla Ice or Ice Cube?

Sorry....couldn`t stop myself.

[*Izzy*]

Ice T?

  Izzy?

[plasmabeam]

well, now i finally know why Izzy left. even though it's a shame he left, i can see where he's coming from. the thing he said about "waking up and seeing Slash's corpse" more than explains it.