Axl and Duff interview this sunday for Brazilian TV (now with Izzy's response)

[russkwtx]

You could be right and 2012 occurred to me after I posted. But in any event, the point still remains that Izzy played with GNR and was introduced as a "friend" in the not-so-distant past.

[EvilSmurf]

When further asked if he would ever consider joining Guns N' Roses in the future, Izzy said, "Not in this lifetime."

[Hudson]

Both sides have valid points and Axl was as diplomatic as ever in how he addressed the question. I think Izzy may be upset Because he overplayed his hand and now looking at the success of the tour and not being a part of it has got to be a gut punch in retrospect.

Additionally, even if the money offered was less than what he expected, I'm sure he was going to make off better than sitting at home and missing out on this opportunity, which would have also helped re-ignite his solo career and album sales with his name back in the spotlight. This was a big opportunity missed, and unfortunately he miscalculated.

I don't hold anything against him when he left back in 91, because it basically came down to getting away from surrounding himself with drugs which could have cost him his life. That was really the best decision for him at the time.

Although we are not familiar with details of their negotiations Its pretty clear at this stage Axl is calling the shots and this not 1986 where all 5 members probably had equal share in money and input in what GnR was doing. I would assume Axl would have kept Richard on board and had Izzy as the third guitarist and likely a more permanent role as opposed to Steven who was probably the biggest risk.

I agree with other posters that Axl and perhaps Slash and Duff may have had concerns of Izzy wanting to bail at some point, but I don't think it strictly because of when he left in the 90s. Something that has not been mentioned yet is when Velvet Revolver started in the early stages Izzy was rumored to have been jamming and thinking of joining them, but then changed his mind,  because he did not want to deal with the touring and everything else that comes along with it. Additionally, Izzy has not really toured like Slash and Duff after exiting GnR, which likely adds to their concerns, whereas Slash and Duff have been touring with Loaded, VR, and Slash's solo projects for years. Even though axl and slash and duff had a bigger fallout axl must recognize these guys got their shit together and are reliable when it comes to touring at this stage in their career.

It would have been awesome to see Izzy on stage with GnR. Hopefully this does not close the door and they can work something out in the future, because it would be great for the fans who want to see him. I believe he would be an even greater asset in rejoining for the purposes of he songwriting contributions which are simply undeniable. I think we would critical component in coloborating in the writing process with axl and would love to see what they would come up with at this stage of their career together with slash and duff.

[Sillything]

The lyrics to Izzy's new single F.P. Money (with Matt Sorum on drums) may give some insight in his way of thinking. Damn Shame Guns don't record this in Gnr style, with different lyrics maybe.

They can fight about it, money, some bag of gold.
They can fight about it, money, the big wheels roll.
And I'm taking the long way home today.

Really got no worries either way.
Cuttin' deals, shakin' hands,
hopin' it feels, open plans.
They can fight about it, money, it's just a bag of gold.
They can fight about it, money, feel the big wheels roll.
And I'm taking the long way home today.
Really in no hurry either way.
Open fields, open planes, open gates, open lands, open space, open sky, open mind, open race.
They can fight about it, money, it's a bag of gold.
They can fight about it, money, the story goes.

[JDA]

Hope they figure it out. Love Richard, but would love to see Izzy.

[Jbat81]

Hudson- great post. I was bout to mention the VR part as well. Izzy can't be trusted when it comes to committing for a tour. Simple as that. Moving right along...

[pilferk]

Oh the drama.. kinda funny to see some overreactions.

It didnt bother me at all what Izzy said. He didnt think it was fair, the band didnt think his offer was fair. Fair enough.

So, off the Izzy topic....I just rewatched the interview.

Axls comments on the Slash dinner, and some of his other comments in that vein, really put some of the OTHER band members comments, in an interesting perspective.

It explains why certain members were talking about exciting things coming.

It explains why the "seriously investigating things in that regard" changed so quickly after the 2014 Vegas shows.

It explains Tommy's comments about "leaving it all in Vegas" and puts his comments after leaving in even more perspective than the reunion had til now.

It all sort of fits nicely....

Im kinda lost here, didnt follow the band as close back then. Could you elaborate on those comments?

I'm talking about the interview, and sort of matching it up with what happened with the  2014-2015 dribs and drabs of information and band member comments, after the Vegas shows.

You had people like Frank and Richard who were saying more optimistic and hopeful things in interviews, while you had sort of direct opposite type comments coming from Ron, Tommy, and, to a lesser extent, DJ (who just appeared to be out of the loop). 

It sort of all makes sense, now, given the timeline Axl sort of laid out in relation to his meeting with Slash.

It just creates a more concrete timeline, and a lot of the stuff that was a bit confusing at the time, now makes a lot more sense.

[sky dog]

Tommy had to have known what was going on.....funny how the last encore cover at the end of the residency was Tommy singing "You Can't Always Get What You Want"....

[GNR4LIFEJD]

I love izzy and all he contributed to the creation of GNR and he certainly has the ability to write songs. With that said why do people act like if this group of guys whether its Axl, Slash, Duff, Richard and the rest couldn't write  songs just as great as the old ones. Unfortunately we only have 1 album of material that was written after izzy left and lets be honest im sure there is a large group of "GNR Fans" who just were not going to give the credit Chinese Democracy deserved just based on who played on the album. If Axl wants to record with this group I have no doubt they could put together an awesome album.

[TheBaconman]

Oh the drama.. kinda funny to see some overreactions.

It didnt bother me at all what Izzy said. He didnt think it was fair, the band didnt think his offer was fair. Fair enough.

So, off the Izzy topic....I just rewatched the interview.

Axls comments on the Slash dinner, and some of his other comments in that vein, really put some of the OTHER band members comments, in an interesting perspective.

It explains why certain members were talking about exciting things coming.

It explains why the "seriously investigating things in that regard" changed so quickly after the 2014 Vegas shows.

It explains Tommy's comments about "leaving it all in Vegas" and puts his comments after leaving in even more perspective than the reunion had til now.

It all sort of fits nicely....

Im kinda lost here, didnt follow the band as close back then. Could you elaborate on those comments?

I'm talking about the interview, and sort of matching it up with what happened with the  2014-2015 dribs and drabs of information and band member comments, after the Vegas shows.

You had people like Frank and Richard who were saying more optimistic and hopeful things in interviews, while you had sort of direct opposite type comments coming from Ron, Tommy, and, to a lesser extent, DJ (who just appeared to be out of the loop). 

It sort of all makes sense, now, given the timeline Axl sort of laid out in relation to his meeting with Slash.

It just creates a more concrete timeline, and a lot of the stuff that was a bit confusing at the time, now makes a lot more sense.

Ron leaves
DJ leaves
Tommy leaves.

Yet on here some people where still so spiteful claiming that the band was fine and will regroup when there is something to regroup for

Well not so much the case.  And when they did regroup they switched one keyboard player for a girl with zero explanation.  Ahhhh the world of guns is something

[jarmo]

Ron leaves
DJ leaves
Tommy leaves.

Yet on here some people where still so spiteful claiming that the band was fine and will regroup when there is something to regroup for

Well not so much the case.  And when they did regroup they switched one keyboard player for a girl with zero explanation.  Ahhhh the world of guns is something

They did regroup. April 1st, 2016.

A bunch of fans were convinced the band was done in 2014 and nothing was gonna happen in a long time. Others weren't.



/jarmo

[TheBaconman]

Ron leaves
DJ leaves
Tommy leaves.

Yet on here some people where still so spiteful claiming that the band was fine and will regroup when there is something to regroup for

Well not so much the case.  And when they did regroup they switched one keyboard player for a girl with zero explanation.  Ahhhh the world of guns is something

They did regroup. April 1st, 2016.

A bunch of fans were convinced the band was done in 2014 and nothing was gonna happen in a long time. Others weren't.



/jarmo

I was convinced this sorta reunion was going to happen back in 2014

[dmathski]

It's a shame this Izzy thing has brought some negativity. Now we know why there's been zero press. Not to rock the boat.

[Voodoochild]

I'm talking about the interview, and sort of matching it up with what happened with the  2014-2015 dribs and drabs of information and band member comments, after the Vegas shows.

You had people like Frank and Richard who were saying more optimistic and hopeful things in interviews, while you had sort of direct opposite type comments coming from Ron, Tommy, and, to a lesser extent, DJ (who just appeared to be out of the loop). 

It sort of all makes sense, now, given the timeline Axl sort of laid out in relation to his meeting with Slash.

It just creates a more concrete timeline, and a lot of the stuff that was a bit confusing at the time, now makes a lot more sense.

I understand, thanks. Didnt read/see many interviews, but Im interested to catchup what Richard said back then because I remember something about recording stuff back from when Slash was still in the band.

[ITARocker]

Both sides have valid points and Axl was as diplomatic as ever in how he addressed the question. I think Izzy may be upset Because he overplayed his hand and now looking at the success of the tour and not being a part of it has got to be a gut punch in retrospect.

Additionally, even if the money offered was less than what he expected, I'm sure he was going to make off better than sitting at home and missing out on this opportunity, which would have also helped re-ignite his solo career and album sales with his name back in the spotlight. This was a big opportunity missed, and unfortunately he miscalculated.

I don't hold anything against him when he left back in 91, because it basically came down to getting away from surrounding himself with drugs which could have cost him his life. That was really the best decision for him at the time.

Although we are not familiar with details of their negotiations Its pretty clear at this stage Axl is calling the shots and this not 1986 where all 5 members probably had equal share in money and input in what GnR was doing. I would assume Axl would have kept Richard on board and had Izzy as the third guitarist and likely a more permanent role as opposed to Steven who was probably the biggest risk.

 

You're right. Why do u think he started a twitter account? Just to have some kind of spotlight during gnr reunion. Crybaby. I thought he was a boss. He's just sad.

[Hudson]

Ironically the last guy from the Appetite line up you would expect to bitch about money is Izzy. Izzy was the one member who left the band at its peak when they were starting to rake in boat loads of cash during the Illusion tour. This was a ballsy move, because he really walked away from a shitload of money at this point.

One of the reasons he said he left was for health reasons, which I agree outweighs money, and the way these guys were abusing drugs anything could have happened and luckily it did not. However, the other reason is that he said the band was getting too big for him and that was something that did not interest him. If I am not mistaken when he walked away at this point, it was the moment he relinquished his partnership with GnR. Hence the reason the remaining partnership belongs to only Axl, Slash, and Duff, since Izzy quit and Steven was fired.

Therefore, he voluntarily walked away from that cash cow, and never came back. I would have to imagine after Slash and Duff quit and Axl was scrambling to hire new players, Izzy would have been more than welcome to rejoin Axl. Izzy has had the longest relationship with Axl, and I am sure Axl would have appreciated having him back in the band for his support and would have been a huge contributor in the writing process, which would have taken a lot of pressure off Axl.

It would have also maintained some of the legitimacy of the band to some of the fans and record label executives, in the sense that GnR would have had Axl and Izzy who where responsible for writing the bulk of the music to this point. In doing so, Izzy could have capitalized on this situation and maybe brought back into the partnership or received a bigger pay day. From what we know, he was also healthy and off drugs, which seems like timing was perfect. However, from what has been written, I do not recall Izzy ever being involved in the CD recording process at any point. I know Axl was moving in a new musical direction, but you have too think with the amount of musicians that he allowed into the mix, that he would not have shut the door to Izzy.

As I said before, at this point Axl has the last say on who is in, on who is out, and what goes down in the GnR world. Therefore he is going to get biggest cut, and is probably expected by everyone. Again if this were 1986, I can see why other members would have issues in how the money is split up and their input into musical direction, etc.

With that said, Slash is getting divorced in California and is going to have to pay Perla a pretty penny especially since he has 2 kids. I am sure after Axl, Slash is probably the guy generating the most revenue, but will take a hit because of the divorce, which leads me to believe he has financial motivation in this reunion, which I have zero problem with.

Duff is married with two daughters, getting close to college age and would probably want them to go to college considering he himself went back to school to get his finance degree and college is very expensive these days. Duff has many other business ventures, has a finance degree, and is probably just as motivated by money at this stage in his career as he has indicated, he blew a lot of money back in they day when they were kids and were not the most fiscally responsible with their money. Duff now has a family to think about now and probably wants to also capitalize on this opportunity for him and his family and not squander it away because he may potentially receive a smaller cut than Axl after not being in the band after all these years. Again no issue with his financial motivation to participate.

Even Steven has not complained, who sued GnR for money, (when he was fired) and who was only offered from what we know a limited roll and probably got paid peanuts compared to everyone else. We all know Steven has been dreaming to rejoin the band and I could have seen him taking issue with his limited roll in only playing two songs at a handful of shows and complaining about it, especially since he has been the most vocal and not politically correct in the past. However, he has been exemplary thus far, and you have to give credit where credit is due. Additionally, he has probably made the least money to this point and spent the most money with all his past drug issues.

On a side note, I would have liked to see more of Steven, perhaps playing all the Appetite songs or at least a few more songs, maybe with a drum solo since Frank has not done any drum solos on the tour. I mean they have used 3-4 guitarists in the past, and two 2-3 keyboardist (when Axl plays piano), might as well throw in two drummers at same time, which is about the only thing they have not tried.

With that said, if Slash and Duff who were on every album besides CD, came out in all the videos, did a ton of press back in the day (which Izzy rarely did), completed the tours until the break up, and agreed to take a lower cut to do the reunion, I do not understand what Izzy thought his leverage was in getting an equal shared. The only realistic scenario I may be on his side, is if we would be talking about him rejoining band to be involved in writing process, which deals with publishing rights and that is a whole different animal, but not touring. I think he did not see the big picture and the potential opportunity going forward even if he took less now, he could have set himself up to make a ton in the future.

As other members have previously mentioned, the hardcore fans do want to see Izzy back on stage with Axl, Slash, Duff, and Steven, but for the majority of the people at the shows they really only know Axl, Slash and maybe Duff. I would even venture to say that Steven may be more popular or recognizable than Izzy. When you look at the old videos for some reason Steven always got a lot of camera time and had good stage presence for a drummer, whereas Izzy kind of blended in on stage and was very low key. Which unfortunately for him, translates into Izzy not being a huge factor for touring purposes because he never had the stage presence or was as recognized as the other members.

[TJENZ]

Izzy seems perfectly content to stay at home and put out albums via iTunes.  If he was chasing $$, he would be out there on the state fair circuit every summer. 
I thinks it?s safe to say that during his time in GnR, Izzy made Fuck You Money.  What?s the point of having fuck you money if it doesn?t afford you the opportunity to say fuck you, to a perceived bad deal. 

[LongGoneDay]

I don?t think Izzy miscalculated anything. It doesn?t sound like he?s ?bitching? about anything to me.
Doesn?t sound like he regrets quitting in the first place, or being left out of this ?reunion?.

More like if he was going to be involved, it was going to be as an equal, as it was when GN?R was at their peak, and if not, thanks but no thanks.
I can see how that scenario would be easier said than done to make happen, maybe impossible, but sounds like that?s what would have enticed him to come back.

If Izzy was solely motivated by money as some seem to suggest, he probably would have signed on in whatever capacity that was offered to take part in one of the most successful tours in recent memory.
Or been out on the road with his own band at some point over the past decade plus, as that is where the money is these days.

Seems content doing what he does.

The shows in Vegas were incredible.
I went hoping Izzy and Steven would be involved, but knowing full well it was most likely not going to happen.
Still an amazing performance and experience that I in no way regret.

If Steven and Izzy were involved, I would have been at both shows in Foxboro, but now knowing they wouldn?t be, paying top dollar to see yet another incarnation of not quite Guns N? Roses in a stadium setting didn?t much appeal to me. Vegas was amazing, I?ll never forget it, but once was enough.

I?m sure they all have their reasons for why they are/aren?t involved, and I respect them, but would like to think Izzy would have been involved if it were a true reunion.
It?s not difficult to understand how the rumored offer of guest appearances would be insulting to someone as instrumental to the bands success as Izzy was/is.

[jarmo]

If Steven and Izzy were involved, I would have been at both shows in Foxboro, but now knowing they wouldn?t be, paying top dollar to see yet another incarnation of not quite Guns N? Roses in a stadium setting didn?t much appeal to me. Vegas was amazing, I?ll never forget it, but once was enough.

Interesting logic. So now that you've seen them in Las Vegas, you're all set for life?
Yes, the venues were bigger this summer, but the shows were better than in April....




/jarmo

[OscarAxl22]

I don?t think Izzy miscalculated anything. It doesn?t sound like he?s ?bitching? about anything to me.
Doesn?t sound like he regrets quitting in the first place, or being left out of this ?reunion?.

More like if he was going to be involved, it was going to be as an equal, as it was when GN?R was at their peak, and if not, thanks but no thanks.
I can see how that scenario would be easier said than done to make happen, maybe impossible, but sounds like that?s what would have enticed him to come back.

If Izzy was solely motivated by money as some seem to suggest, he probably would have signed on in whatever capacity that was offered to take part in one of the most successful tours in recent memory.
Or been out on the road with his own band at some point over the past decade plus, as that is where the money is these days.

Seems content doing what he does.

The shows in Vegas were incredible.
I went hoping Izzy and Steven would be involved, but knowing full well it was most likely not going to happen.
Still an amazing performance and experience that I in no way regret.

If Steven and Izzy were involved, I would have been at both shows in Foxboro, but now knowing they wouldn?t be, paying top dollar to see yet another incarnation of not quite Guns N? Roses in a stadium setting didn?t much appeal to me. Vegas was amazing, I?ll never forget it, but once was enough.

I?m sure they all have their reasons for why they are/aren?t involved, and I respect them, but would like to think Izzy would have been involved if it were a true reunion.
It?s not difficult to understand how the rumored offer of guest appearances would be insulting to someone as instrumental to the bands success as Izzy was/is.

None of us should pretend to know how complex this situation is or isnt.

Axl gave a watered down response in the interview. Izzy gave a 120 character tweet.

We can all speculate as much as we like... and throw scenarios up... everyone can have an opinion and that is fine, but none of us know the truth about what went on in those meetings, no one knows what was asked for by izzy, no-one knows what was offered by guns.. and no one knows how far apart they were in both...

condemning either side at this point is silly.