by Chris Akin
Former GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan (LOADED, VELVET REVOLVER) has released a new blog on the ESPN website. An excerpt can be seen below:
"The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame happened a couple of weekends ago, and it was cool to see some old-school, longtime-together bands get their props. On a personal note, I had a really great time. We weren't really quite sure if we were going to play, until about 24-hours before the actual show. It was really great to play with drummer Steven Adler again after some 20-odd years. Sorum crushed it too, and SLASH just gets better day after day. Gilby honored us with his presence and he has a 'feel' that fits, and once again saved GN'R's ass. Myles Kennedy came in to sing, and the dude has class and a ton of respect and humility. I like those qualities in a guy. Humbleness can let real inner strength breathe. It was really fun to watch the old footage of blues legend FREDDIE KING. Those guys, who have that much dang raw talent, are from some other world - musically speaking."
The original members of GUNS N' ROSES – McKagan, Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, Matt Sorum and Dizzy Reed - were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame on April 14th in Cleveland, OH. Despite the absence of Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Dizzy Reed, the remaining members were honoured and with Slash/ALTER BRIDGE frontman Myles Kennedy taking over the mic for the performances 'Mr. Brownstone', 'Sweet Child Of Mine' and 'Paradise City', they tore the house up.
McKagan kicked off the the band's induction speech: "I'm so honoured to have met these guys in the back alleys of Hollywood. We learned how to write songs together. We created the brutality, beauty and total truth all at once, but we were writing songs for ourselves. We had no audience. We played our first gigs with very few fans. And as we progressed, more and more fans came and hey were relating to these songs. I don't know if they were relating to us so much or the songs. They spoke to them. I don't know if it matters who's here tonight, because it's about the music that that band created.
Chris Akin is the editor in chief of PITRIFF.COM the leading metal website on the internet and now a contributor to clevelandrockandroll.com. Chris will be our chief reviewer of CD's, Albums and DVD's. Got something you want reviewed send your request to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
