Axl Rose on Slash: 'I Consider Him a Cancer'

Axl Rose on Slash: "I Consider Him a Cancer"

March 13, 2009 9:21 a.m. by Nick Neyland

A sprawling interview with Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose on Spinner has quashed any hopes of the original lineup of the band getting back together. Rose has clearly lost none of his fire as he dismisses rumors surrounding Chinese Democracy as “unaccountable nonsense” and thoroughly lambastes the media.

His answer to the question: “Would you consider a reunion with the Appetite or Illusions lineups?” is initially met with a simple “no,” but he also gives a breakdown on why he wouldn’t work with each member again. He saves particularly harsh words for guitarist Slash, about whom he says:

“Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after Lies. In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better.”

Ouch. And Rose doesn’t stop there. He also makes it clear that he’s not a fan of his whiskey-swigging former guitarist’s playing: “I prefer listening to others in general, especially those who both push their talents and infuse them with a level of energy that I've seldom heard in his efforts over the years.” He also offers no new information on the lineup for the band’s mooted summer tour, but does say “we'd like to get another [record] out at some point in our lifetimes.” [via NME]

6 Responses

March 13, 2009 at 10:12 a.m.

margaritaland

that's a mean thing to say

March 13, 2009 at 10:22 a.m.

B/}NGER

Indeed.

March 21, 2009 at 2:55 p.m.

axlhatesslash101

i love axl. i think chinese democracy is a great album. i hope they'll tour and release videos and i hope the album gets back on the charts and hopefully get to #1. i think axl makes the right choices all the time.....except for what he said here. without slash, axl wouldn't be famous. it was slash who wrote all the great guns n roses songs like "jungle" and "paradise city" and "sweet child." axl should apologize.

March 31, 2009 at 5:43 a.m.

Jim

Slash didn't write those songs. Are you nuts? He contributed a bit at best.

Read the album credits. Please. Then listen to Slash's snake pit and tell me how great a writer Slash is.

He plays guitar fine, but a writer he is not.

April 17, 2009 at 2:17 a.m.

njd

you can be sure that Slash wrote all the parts he played even if he didn't get credit for them on the songs, for instance on UYI2, the concept and lyrics for estranged are atributed to Axl as it was his song but after the lyrics, Axl thanks Slash for the 'killer guitar melodies'. All the band members pretty much wrote their own parts, it would have been a great shame if Slash wasn't on the use your illusion albums, just as it was when Izzy left. I think this statement about slash being a cancer is a very bitter one, sure a couple of the solo's are impressive on chinese democracy but the rest don't even come close to the melodic madness that helped define guns n roses's sound. he may not be the most techically minded guitarist but he knew how to write riffs and solo's. personally I think that the snakepit stuff is the best thing to come out of guns since they split, after about 3 songs in, the rest of chinese democracy bores me, its a shame Axl had to keep the name instead of doing his own side project which is basically what the current line up is, that and 'the best guns n roses tribute act in the world ever 2' (the first one had buckethead). i'm not dissing the other guitarists, they have each impressed me in their own way, but I would love to hear Axl Slash Duff and Izzy write more tunes together. If only Axl realised it wasn't just him and his ego that made guns great.

July 15, 2009 at 9:58 a.m.

Sam

Sounds like Axl should team up with Richie Blackmore ... double dose of super-egos!!!