Guns N' Roses is one of the most famous and successful hard rock
acts in pop music history — until their headbanging empire came crashing down when
lead guitarist Slash quit the band during a feud with singer Axl Rose.
But did you know that feud was about Michael Jackson?
Yes, it sounds strange. And it's true that the band was already splintering before Slash quit
Guns N' Roses in 1996. By that point, for instance, guitarist Izzy Stradlin
and drummer Steven Adler had already left the group due to creative and personal differences.
But according to reports, the relationship between Rose and Slash began deteriorating
in 1991 when Slash decided to work with Michael Jackson on Jackson's new album "Dangerous."
Jackson, of course, passed away in 2009 under a cloud of child abuse allegations.
Nonetheless, Axl Rose strongly disagreed with Slash's decision to work with the
late pop star. Rose revealed that he had been abused as a toddler by both
his own father and stepfather, and for this reason, Rose sided with Jackson's
accusers. Former Guns N' Roses manager Doug Goldstein told Rolling Stone Brazil in 2015
that Rose was devastated by Slash's decision to join forces with Jackson.
The divide between the two only got worse over the years, as Slash continued to work
with Jackson and the band's fortunes began to wane. In 1996, the Guns N' Roses cover album
"The Spaghetti Incident?" flopped, and Slash had issues with the increasing control Rose
had over the band. Rose made his bandmates sign contracts that would make them more or
less his hired hands and not full-fledged band members. In light of this, as well as Rose's
worsening behavior both on stage and behind the scenes, Slash made his decision to go.
In 2012, Slash told Piers Morgan,
"It wasn't even me necessarily leaving the band [...] it was not continuing on with
the new band that Axl put together that he was now at the helm of,
which was the new Guns N' Roses. I was given a contract to basically join his new band,
and it took about 24 hours before I decided, I think this is the end of the line."
"It's a lot of attention put on a lot of negative stuff."
After Slash exited Guns N' Roses, he went on to perform with groups like Velvet Revolver and
Slash's Snakepit, while the new GnR lineup essentially went nowhere. The long-hyped
next Guns N' Roses album, "Chinese Democracy," didn't arrive until 2008.
In 2012, when Guns N' Roses was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame,
the press and GnR fans wondered if the original lineup would show up,
putting Slash and Axl Rose on stage for the first time in years. Rose, however, declined to attend;
Slash, Adler, Duff McKagan, and a later member, Matt Sorum, all appeared without him.
Ultimately, Slash stayed away from Guns N' Roses for two decades. In the mid-2010s, though,
Rose reached out to his former lead guitarist to make amends. Slash told USA Today that he
was thankful Rose had the wherewithal to reach out after all those years spent apart, saying,
"It'd been 20 years of not talking and letting this bad blood continue to be
perpetuated by the media. It turned into something
way bigger than what was really going on, so it was good to get past that."
Slash also told The Guardian that his differences with Rose were overcome by
just talking, and that when all was said and done, much of the feud was based on a
misunderstanding. Their reconciliation led to a reunion concert at the 2016
Coachella Festival, which Slash called "an overwhelmingly positive experience."
The original GnR lineup is now back together and touring. They've also released some new songs,
such as "Hard Skool" and "Absurd." In 2022, Slash told Louder Sound he was confident that even more
Guns N' Roses material would soon be released, including a possible brand-new full-length album,
explaining that there is a new synergy within the band since their reunion.