Former Guns N’ Roses Manager Sues Band to Stop Memoir Suppression

Behind every band is a manager who often works around the clock to make sure their clients are taken care of and demands are met. For Alan Niven, he found himself managing groups like Great White and Guns N’ Roses. While producing classic songs like “Paradise City” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine”, Guns N’ Roses enjoyed the rock and roll lifestyle. Even after Axl Rose dismissed the manager, Niven walked away with more than a few stories. Turning those stories into his memoir, Sound N’ Fury, Niven recently filed a lawsuit against the band for suppressing its release. 

Videos by American Songwriter

Although not the first person to write a book about managing a hit band like Guns N’ Roses, Niven watched as its original release date passed by. Originally scheduled to hit shelves in July, it never released. Now, after several attempts, Niven hoped to finally tell his story on March 31, 2026. 

According to a lawsuit filed on November 3rd, the band believed that Niven was breaching a confidentiality clause he supposedly signed. “In a letter written in May 2025, GNR invoked the confidentiality clause in its 1991 buyout Agreement with Niven (the ‘Agreement’) and has blocked publication of the book through repeated threats to Niven and contact with ECW.”

[RELATED: Guns N’ Roses Break Silence Over Axl Rose’s Onstage Outburst, Back New Drummer]

Alan Niven Writes About The Power Trip Of Axl Rose

While not disputing the clause, the lawsuit noted how a member of the band encouraged Niven to write the book. “GNR takes this position despite the following facts (among others): the Agreement was not signed by all of its members (a material term); GNR’s members have commented publicly on Niven; one member encouraged him to write the book; and he has been speaking about his time in GNR for over a decade.”

The situation surrounding Sound N’ Fury could stem from the turbulent relationship between Niven and Rose. In the book, the former manager wrote, “It was Axl’s battle to take complete control and most of the money. The more control he gained, the less they were productive and the worse the material got.”

Not showing Rose in the best light, the book focused on more than the singer. It included “anecdotes about [Niven’s] career, including distributing the first Sex Pistols singles in the U.S., cooking a dinner for guitarist Robert Fripp, going to bat for a scruffy musician named Frank Feranna (later known as Nikki Sixx) and reinventing Great White twice.”

Now, with the courts involved, Niven hoped to finally share his side of the story – whether the band approves or not.

(Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)