On this day (October 31) in 1996, Axl Rose announced to the world that lead guitarist Slash had left Guns N’ Roses. The fax containing the announcement also let fans know that there would be no new music or merchandise. Additionally, Rose told fans that the band would not launch a website or fan club. The news came three years after their previous album, The Spaghetti Incident, and more than a decade before the band’s next release, Chinese Democracy.
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The early 1990s saw Guns N’ Roses go through several lineup changes. Drummer Steven Adler was axed in 1990. Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin left the next year. This left Rose, Slash, and bassist Duff McKagan as the only original members. Then, in 1995, Slash released It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere, the debut album from his solo project. This sparked rumors of his departure from the band. A little more than a year later, Rose confirmed those rumors with a fax to MTV.
[RELATED: On This Day in 1991, Guns N’ Roses Hit No. 1 With a Music Industry First]
The fax, reprinted by Ultimate Classic Rock, included multiple announcements. First, it announced that there would be no tour, website, music videos, merchandise, or fan club. It also promised a “12 song minimum recording” with three original B-sides, which didn’t come to fruition.
More importantly, the transmission announced a major lineup change. “Slash will not be involved in any new Guns N’ Roses endeavors,” it read, adding that he had not been musically involved with the band since April 1994, with the exception of two two-week periods. Rose further stated that Slash had been “OFFICIALLY and LEGALLY outside of the Guns N’ Roses Partnership since December 31, 1995.”
Slash Discusses His Exit from Guns N’ Roses
Over the years, Slash has given several explanations for his departure from Guns N’ Roses.
“It’s real simple. Me and Axl had more or less a difference of opinion, as far as musical direction. Simple as that. You’ve heard it a million times. It’s the rock and roll cliche,” he said in a 1997 interview. “Instead of going where I didn’t feel comfortable, I just said, ‘You know what? You do what you’re going to do. I’m going to go out and jam, and whenever we meet on the same ground, I’ll be around.’ Simple as that,” he added.
“Everybody keeps asking that,” he said in another interview that year when asked what was going on with GNR. “I left Axl to do whatever. He’s still doing it. The rest of us quit. You have to ask him about what the future of the Guns N’ Roses thing is,” he added. “It wasn’t amicable, but it was inevitable,” he said of his departure.
Years later, he revealed that a new contract, drawn up by Rose’s legal team, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. “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,” he explained. “I was given a contract to basically join his new band, and it took me about 24 hours before I decided this was the end of the line.”
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