DUFF MCKAGAN Announces Expanded Digital Edition Of 'Lighthouse' Album

GUNS N' ROSES bassist Duff McKagan will release the expanded digital edition of his latest solo album, "Lighthouse", on March 22. The set will feature 19 songs, including previously unreleased studio and live tracks.

Earlier today, Duff premiered professionally filmed video of his first live band performance of "Lighthouse" material, which took place on December 8, 2023 at Easy Street Records in Seattle, Washington.

"Lighthouse" sees McKagan baring more of his artistic spirit than ever before, fusing acoustic elements with hard-edged rock 'n' roll to land at the sweet spot between soul-searching reflection and pure energy. The album was first announced last summer alongside its title track, "Lighthouse", joined by an official visualizer streaming now at the official Duff McKagan YouTube channel.

"Lighthouse" was soon followed by "I Saw God On 10th Street", also joined by an official visualizer. "I Saw God On 10th Street" received immediate praise from such outlets as Kerrang!, Revolver and American Songwriter. "Longfeather" arrived next, hailed by Revolver as "folky, elegiac" and joined by an official music video directed by longtime visual collaborators Connor Ellmann, Kuj Durollari and Arben Durollari. A video for the song "I Just Don't Know (Feat. Jerry Cantrell)" is also available.

Regarding how Jerry Cantrell ended up on the album, Duff told SPIN: "He and I have been playing on each other's demos for years and have known each other since around 1989 or 1990. We watch football together on Sundays and I played a lot of bass on his last solo album. I sent him 'I Just Don't Know' and he was, like, 'Man, this is great. Do you want me to do anything on it?' I said, 'Yeah. A solo.' He brought that beautiful solo and then asked if I needed him to sing, and I said, 'Sure.'"

On the topic of the lyrical inspiration for the "Lighthouse" title track, Duff told Paste: "I try to be somewhat reserved with my lyric writing and, sometimes, have a few meanings — none are wrong. But 'Lighthouse' I wrote as my wife being the lighthouse, my life. Our kids are grown, and she and I have been through so much stuff together. And then we got a worldwide pandemic that we were going through together. The way she really supported me — I had just got my own studio right before COVID started, and I had recorded two songs. I was supposed to be off on a GUNS N' ROSES tour and, of course, that all came crumbling down. I really realized, with her, in our time when you're not in contact with other people, it was just her and I thought, 'Fuck, man, we're solid.' We'd heard about people splitting up during COVID; we got drawn closer to each other during that [time]. I'm a fortunate guy to have met her, that girl Susan Holmes, when I was 32, two years into sobriety — because there was something that clicked and, hopefully, for both of us, that really has made my life make sense. Even in the darkest times, even when I'm suffering a panic attack or some other malady, I still know I have her."

Starting at just 15, McKagan has been a part of such diverse and influential bands as THE VAINS (1979),THE FASTBACKS (1980),THE LIVING (1982),THE FARTZ (1982),10 MINUTE WARNING (1983) and LOADED (1998),along, of course, with his historic role as founding member of both GUNS N' ROSES and VELVET REVOLVER. Produced by three-time Grammy Award winner Shooter Jennings, McKagan's 2019 second solo album, "Tenderness", marked a powerful new chapter for the ever-evolving artist, taking on societal ills and his own personal transgressions against a rich sonic backdrop of Americana-fueled arrangements. Named by Loudwire as one of that year's "50 Best Rock Albums" and hailed by Rolling Stone in a three-and-a-half (out of four)-starred rave as "an album full of beauty and heart…It's music of conscience, heavy songs with a light touch," the album includes the volatile rocker "Chip Away", which earned extraordinary praise from the maestro himself, Bob Dylan, who declared the song a personal favorite.

Along with his prolific musical efforts, McKagan is The New York Times best-selling author of 2011's "It's So Easy: And Other Lies" and 2015's "How To Be A Man: (And Other Illusions)", and the co-host (with Susan Holmes McKagan) of SiriusXM's popular "Three Chords & The Truth" radio show on Ozzy's Boneyard (Ch. 38). McKagan currently serves as a core member of a modern-day "Wrecking Crew" alongside Grammy Award-winning musician/producer Andrew Watt and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS' Chad Smith, recording and co-writing on such recent albums as Ozzy Osbourne's "Ordinary Man" (2020) and two-time Grammy Award-winning "Patient No. 9" (2022) and Iggy Pop's acclaimed "Every Loser" (2023).