GUNS N' ROSES Guitarist RICHARD FORTUS Says Band's Current Status Is 'Pretty Up In The Air'

In a brand new interview with Rock.About.com, GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Richard Fortus was asked about the band's current status and whether there are any plans for the Axl Rose-fronted group to tour next year.

"The current state of GN'R is pretty up in the air," he replied. "The last I heard they wanted to finish up the recordings that we have and put them out next year and start touring. But it has been a while since I've heard from anybody in that camp as far as management or Axl. So I really don't know."

Fortus also discussed the progress of the recording sessions for GUNS N' ROSES' long-awaited follow-up to 2008's "Chinese Democracy". He said: "There's a lot of stuff recorded that is in the can. I have no idea what will be used or scrapped or if we'll end up redoing it. I really have no idea as far as what's going on with that stuff."

Regarding what it has been like working with Axl Rose, Fortus said: "Axl has always been cool with me and he's a hell of a musician. Some people are just really musical. They just are music and he is music personified, he really is. He's just one of the cats that just lives it. He always thinks musically. He listens — which is what makes him a great musician. Music is all that matters to him. I've never met anyone with as much musical and artistic integrity as Axl Rose."

He continued: "People talk about not doing stuff for money, but [Axl] really will not do something strictly for money. He's all about the music. It's gotta be about the music. That's why he doesn't do interviews, because it's not about the music. And, to him, that's the only thing that matters. I think that's incredibly admirable. Axl encompasses in a lot of ways what's missing from rock n' roll now — his mystique and he's an enigma. And he won't talk. He won't defend himself. People like Slash know that. They know Axl's not going to defend himself in the press. So they'll say whatever they want about him knowing he's not going to refute it. Because early on he got screwed over so much by journalists over and over again to the point where he won't do it. People are gonna say whatever the fuck they want to say. But he's at a place where it's not about anything other than the music. That's all he cares about and you don't see that anymore."

The last GUNS N' ROSES album, "Chinese Democracy", came out in 2008 and ended a 17-year absence of new material.

Rose, guitarist D.J. Ashba and other members of the current lineup have hinted that more material recorded during the "Chinese Democracy" sessions has yet to surface.

The present lineup of GUNS N' ROSES has toured intermittently since 2006 and played its second Las Vegas residency last year.