L.A. GUNS' PHIL LEWIS Describes His New Look As 'Incredibly Liberating': 'My Only Regret Is I Didn't Do It Before'

During an appearance on the latest episode of Dean Delray's "Let There Be Talk" podcast, L.A. GUNS frontman Phil Lewis once again spoke about the new look he recently debuted, having cut off all of his long, luscious locks in favor of a super-short, cropped hairdo. Phil said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET):  "Well, for the most part, the comments have been favorable. There's some tumbleweeds out there — they just have to say something — but, yeah, as your listeners or observers, your people will see, I look a little bit different from when I did 40 fucking years ago. But that's just life."

Phil continued: "I came to a conclusion, since we're talking about it, in February. It was just, like, 'This hair, do I do it to the left? Do I do I push it forward? Do I dye it?' And you know what? I said, 'Fuck it. Shave the fucker off.' I shaved it all off. I was a skinhead in February, and it's growing, and it's growing quite nice, actually. I really like it. And my only regret is I didn't do it before."

Lewis added: "I have no desire whatsoever to try and look like I did in 'The Ballad Of Jayne' video. It's just embarrassing. Some guys like to do that, and good luck to them. But the thing is I sound the same and my heart's in exactly the same place. I don't wanna fuck around with fake hair and dyeing it — not at this stage in my life. I just wanna show up, I wanna sing in the studio or live, and I don't want to be tied down with all the hassle of what's expected of me. And I find it very liberating. And for the most part, people have been very, very complimentary. The ladies have been extraordinarily complimentary. It's just some greasy old dudes that just can't get over it. Some people have something to say, some people just have to say something."

Phil admitted that the initial online pushback from some L.A. GUNS fans "irked" him "a little bit at first, but now I just ignore it," he said. "It's such a desperate plea for attention. I'm not going there.

"Some guys just don't wanna let it go," Lewis added. "I did, and as I said, it was incredibly liberating…. I'm at that stage in my life now where very few fucks given… And I'm real happy with the way it turns out. And I'm very delighted that 99% of the response has been positive."

Phil previously talked about his new look this past June in an interview with Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon. Lewis said at the time: "It's funny because I look back at us in the late '80s, and all the bands that were around at the time in the Hollywood scene, they all looked the fucking same. They all had the same hair. They all wore the same kind of threads, and they all claimed to be individuals. It was, like, 'No, we are individuals.' And they weren't. It was a uniform. Everyone dressed the same, everyone spoke the same, everyone behaved the same. Looking back on it now, I see old flyers for bands that didn't break through, and it's absolutely terribly boring. Cut to now. We played the Whisky this year on New Year's Eve, and then we didn't have anything for a couple of months. I went home, looked at myself in the mirror, and thought, 'Oh, this hair. I'm going to get it cut. Or I've got to dye it because it's getting a bit gray. Should I part it on the left? Part it on the right? Down the middle? Push it back? Push it forward?' And I just said, 'Fuck it.' I shaved it all off. The whole fucking thing!"

Phil continued: "Honestly, I'd been meaning to do it for a long time, and it was just where the dice landed. I thought, 'Whatever. I'm going to start again from scratch.' Fortunately, it's grown since February, and it's doing its own thing. I'm not doing anything to it.

"I didn't plan on stopping dyeing my hair or stopping trying to tease it up," Lewis explained. "I didn't plan on any of that. It was just liberating. It felt so liberating not to have to fucking worry about it. And it's grown in beautifully. Tracii [Guns, L.A. GUNS guitarist] loves it, and 99% of the fans love it. Some of the South American diehards think, 'He's sold out. He's just getting old now.' And they can fuck off. I tell them that, and our fans tell them that as well! So be it.

"This is it," Phil added. "I'm never going to dye my hair again. I'm never going to try and look like I'm 30 anymore. I'm over that. And consequently, dress sense as well. I've got all the gear. I've got all the leathers and all the studs and all of that. But I'm a bit bored with that, to be honest with you. I'll leave that to Alice Cooper! I'm just being myself."

L.A. GUNS released a new live CD and DVD, "Live From The Guild Theatre", on July 3 via Cleopatra Records. Recorded on July 10, 2025 at The Guild Theatre in Menlo Park, California and celebrating the release of the band's then-new album "Leopard Skin", L.A. GUNS fire off killer versions of fan favorites, including "Electric Gypsy", "One More Reason", "The Ballad Of Jayne" and more.

The L.A. GUNS lineup for "Live From The Guild Theatre" consists of singer Phil Lewis, guitarist and band founder Tracii Guns, bassist Johnny Martin, guitarist Ace Von Johnson and touring drummer Shawn Duncan.

"Leopard Skin" was released in April 2025. It marked the first fruit of L.A. GUNS' reunion with Cleopatra Records, a label known for its diverse roster and innovative approach to music production.

Hot on the heels of 2023's "Black Diamonds" album, "Leopard Skin" was L.A. GUNS' fifth studio effort in seven years, since the core team of Lewis and Guns reunited in 2017. "Leopard Skin", like the last few L.A. GUNS records, reconvened the tight-knit lineup of Guns, Lewis, Martin, Von Johnson and studio drummer Adam Hamilton.