MATT SORUM 'Pleads The Fifth' On Question About Reunion Of Classic GUNS N' ROSES Lineup

Former GUNS N' ROSES drummer Matt Sorum chose to "plead the fifth" when a question was directed at him about the possibility of a reunion of GUNS' classic lineup.

Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler in GUNS N' ROSES, recorded the highly successful albums "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" (both 1991) and "The Spaghetti Incident" (1994). He also supported the group on the "Use Your Illusion" tour and can be heard on GUNS N' ROSES' "Live Era: '87-'93" (1999) and "Greatest Hits" (2004).

Asked this week by Meltdown of Detroit, Michigan's WRIF 101.1 FM radio station for his thoughts on a GN'R reunion, following reports that long-estranged singer Axl Rose and guitarist Slash had recently repaired their relationship, Sorum said: "I would have to plead the fifth on that, basically, because I just don't know. So I would say I plead the fifth. [Laughs]"

Adler recently spoke about how he would feel about a hypothetical reunion of the classic GN'R lineup which would include Matt Sorum on drums instead of him. "Matt wouldn't do it," Adler said . "I see Matt practically every Monday night, and we talked about it. He wouldn't do it unless I was a part of it. And I said, 'Well, dude, I would do it without you.' And he said, 'But you're the original guy. You're the sound of GN'R. I'm not. So it's different.' And I said, 'If I did it, if Axl wanted to play the '[Use Your] Illusion' songs, I would have you right next to me. You come up and I'll either take the throne or sit where I sit.'… Sort of like [the way we did it] at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame [induction in 2012]. They didn't show that part on TV, I don't think, but [Matt] played 'Brownstone', and then I came up and played 'Sweet Child' and 'Paradise City'."

Adler continued: "But, yeah, I have nothing against Matt. He didn't do nothing. I had resentments with him, but I talked with him and I worked everything out. Everything. I would love to share a tour bus with him."

Sorum told The Pulse of Radio in a 2009 interview that, if the classic GUNS N' ROSES band reunites, they should perform with both him and Adler. "If it's me on drums or Steven or whatever, if it happened, it'd be great, you know. I would actually say to them, 'Hey, bring both of us back,' you know. Let me play the other stuff. We'll have two drum kits. I don't care. If 'Appetite' ('For Destruction', the band's debut) sounds better with Steven playing it, have both guys up there. They can afford it."

Sorum also blasted Rose for using the name GUNS N' ROSES when the original band is no longer together. Sorum said, "I'm not saying I'm an original member, okay, but I understand the core of the band, which is Slash and Duff and probably Izzy. It's a shame, and you know what, this goes back to a Paul McCartney thing. Does he call himself THE BEATLES? Not saying we were as big as THE BEATLES, but does Sting call himself THE POLICE? No. Does Jimmy Page and Robert Plant go out there calling themselves LED ZEPPELIN? Nope."

GUNS N' ROSES was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in April 2012. Adler, Sorum, Slash and bassist Duff McKagan attended the ceremony, while Rose and founding guitarist Izzy Stradlin stayed home.

Slash's revelation in August that he and Axl had repaired their relationship after nearly 20 years immediately led to speculation about the classic GUNS lineup reuniting, although Slash has refused to speak about the matter.