RON 'BUMBLEFOOT' THAL Says He Thinks Of Himself As 'A Retiree': 'I Just Do What I Want, When I Want, How I Want'

In a new interview with Joe "Punk" Scibilia of The Rock N Roll & Coffee Show, former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal spoke about how he occupies his time now, more than a decade since he exited the Axl Rose-fronted outfit. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I don't need anything at this point. All I could do at this point that makes life worth anything is paying it forward and passing it along to the future and keeping it going for them. So that's what I do. So a lot of teaching, a lot of producing. Playing live — I did that for years. I missed enough weddings and funerals and bar mitzvahs and whatever else. I don't need to tour anymore."

After Scibilia noted that "it's not easy these days to tour", Thal concurred. "No, it isn't," he said. "It was never easy, but it's definitely a lot tougher [now]. But there are things that are easier. It's easier to have print-on-demand merch, and you have the Internet to keep contact and promote, where that was a lot tougher before."

Asked if he sees himself doing "more producing" in the future, perhaps even with "some bigger bands too", Thal said: "I don't care if the band is big or small. If they have good music that they wanna get out there — yeah. And that's what I do. So I'm gonna keep producing. I'll play live, doing one-offs here and there. I'm gonna shy away from touring, but I gotta keep playing live. Otherwise you lose your thing, you lose your chops. You're not on top of your game if you don't play live. That's the only way to really keep it… You can play as much as you want in the studio, sitting in a chair, but playing live is a different thing. And that's what really connects your brain and your soul and your hands and everything. So I've gotta still do it.

"I'm at the point in life where I think of myself as a retiree, and I just do what I want, when I want, how I want, and say no to almost everything," Ron added.

Thal previously discussed his lack of interest in touring last August on SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk". Asked if he had any plans to play shows in support of his latest instrumental album, "Bumblefoot ...Returns!", he said: "I've thought about it. I've shied away from touring so much. You never know. At this point I'm saying no, I don't plan to, but if someone called up and said, 'Hey, I've got this tour coming, and we would love to have you open,' it might happen, but it's not something that I'm pursuing at this point, 'cause I just love producing bands and doing more teaching stuff."

Thal continued: "[I'm] not as much into the whole touring thing, especially for myself and my level. It's not gonna be a private jet. Do I wanna be driving around at two in the morning in a car every night with my guitar in the trunk? I don't know. And that's the thing. I see how much of my life I missed touring, how many things, how many weddings and funerals I missed, and I don't want to do that anymore. I wanna be there. I wanna be present in my life for the people that are in my life. So I'm just prioritizing that a lot more."

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" came out in January 2025. The LP arrived 30 years after Thal's debut solo instrumental album.

"Bumblefoot ...Returns!" featured collaborations with iconic musicians, including Brian May, Steve Vai, Guthrie Govan, Derek Sherinian, Jerry Gaskill and others.

Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and appeared on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an effort which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. The disc took 13 years to make and was only a modest seller, moving just around half a million copies.

Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014.

Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career and other projects after spending eight years playing in GUNS.

Thal spent a few years recording and touring with SONS OF APOLLO, which also featured drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan. SONS OF APOLLO released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20),in January 2020 via InsideOut Music/Sony.