SLASH: AXL Quit GUNS N' ROSES To Gain Control Of Band

antiMUSIC reports: One of the big revelations in Slash's new autobiography is how the original GUNS N' ROSES split up and Axl Rose gained control of the group and name. Slash also delivers bad news for those that have been hoping that the original line-up would somehow regroup, it's not going to happen.

Slash writes of the possibility of a reunion: "It's funny, when fans ask me, as they do almost every day, whether GUNS, in its original form, will ever reunite, it is hard to take them seriously. That question is so asinine to me; if they knew the real story, they'd already know the answer. But my response is always the same: 'Take a look at what everyone is doing now. Duff and Matt and I are part of a really successful band. Izzy's content doing his thing; Steven too. And Axl is touring with the 'new GUNS.' No one is making phone calls to see when we can get the band together again.'"

Just how did that "new GUNS" come about? It started when Axl and the band's manager had the other members of the band sign a contract that gave Axl control of the group name if they ever broke up. And that's exactly what Axl did, he broke the group up. Slash writes that the break up was caused by "Axl wanting control to the point that the rest of us were strangled." Then on August 31, 1995 Axl dropped a bomb on Duff and Slash, the only remaining members at the time, when sent them a letter "saying he was leaving the band and taking the name with him under the terms of the contract." Of course, Slash and Duff were invited to still be part of Axl's band, but you'll have to read to book to learn more about how that worked out.