STEVEN ADLER: AXL ROSE Is 'One Of The Most Loving, Caring People I've Ever Met In My Life'

Adam Kovac of ChartAttack.com recently conducted an interview with original GUNS N' ROSES and current ADLER'S APPETITE drummer Steven Adler. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On the audiences that come to see him perform with ADLER'S APPETITE:

"The fans are kids, grandparents who bring their kids, and now because I did Dr. Drew, 'Celebrity Rehab', I have a lot of Al-Anon fans."

On how the shows on this tour are just as exciting for him as when he was selling out giant stadiums during GN'R's prime:

"It's more fun, because now I'm remembering it. It's not just a blur. There were so many shows where I won't remember getting on stage and won't remember getting off stage. The fans love it! They sing every word! And even our new single, 'It's Good To Be Alive', it fits right in."

On his tell-all autobiography, "My Appetite For Destruction: Sex, Drugs & Guns N' Roses", in which he recounts the sexual abuse he suffered as an adolescent:

"The parts in the beginning with the sexual abuse, I thought it was going to be really difficult for me to talk about and tell another person, have their ears actually hear those words. But it was the complete opposite; it felt so good to get it out and people understood, and there's a lot of people who can relate to it, and that was very important. I wear my heart on my sleeve in this book."

On whether he thinks GN'R would have been successful without the hedonism that was as much a trademark as Slash's Les Paul:

"Yeah, we would have done the same thing. We would have been even bigger. Look how big we were and how big we are. It was the drugs that held everything back."

On whether he believes everything happens for a reason:

"My last 20 years sucked. It stunk, I would trade it for anything.

"But then again, I wouldn't have this book.

"See? You never know. Like, my parents threw me out of the house when I was 11, and that's a terrible thing, but if they hadn't I wouldn't have met Slash. So there's always that 'but.'

"So that's a hard question. I'm gonna have to think about that one for the next interview. Right when you think the worst thing in your life, next thing you know, if that didn't happen, the greatest things in your life wouldn't have happened."

On GUNS N' ROSES singer Axl Rose:

"I know Axl, I've lived with him, I've played with him, I've traveled the world with him, he's one of the most loving, caring people I've ever met in my life.

"Even when Slash and Duff [McKagan, former GUNS N' ROSES bassist] ousted me, wouldn't hang out with me, Axl was still my buddy. We were brothers! We are brothers! And what do brothers do? They fight.

"Sometimes I might not like the little fella, but I'll always love him. And that goes for all of them."

Read more from ChartAttack.com.