STEVEN ADLER Back On Stage With GUNS N' ROSES In Nashville; Video, Photos
July 10, 2016Drummer Steven Adler performed with GUNS N' ROSES for the second time in 26 years on Saturday night (July 9) in Nashville, Tennessee, where he once again joined the group onstage to play drums on "Out Ta Get Me" and "My Michelle". He previously performed the same two songs with GN'R at Wednesday's (July 6) concert in Cincinnati, Ohio.
These two shows marked Adler's first two appearances with GUNS N' ROSES since 1990, although he performed with members of the band at their 2012 induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
Speculation about Adler having some sort of involvement in the GUNS N' ROSES reunion has been rampant ever since the band made it official with a surprise April 1 show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.
Adler was reportedly going to appear at that gig until he was sidelined by a back injury.
The regular GUNS N' ROSES drummer for several years has been Frank Ferrer, who is also part of the current lineup that boasts classic lineup members Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan.
Adler was thrown out of GUNS N' ROSES in 1990 due to his heavy drug use, a problem he struggled with for years after his dismissal.
Izzy Stradlin, the rhythm guitarist who was also part of GN'R's classic lineup — as defined by the era of the rock band's debut album, 1987's "Appetite For Destruction" — has yet to appear with the reunited band onstage.
Earlier in the month, Slash spoke of how things were going on the road. "We were all pretty positive that that would never happen so it's still sort of blowing our minds," Slash said during a radio interview. "It seems so surreal to me, but everybody's really getting along great and I think everybody's come a long way and it's all cool."
Adler said last October that he would be the last person to hear about his involvement in a GUNS N' ROSES reunion because Slash couldn't trust him to keep the information secret. "I've known for Slash thirty-what… thirty-nine years, and he knows that I would climb to the [highest] mountain and I would do, as Paul Stanley would say, 'shout it out loud,'" he said.
Adler told VH1 Classic's Eddie Trunk in a separate interview about the possibility of his involvement in a GN'R reunion: "I love those guys, and I always will, but Duff, he doesn't think I'm cool. And Slash, he doesn't believe that I have [two years] sober. He doesn't believe it. I don't know why, but they forget that at one time in their life, they were doing drugs and drinking and they were fucking up. They forget that they were like that too. Duff has got 20 years sober or more, Slash has got, like, 11 or 12 years sober, and I've got [two years]. So everybody gets it at a different time. I'm just thankful I got it."
He expressed frustration that the original GUNS had not reunited, saying, "I don't get it. We just play music. We're living our dream. When we're together, we play it really great. Let's just do it. What's the problem?"
The GUNS N' ROSES "Not In This Lifetime" tour continues on Tuesday (July 12) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
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