STEVEN ADLER: I Meant To Call Current GN'R Lineup 'Scabs,' Not 'Hacks'

Less than a week after apologizing to GUNS N' ROSES lead singer Axl Rose and the other members of the band's current lineup for calling them "hacks," the group's original drummer, Steven Adler, has clarified his comments, insisting that he meant to use the word "scabs" instead.

In last Thursday's (March 29) interview with Loudwire, Adler expressed his desire to see the original GUNS lineup perform together at their upcoming induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, saying, "[Slash is] my brother. I know he's up to it. He wants to do it. I want to do it. Just from what I hear, Izzy's [Stradlin] not gonna show up and Axl will probably want to play with his hack band . . . it shouldn't even be GUNS N' ROSES. He's just driving that name into the freakin' ground. 'Axl and His Hacks.'"

Adler issued a statement the following day, saying, "Sometimes my emotions get the best of me when talking about my former band . . . it's no secret that I want to finish what we started 25 years ago and play together at the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The guys that Axl has put together are all great players. They're not hacks in the sense that they can't play, they're all incredible musicians. I just meant that they are not the original lineup."

Speaking to the Artisan News (see video below),Adler further explained his original comments, saying, "I apologized to them. I said the wrong word. I meant to say 'scabs.' But, you see, 'scabs' are something that… Big factories, when the main workers would go on strike, the factory would get people off the street and they would call them scabs. I wouldn't say they can't play. I would just say more the main people are on strike, [and] this is what Axl's got going. Of course they're great players, or they wouldn't be playing with Axl."

Speculation had been running rampant about a reunion ever since it was announced in December that GUNS would be inducted at the April 14 ceremony in Cleveland.

Rose himself — who, by all accounts, will never perform again with Slash — remained ambivalent about the situation, although Slash recently said in an interview that the original lineup was definitely not performing at the event.

In addition to GUNS N' ROSES, other artists being inducted at the 27th annual ceremony include the RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, the BEASTIE BOYS, the FACES/SMALL FACES, Donovan and Laura Nyro.

The ceremony will be taped for broadcast by HBO, which plans to air it in early May.