Matt talks about the induction - The Vine, December 8, 2011

Today it was announced that Guns N' Roses will be inducted into the music Hall of Fame at the 2012 awards ceremony in the US, alongside Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and others. Now traditionally, bands accept the award in person as well as perform on the night. Which brings up a delicious situation: which version of the famously splintered (and currently touring -- albeit with Axl Rose as the sole founding member) version of Guns N' Roses will be there on the night?

In a rare interview last month with VH1 Classic's That Metal Show, Rose answered the suggestion by saying it was "up in the air."

"I don't know what it means in terms of me with the old band and the old lineup," he said. "If we were to be invited, I don't know what they would ask of me."

But original drummer Steven Adler told Rolling Stone that he's skeptical about all the original members reuniting on the day. "You figure that time heals all wounds," he said. "But some people just REALLY hold a crazy grudge. I just had lunch with Slash two days ago. He loves Axl. He holds no grudges towards him. Twenty years of great music wasn't created because of some stupid grudge. Can't we just be fucking people who played music and accomplished a huge goal in their life and just play a couple songs? It's only rock & roll, my god! It's not rocket science."

Adler was fired from the band during initial stages of recording for the band's second album(s) Use Your Illusion: I and II, and was replaced by Matt Sorum. Sorum went on to drum for the band until the final dissolution of the "classic" line-up in 1997, after which he hooked up with GNR members Slash and Duff McKagan in Velvet Revolver.

In Australia this week to help open the Sydney Hard Rock Cafe, TheVine's Matt Shea spoke to Sorum about the induction, as well as the tantalising prosepect of a reunion.

Here's a snippet of our forthcoming interview:

TheVine: The band’s been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Does that bring [reunion] questions closer to the surface?

Matt Sorum: "It’s going to be as big of a train wreck as The Sex Pistols, Blondie, or any of those other bands. That’s my prediction. Or Van Halen, which I don’t know if you saw, but we [Velvet Revolver] were involved in that. Train wreck; it was a complete train wreck. But maybe it won’t; maybe it will be a miracle; I hope for that and put out the positive vibrations. But it’s coming up pretty quickly. That’s in March, so we’ll see."

TheVine: Axl Rose was interviewed last month on That Metal Show, and Eddie Trunk talked about getting the impression that the tension between him and some of the other Gunners guys had dissipated quite a bit – do you get a similar impression at all?

Matt Sorum: "That they’re easing up a little bit?"

TheVine: Yeah.

Matt Sorum: "I don’t know, man. You know, I don’t want to say, because then this will be all over the internet and I’ll just get a bunch of shit for it. The problem is that a lot of the fans don’t even take what I have to say with a grain of salt. I’d rather if Slash had that conversation. And Slash is the quiet one; that’s the problem. He’s not like me. I’m just like a guy who’s a little bit more off the cuff – I kinda say what I’m feeling. Slash will just not say anything and that’s the way he likes it. And then I’ll open my big ol’ mouth and the next thing you know I’m getting slapped around the internet by all the jackasses on their blog sites – you know what I mean?

So it’s better if I just go, “I don’t know shit.” Which is the absolute truth [laughs]. They could be in a room right now having a coup around a bonfire, eating samoras, and talking about the resurrection of the holy grail. Seriously, like the Illuminati or some shit [laughs], and I wouldn’t be invited, you know what I’m saying?"