25. AUGUST 2004-MAY 2006: FINALIZING CHINESE DEMOCRACY; LAWSUITS; RETURN TO NYC

In August 2004, Kevin Lawrence, founder of the band Rapidfire, which had Axl on vocals for a brief period in 1983 [see earlier chapter], launched the website theaxltapes.com with the following info:



Lawrence had been motivated to release the Rapidfire songs after hearing that Cleopatra Records won a lawsuit from Axl, Slash, Duff and Guns N' Roses Music where they tried to prevent Cleopatra from releasing Hollywood Rose songs as "The Roots of Guns N' Roses" [Rapidfire1983 Website, July 21, 2012] a few months earlier in June 2004 [see previous chapter]. Lawrence was peeved that Cleopatra Records had claimed their album contained the first recorded vocals of Axl, knowing well that his tape with Rapidfire songs predated the Hollywood Rose songs [Rapidfire1983 Website, July 21, 2012].



Lawrence would then announce his plan of releasing a demo with Rapidfire songs with Axl on vocals, on the Guns N' Roses fan forum htgth.com, resulting in this summary:



In late 2004 or early 2005 the website would change from theaxltapes.com to rapidfire1983.com.





In early 2005, Lawrence would provide updates on the project and state they were in talks with the Guns N' Roses camp:




The reaction was not just a "bit" and, as it turned out, it would not be "fine". Lawrence first received one cease and desist letter from Axl's US legal counsel [Rapidfire1983 Website, July 21, 2012]. Joshua Solomon, Lawrence's brother who was also a lawyer and acted as his legal counsel, would describe the content of the letter like this:



Not long after, a new letter came from "an attorney who presented himself as Axl’s Canadian counsel" and Solomon would comment on the content:



Later, Lawrence would also describe the letters:



According to Solomon, both letters had claimed that Axl owned the rights to the Rapidfire songs [Rapidfire1983 Website, July 21, 2012]. Solomon would suggest that the lawyers acted on "standing orders" and had not involved Axl in the response, in fact, Solomon mused that Axl might not even be aware of the ongoing cease and desist letter and threats of litigation:



Nevertheless, the letters and the ensuing and correspondence between legal teams did halt the process of releasing the songs in 2004/2005. In August 2006, Lawrence would provide an update and indicate that they were still trying to find a way to release the songs, without risking litigation:



And on the last time he met Axl:





Things came to a standstill and by 2012 the songs were still not released because, according Solomon, Lawrence feared a costly lawsuit and didn't want to go against Axl's wishes:



Joshua Solomon published a long letter describing the history of Rapidfire and the legal dispute over Lawrence's desire to release the songs in July 2012 [Rapidfire1983 Website, July 21, 2012].

This letter resulted in many fans asking for the release of the songs and about a year later, a 55-second snippet of the Rapidfire song "Ready to Rumble", would be sent by Solomon to some fans and later found its way to Youtube [Facebook [Yahoo Music, May 31, 2013; Letter from Solomon to Doug Mark, January 1, 2014].



Only a few weeks later, the video was gone "due to a copyright claim by Mark Music & Media Law, P.C." [Yahoo Music, June 6, 2013]. Doug Mark of Mark Music & Media Law, P.C., was Axl's lawyer.

Tom Zutaut commented on the snippet before it was removed from Youtube:



Solomon then contacted Youtube "to reveal Lawrence's actual copyrights for the track and the song sample was restored" [Loudwire, February 25, 2014] and the snippet was back up again.



The public interest in the songs following the publication of the short snippet, bolstered Lawrence's wish to release all songs [Letter to Mark Doug, January 1, 2014] and Solomon sent a letter to Axl's lawyer, Doug Mark, stating Lawrence's intention of releasing the songs in 2014 and his preparedness to fight his rights in the court:



Sadly, in February 2014, less than two months after his letter to Mark Doug, Solomon ended his own life:




Lawrence also founded a Kickstarter campaign to finance the release of the songs [Loudwire, February 25, 2014] and posted on his Facebook, clearly indicated he intended to release the full songs:



The Kickstarter campaign failed, but Lawrence was intent on releasing the songs on November 1, 2014, "in the form of a worldwide CD and internet streams" [Metal Sludge, September 1, 2014].

In September 2014, Lawrence would be asked why he waited so long to release the tape:



And finally in November 2014, the songs were released without any word from the Axl camp:





As a sad epilogue to a sad story, on January 14, 2016, it was reported that Lawrence had died after a period of illness [Metal Sludge, January 15, 2016].

On January 24, 2005, it would be reported that Axl had signed an agreement with publishing company Sanctuary Publishing covering both Guns N' Roses back catalogue but also future music:



The actual agreement was signed already on September 20, 2004 [Administration & Exclusive Songwriting Agreement between Axl/Black Frog and Sanctuary; September 20, 2004]. According to business insiders, the 20-year deal would be worth about $19 million [Associated Press, February 1, 2005]. The actual agreement, though, was for 12 years that could be extended to 15 years [Administration & Exclusive Songwriting Agreement between Axl/Black Frog and Sanctuary; September 20, 2004].



Soon after the announcement, it would be reported that Slash and Duff challenged the deal between Axl and Sanctuary, arguing that Axl was transferring copyrights to songs which were not owned by him [Associated Press, February 1, 2005]. They would follow up this accusation with a lawsuit in filed August 17, 2005 [see later chapter].

On October 26, 2004, the fifth installment of the popular computer game Grand Theft Auto was released featuring Axl as the radio DJ Tommy "The Nightmare" Smith on the fictive radio channel K-DST (or The Dust) [MTV News, October 26, 2004].





Classic Rock Magazine would play the game and write about Axl's contributions:

For Velvet Revolver's show at Rocktoberfest in Little Rock, Arizona, USA, on October 31, 2004, the band dressed up, including Weiland dressing as Axl, Slash as Buckethead, and Matt presumably as Tommy [Blabbermouth, November 13, 2004].








Around the same time, Slash would express bewilderment that Guns N' Roses was still such popular band:

In early 2005, the record was being finished, according to Tommy, adding that what had been remaining was "[s]ome vocal parts and mixes" [St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 20, 2005].




The close release of Chinese Democracy would also be signaled with Axl's deal with Sanctuary Publishing [see later chapter]. This would be confirmed by Merck Mercuriadis who would also say that as soon as the release plan was finalized they would send out a press release [Sp1at, January 27, 2005].

And a little bit later:



And to emphasize that the music was done:



But in February, when asked when the record would be released, Dizzy answered:



Around the same time Tommy would say:




And describing the music:



And when it would be released:



In March 2005, Merck Mercuriadis would be asked when the album would be released and evade the question:





In early 2005, Brain would say that as far as he knew, Buckethead's contributions to Chinese Democracy would remain intact despite him leaving the band in 2004 [Sp1at, January 23, 2005].

Brain would also insist that there would be no "Buckethead influenced songs" on the album [Sp1at, January 23, 2005]. In hindsight, this last statement seems to have been wrong, because it is widely assumed that Shackler's Revenge and Sorry, off Chinese Democracy, are very much Buckethead influenced songs.

In an article in March 2005, The New York Times would describe Chinese Democracy as having "racked up more than $13 million in production costs, according to Geffen documents, ranking his unfinished masterpiece as probably the most expensive recording never released" [New York Times, March 6, 2005]. In the article, The Times would also quote numerous sources, many of which spoke under anonymity, detailing the process of making Chinese Democracy, painting a less than flattering image of the project and especially Axl [New York Times, March 6, 2005]

Mercuriadis would respond to the article and its allegations in a letter to The Times:



Tom Zutaut, despite being a named source in The Times' article, would also speak to the defense of Axl and in particular any accusations of him being motivated by money:



Still, Zutaut got a first-hand view of the financials of the making of the album in 2001-2002, and would later discuss where the money went:




In April 2007, the costs of making Chinese Democracy would be estimated to between $13 and $15 million [Uncut, April 2007]. The flaw with this rationale is that the band was working on music for more than one album.

Brain would comment on the article in 2018 and joke about one million coming from all his time adding drum parts:

Guns N' Roses had been a two guitar band (Slash and Izzy or Slash and Gilby) but this changed from 2001 with the following 3-guitar player constellations: Buckethead, Paul and Robin [2001], Buckethead, Richard and Robin [2002], Bumblefoot, Richard and Robin [2006-2007], and Bumblefoot, Richard and DJ [2009-2014].

Bumblefoot would talk about how three guitars had always been Axl's plan:



In 2012, Dizzy would talk about having added a third guitarist and claim it had been necessary, like to get represent the Chinese Democracy songs well:



And in 2014, DJ would be asked if they could have managed without three guitar players and if he thinks three guitarists is a necessity:



Late in 2011, Richard would talk about how challenging it had been to rearrange songs for three guitar players:




When asked if he and Buckethead ever worked together to change songs or do their own things on songs, Brain would mention that Buckethead had found it hard to have to work with two other guitarists:





After the touring of 2006, Bumblefoot would discuss how he, Robin and Richard split the guitar parts between them:



Richard would also mention how Axl had intervened to move one solo from Robin to him:





In early 2009, Bumblefoot would discuss how they worked out which guitarist would play what:



Being asked if Robin and Richard are like Slash and Izzy and Buckethead or Bumblefoot then plays all the "stunt" guitar bits:



And being asked how they decide who gets to play what:



In 2010, Bumblefoot would discuss how hard it had been for him to learn his parts when he joined the band immediately prior to the shows in 2006:



Clarifying his comments on being devalued:



Talking about how much better they got to prepare before the shows in 2009/2010, with DJ having joined the band:





Richard would also talk about allocating guitar parts between himself, DJ and Bumblefoot:




As for sticking to the original signature solos and leads:











Before the European leg of the tour in 2010, DJ would comment on how they split the guitar parts:



And during the tour Bumblefoot would also comment on this:



DJ would again be asked about this before and during the US tour in 2011:




And in 2012:




And whether they could change the parts during a show:



Dizzy would praise the guitarists for arranging the songs:

In early 2005 the Nine Inch Nails fansite "NIN Hotline" would report that Richard was set to join Nine Inch Nails [Sp1at, January 20, 2005]. This rumour would be denied by Sanctuary [Sp1at, January 20, 2005] and it didn't happen.

Later, Richard would claim Trent Reznor had published the rumour to fuck with Axl:

The plan was still to tour in support of the release of Chinese Democracy, and in February, Tommy would go as far as to suggest they probably had dates booked:

As part of writing an article to be released in March in The New York Times, journalist Jeff Leeds got to hear some of the new music and Sp1at would describe what he had heard [Sp1at, April 14, 2005]. 'Atlas Shrugged' would described as "being somewhere between 70's glam rock and 'November Rain'", 'Quick Song' would be described as "a rock song with a riff similar to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit'", and 'Zodiac' as "an electronic, industrial song" [Sp1at, April 14, 2005].

In June 2005, Mercuriadis would comment to Sp1at that "it is fair to assume that only he, Axl Rose and Caram Costanzo (engineer) know the full facts about forthcoming GN'R album, "Chinese Democracy", including details of the final tracklist" [Sp1at, June 13, 2005], indicating that not even other band members were fully informed.

And this seems to be correct since band members would typically admit they didn't know much details about Chinese Democracy:




Despite all allegations that the record was more or less done, by June 2005, Richard would state that Axl still hadn't finished adding vocals:



In September, Dizzy would mention they had three CDs of material and that Axl was still working hard to finish Chinese Democracy:




Being asked if they really have 32 songs:



And describing the sound of the album:



And on whether fans will appreciate the direction of the music:



Dizzy would also talk about the song Silkworms that had been played live in 2001, and whether it was really written by him and Chris:



And on whether it would be included on Chinese Democracy:



And talk about his favorite tracks:



It is interesting that Dizzy refers to The General as being a song from 2004 since we know Beltrami worked on it already in 2003. Probably Dizzy is mistaken.

In October Dizzy would say the record would be out very soon:








Craig Duswalt, Axl's former personal assistant, would also be asked why the record wasn't out yet:



And Robert John would offer his theories:





In July 2005, Sp1at would publish a gossip column speculating on the tracklist of Chinese Democracy, listing the songs, "Prostitute", "Madagascar", "The Blues", "Chinese Democracy", "IRS", "TWAT", "This I Love", "Catcher in the Rye" as highly probable, while "Rhiad and the Bedouins", "Leave Me Alone", "Seven", "Quick Song", "Zodiac", "Atlas Shrugged", "The General" and "Thyme" were less likely to be included [Sp1at, July 28, 2005].

In late 2007, the harpist Patti Hood would mention on her website having worked on the too-be-released record Chinese Democracy [Patti Hood website, December 2007]. After this was discovered by the fanbase Hood received numerous emails asking about her involvement with Guns N' Roses.

Chris reached out to Hood already in 2004, but the recording session took place in 2005 [Guns N' Roses Hispana, June 30, 2010]:




Describing her working with the band and the song 'This I Love':










In 2010, Bumblefoot would discuss Hood and her contributions:

On August 17, 2005 - while their previous lawsuit from April 2004 was pending to go to court [see previous chapter] - Duff and Slash again sued Axl, this time for missing royalties [Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2005]. According to the lawsuit, when Axl signed with Sanctuary and sold the publishing rights to the GN'R back catalog in January 2005 [see previous chapter], the publisher was changed from Guns N' Roses to Axl's own Black Frog Music Publishing and Kobalt Songs Music Publishing [MTV News, August 22, 2005]. This resulted in publishing royalties being sent to Axl directly, bypassing Slash and Duff [MTV News, August 22, 2005; Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2005]. The total royalty revenues per year was said to be about $500,000 and for one quarter of 2005 Slash and Duff had been excluded from their shares of at least $92,000 in royalties [Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2005].

According to the lawsuit:



Slash and Duff sought "damages for fraud, copyright infringement and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things" [Slash & Duff Vs. Axl lawsuit document, August 17, 2005].

Howard Weitzman, Axl's lawyer, would state that Axl "had asked to receive only his portion of royalties, and that the overpayment was due to a clerical error by the society [=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers]" [Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2005]. In addition, according to Weitzman, Axl had "returned the extra funds to the organization" [Los Angeles Times, August 26, 2005].

Weitzman would furthermore refer to the lawsuit as "frivolous" and imply Slash and Duff had ulterior motives:



And:



Despite Weitzman's comments, in September it became clear that Slash and Duff intended to continue pursuing the lawsuit [Sp1at, September 6, 2005]. In the words of their lawyer, Glendon Miskel:



This means this lawsuit not coalesced with the lawsuit from 2004 [see previous chapter] which was about Axl's right to control GN'R assets.



On March 1, 2006, Axl responded to the accusations and countersued Slash and Duff, seeking a federal judge's confirmation of Axl's "ownership of his own creative works" [Axl's countersuit, March 1, 2006; MTV News, March 6, 2006]. On March 2, 2006, the suit was amended with additional introductory text [Axl's counter-lawsuit documents, March 2, 2006].

In the counter-suit, Axl would aggressively attack Slash and Duff:



Axl would also claim that Slash and Duff had falsely accused Axl of being responsible for the breakup of the band, been the reason for Izzy quitting, forced Steven out of the band, and blackmailed them to sign the partnership agreement:



Furthermore, Axl would claim that Slash specifically had refused to cooperate to replace band members, destroyed the band's fan club, hired Matt to change the sound of the band according to his desire, claimed that Axl was responsible for the breakup of the Use Your Illusion lineup, false claimed the conflict between them was due to musical differences, aggrandized his own importance in the band, sabotaged three attempts to make a traditional rock album as a follow-up to the Use Your Illusions, and hurt the band through detrimental drug use:



Additionally, Axl would take the opportunity to claim that Slash had made false accusations regarding the music Axl wanted to record and that Slash had recently changed his tune and become enthusiastic about the new GN'R album:



He would also claim, similar to what his lawyer Howard Weitzman has said [see above], that Slash and Duff's lawsuit was based solely on a clerical error:



In conclusion, Axl demanded a trial by jury [Axl's countersuit, March 2, 2006], likely to settle the disagreement over rights and obligations once and for all.

A press release, likely to speak his case to the public, following the lawsuit would state:





In April it would be reported that according to rumours, Perla had intervened in ongoing attempts to settle the lawsuits through mediation causing the discussions to fail and causing a rift between Slash and Duff [Blabbermouth, April 5, 2006].



On May 24, 2006, only two days after the lawsuits from 2004-2005 had been dismissed, Slash and Duff' 2005 lawsuit and Axl's 2006 counter-lawsuit, were also dismissed without prejudice.

In early January Slash would imply that he had been in some contact with Axl, just not directly, and indicate there was no bad blood between them and that other people were creating animosity:



In March 2006, Axl would perhaps shed light on what that contact had been when his lawyer Howard Weitzman disclosed that Slash had made a visit to Axl's home in October 2005, where he, allegedly, badmouthed his bandmates in Velvet Revolver and admitted Axl to have proven himself "the stronger":



As far as we know, Slash would first address this rumour in May 2006, stating that he hadn't talked to Axl:



Later in the same interview Slash would claim that it was a "blatantly fabricated thing" to "promote the next GUNS record":



Slash is correct in not having talked to Axl, he did, though, allegedly talk to Beta Lebeis:



Around the same time would Slash finally admit to having visited Axl's house but claim he only went there because of the ongoing lawsuit:



In 2007, Slash would mention a press release by Axl that had caused issues in Velvet Revolver because it had seemed so "factual" but that "none of it was true":



What is strange about this comment from Slash is that he claims the statement from Axl had indicated Slash was returning to Guns N' Roses, something it didn't. It did, though, claim Slash had badmouthed his Velvet Revolver band mates and according to this quote from Slash above, it had naturally caused friction in the band.

In October 2007 he would admit he had initially lied about the visit:



To Rolling Stone magazine Slash would again admit visiting Axl's home but deny having slandered his band mates [Rolling Stone, August 9, 2007].

And then to Q Magazine and Mojo Magazine he would indicate that he had visited to apologize for venting to the press and to end the ongoing lawsuit:

Brain would keep himself busy with other projects, especially computer music and programming:



Brain's involvement with Guns N' Roses created new opportunities and in 2005 he was also doing gigs with Tom Waits and Colonel Claypool’s Bucket Of Bernie Brains (CCBOBB):





At some point Brain met Melissa Reese who he would start working with and later enter and end a romantic relationship with:



Being asked to describe Melissa:



More about Melissa and Brain in the chapter about Melissa before Guns N' Roses.

In late October 2005, media would start reporting that "Greatest Hits Vol 2" was in the works with a scheduled release date of December 6, 2005 [Musictap, October 26, 2005]. The supposed release date would quickly be changed to March 6, 2006 [Blabbermouth, October 27, 2005].

Then another greatest hits package would be announced, this would a double disc set with expected release date on December 20 with the title "Welcome to the Jungle -- The Very Best of Guns N' Roses" [Billboard, November 17, 2005].

The journalist Ross Haflin would meet with Slash and discuss the greatest hits records:



Then, in December, a Geffen spokeswoman would deny they had any plans of releasing a double disc titled "Welcome to the Jungle -- The Very Best of Guns N' Roses" [So Hood Magazine, December 9, 2005].

On November 5, Richard and his partner, Stephanie Howlett, became parents to Paisley Piper Fortus. In an interview from 2011, Richard would allude to previous drug abuse [also see an earlier chapter for more on Richard's drug habits] and how he had started taking care of himself with exercise and healthy eating after his first daughter was born:





Having kids meant that Richard cherished home life more than before:



Later in 2011, Richard would also mention that he had been a drug dealer at some point when asking what he would have done if he hadn't become a musician:



In late 2012, Richard would talk about what he wanted for his daughters:



In 2017, he would discuss how it had affected his life:

Despite all statements suggesting that all recordings of instruments were complete [see previous chapters], Richard would in December 2005 inform GUNSNROSESonline.DE on that he would return to Los Angeles (from Germany where he had been touring with Nena) to record new guitar tracks for Chinese Democracy [Blabbermouth, December 6, 2005].

Despite the revelation that Richard was called back to record more guitar work, in an interview in December, Slash would reveal that Chinese Democracy was set for a release in March 2006:



The context of this announcement must be considered: Slash had recently visited Axl's home trying to reconcile [see earlier chapter] and Velvet Revolver were having issues [see earlier chapter].

Guns N' Roses management would quickly come out and state that they had no release date for Chinese Democracy [Blabbermouth, January 11, 2006; from Launch].

But Slash continued stating the record was due in March:



In May, Slash would discuss his statements and claim that he hadn't realized it was "such a big deal":

With Richard being called back to add more guitars to Chinese Democracy [see previous chapter], one wouldn't be at fault for fearing that hearing new music was far off, but at an announcement party for Korn, Axl reassured that would not be the case:



Merck would come out and specify :



Axl would also discuss the elusive album:




Furthermore, of these 32 songs, 13 would be included on Chinese Democracy with Axl's favorites being Better, There Was a Time and The Blues [Rolling Stone, January 16, 2006]. This is the first known mention of the song Better.

In hindsight we know that excluding songs that would end up on Chinese Democracy, the leaks of songs from 2000-2001 contained 27 additional songs in various stages of completion. This means that at least eight of these songs which they worked on in 2000/2001, were now not among those 32 they worked on at the start of 2006. It must be "at least", since it is likely that additional songs were written in the period after 2001 and were not being worked on.

According to The New York Post, at his 44th birthday party, in February 2006, Axl would play Chinese Democracy at the Chelsea nightclub Stereo [The New York Post, February 12, 2006]. This indicates that the record was finished recorded and mixed by then.

According to The New York Post, at his 44th birthday party, Axl would play Chinese Democracy at the Chelsea nightclub Stereo [The New York Post, February 12, 2006]. One of the club owners, Barry Mullineaux, would comment:



Mullineaux manned the DJ booth at the party:



Later in February, Axl was attending a party after a Derek Trucks show in Hollywood where he ending up partying with Rev. Peyton’s Big Damn Band to whom he would play Chinese Democracy and sing along [Indystar Blogs, March 1, 2006]. In the words of Jayme Peyton from the Big Damn Band:









In the same month the songs "There Was A Time", "The Blues", "IRS" and a "rough" 1 minute 20 second snippet of "Better" was leaked [MTV News, February 23, 2006]. The source of these leaks were unknown, but it seems like an odd coincidence that Axl in January had mentioned "There Was A Time", "The Blues" and "Better" as his favorite tracks off Chinese Democracy [Rolling Stone, January 16, 2006; and see earlier chapter]. On February 23, 2006, Tom Breihan, writing for The Village Voice Blogs, would claim the leaks originated from Mike Piazza [The Village Voice Blogs; February 23, 2006].

Rolling Stone would review the leaks:



MTV News would report that the songs "Catcher in the Rye," "Riyadh and the Bedouins," "Silkworms" and "Chinese Democracy" had leaked at an earlier date [MTV News, February 23, 2006] and in early March, Brian May would comment on hearing 'Catcher':



A "band insider" would suggest the songs had been intentionally leaked by the band to gauge the public's reaction, and if positive that there was a good chance the record would be released in 2006 [Total Guitar, June 2006].



In May 2006, Axl would be asked if the leaks were of actual songs that were planned for Chinese Democracy:



And in 2009, Axl would likely refer to having played unreleased tracks at the Stereo nightclub when discussing the first leaks:

On February 20, 2006, Rick in Rio-Lisboa would officially announce that Guns N' Roses was set to play at their festival on May 27, 2006 [Press Release, February 20, 2006]. According to the press release, Guns N' Roses had been the most requested act "by the official site users, amongst all bands, by all fans, whether Portuguese or international" [Press Release, February 20, 2006]. The news from Rock in Rio-Lisboa would quickly be followed by Download festival confirming that Guns N' Roses would headline the festival on Donington Park on June 11, 2006 [NME, February 22, 2006]. In connection with the announcement, Axl would make a statement:



After more festivals announced Guns N' Roses on the bill, MTV News would summarize the band's expected summer concerts: "Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon, Portugal, on May 27; Italy's Gods of Metal festival on June 3 and 4; Rock am Ring in Nurburgring, Germany, June 3 to 6; the NovaRock festival in Austria, June 15 to 17; and both GN'R and Metallica — a lethal combo, in light of their riotous co-headlining North American tour of 1992 — have been announced as headliners of this year's Download Festival in England, June 9 to 11" [MTV News, February 23, 2006].



Later, a US fall tour would be planned:



The touring activity meant that Brain was called back to the band after having worked with Tom Waits since the tour in 2002 collapsed:

In early February 2006, rock journalist/photographer, and friend of Slash, Ross Haflin would claim that the Appetite lineup of Guns N' Roses would reunite to play a show at the Download festival together with Metallica:



Haflin would soon delete the post [Blabbermouth, February 4, 2006]. Later it would be announced that both Metallica and Guns N' Roses would indeed play at Download festival in the summer of 2006 [NME, February 22, 2006].

Despite Axl's harsh words towards Slash and Duff in March 6, 2006 [see later chapter], rumours about Axl, Slash and Duff reuniting would not die and later in the month Rolling Stone would mention that the rumour had been discussed during an after party at that year's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on March 13 [Rolling Stone, March 24, 2006].

In May 2006, Adam Bomb -- who toured with Steven's Adler's Appetite in February 2006 -- would claim that Izzy had considered travelling to Portugal to jam with Steven (in late February) and to check what condition Steven was in for a potential Guns N' Roses reunion:



There are suggestions that Izzy considered touring with Adler's Appetite in 2005, too [Reality Check TV'S Dragon Dave, December 9, 2004].

In May 2006, Classic Rock magazine would cite a "Guns insider" who claimed that Axl had "approached the former members of GN’R with a proposal to reunite for two gigs" [Classic Rock, May 2006]. These former members were Slash, Duff, Izzy and Matt [Classic Rock, May 2006]. The shows had been 2006's Download festival and the following week's show at the Hammersmith [Classic Rock, May 2006]. Further more, "both would be filmed and recorded for a DVD and live album - and each band member would receive millions in payment" [Classic Rock, May 2006]. The alleged reunion fell apart, according to the insider, when "the small print stated that in agreeing to the terms and conditions, all rights to the Guns N’ Roses name and back catalogue would transfer to Axl" [Classic Rock, May 2006].

The same month as the Classic Rock issue, Axl would comment on the rumours about the band reuniting:



In 2008, Scott Weiland, the singer in Velvet Revolver, would claim the band had been very close to reuniting around the time of the Greatest Hits album (the second that was rumoured to be released in late 2005 (see previous chapter)), but insinuate that badmouthing in the press caused it to fall apart:



Duff would be asked to comment on Weiland claiming the band almost reunited:



Later in 2008, Duff would be asked again about the reunion rumours before the release of Chinese Democracy in November 2008, and suggest they weren't true but not flat out deny them:



It is possible that Duff is here referring to rumours about a reunion closer to the release of Chinese Democracy, and not the rumours from 2005/2006.

In April 2009, Jeb Wright, writing for Classic Rock Revisited, would tell Duff that Slash had told him that they three years ago were very close to reuniting with Axl. This would place it around 2006. When asked about this this, Duff responded:



Thus suggesting Slash was under the influence when he said it, or that he was misinterpreting what was happening-

The quotes in this chapter strongly suggest that the Appetite for Destruction lineup members were indeed in discussions in 2005/2006 about a reunion, at least for a couple of shows in the summer of 2006, possibly to coincide with the release of a second Greatest Hits album.

By the end of 2005 and into 2006, Slash would strike a much more reconciliatory pose:



This quote came not long after Slash had visited Axl's home [see later chapter]. Then in February 2006, Slash followed up with stating:





Any hopes that Axl and Slash were about to put their feud behind them was effectively squashed in March 2006 when Axl counter-sued Slash and Duff [see previous chapter] and in the suit made a scathing attack on them in which he claimed that they had falsely accused Axl of being responsible for the breakup of the band, been the reason for Izzy quitting, forced Steven out of the band, blackmailing them to sign the partnership agreement:



Furthermore, Axl would claim that Slash had refused to cooperate to replace band members, destroyed the band's fan club, hired Matt to change the sound of the band according to his desire, claimed that Axl was responsible for the breakup of the Use Your Illusion lineup, false claimed the conflict between them was due to musical differences, aggrandized his own importance in the band, sabotaged three attempts to make a traditional rock album as a follow-up to the Use Your Illusions, and hurt the band through detrimental drug use:



Axl would also describe how Slash had used media to aggrandize himself while villainize Axl:



To accompany this, Axl's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, released an associated statement to the public that discussed Slash:



The statement would disclose that Slash had made a visit to Axl's home in October 2005 [see previous chapter], where he, allegedly, badmouthed his bandmates in Velvet Revolver and admitted Axl to have proven himself "the stronger":



Tellingly, Slash did not issue an immediate response or rebuttal, and instead it was Scott Weiland who decided to put words to paper and attack Axl [Associated Press, March 16, 2006; and see later chapter].

In 2014, Craig Duswalt, Axl's assistant during the Use Your Illusion tour, would claim that any hope of a reunion had been squashed with Slash's visit to Axl's house and the fight that followed:

Inevitably, as Velvet Revolver was formed and started to get media attention, Weiland would get many questions about Axl:



And when asked if he was bothered about being compared to Axl:



From the stage in Sydney, February 24, 2005, Weiland would attack Axl:



Then in March 2006, Axl would claim that Slash had visited his home last October and referred to Weiland as "a fraud" [Press release, March 6, 2006; and see previous chapter]. This claim and any intrinsic implications of Axl claiming Slash had deserted his bandmates in Velvet Revolver to get back with Axl, likely prompted the following response from Weiland in-which Weiland seems to accuse Axl of lying about Slash's visit and what Slash allegedly said:



The rant from Weiland against Axl would result in Alan Niven coming to Axl's and Slash's defense (since Niven obviously trusted Axl's recollection of Slash's visit to his house):



Niven quickly had to come out and dispel any notions that he hadn't written the letter, and stress that he did it both to defend Guns N' Roses but also in the hopes of a Guns N' Roses reunion:



In May 2007, Weiland would be asked about Axl again and claim Matt and Axl were in regular contact:



After reading this interview, Jarmo, the admin at Here Today Gone To Hell, reached out to Beta Lebeis for a comment:



In June 2007, Weiland would again talk about his inflammatory post and claim that he had heard through Matt that Axl had been hurt by Weiland's comments:



Being asked if he seems similarities between himself and Axl:





After the ugly departure from Velvet Revolver, Weiland would discuss Axl:

In April 2016, Live Nation would announce that Guns N' Roses were to play two shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York as preparation for their summer festival tour [MTV News, April 14, 2006]. The shows would be on May 15 and May 17 [MTV News, April 14, 2006]. In early May the two shows had been increased to four - on May 12, 14, 15 and 17 - and they had been sold out in three minutes [Business Wire, May 4, 2006].

Axl would comment:

The search for a replacement for Buckethead was not over, and with shows lined up already in May, there was no time to loose. In April, guitarist Joshua Craig, from The Alien Blakk project, auditioned:

Despite Axl's press release in March, media would continue to speculate that Slash had left Velvet Revolver to rejoin Guns N' Roses, and Slash would be confronted with these rumours in May:



In June he would be asked what he'd do if Axl called him and mention that he has sent Christmas cards to Axl but received no reply:



He would also deny the rumours of rejoining Guns N' Roses:



Later in the year, Del James would mention how the band had been progressing without Slash and Duff, and how Axl had been the man with the vision:



There would also be rumours that Matt was rejoining the band, to which Matt responded:

In preparation for the summer tour, Guns N' Roses played four warm-up shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, on May 12, 14, 15 and 17. The intention had been to do the warm-up shows in a small venue [Eddie Trunk's Friday Night Rocks, May 5, 2006].

The May shows in NYC would be about 3.5 years since the band last played a show. The shows would also be Bumblefoot's first in Guns N' Roses and feature some new songs.



Axl would spend some time in New York City before the first show on May 14:



The band would also rehearse in New York City before the shows and on May 5, Axl would call in to Eddie Trunk's Friday Night Rocks radio show during one of the rehearsals and let listeners listen in to the band rehearsing 'Nightrain' before they went on to rehearse 'Paradise City' [Eddie Trunk's Friday Night Rocks, May 5, 2006].

Axl would also reveal that the band had a new guitarist:




Because of ongoing rumours that Slash had rejoined Guns N' Roses, and likely also because of Axl and Izzy hanging out together in New York, Axl had to dispel the suggestion that someone from a previous lineup was returning to the band:



Axl would also talk about the upcoming warm-up shows:



In late 2011, Axl would talk about having to prepare to sing old Guns N' Roses songs for the shows in 2006:





As will be discussed in the next chapters, during the rehearsals in New York Bumblefoot was brought in to play with the band. But because of fear of songs leaking, Bumblefoot would not be handed copies of the new, unreleased songs, but had to learn them during the rehearsals:




Talking about the tour preparations in 2009 and contrasting it with how it was in 2006:

In early May 2006, Axl would reconnect with his friend Sebastian Bach. Axl was then spending time in New York City in preparation for Guns N' Roses' shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom while Bach was presumably living in New Jersey.

Eddie Trunk describing the moment Sebastian and Axl met again after many years on his Friday Night Rocks show on may 5:



Bach and Axl would explain how the reconnection happened:





Axl would explain why they had lost contact in the 1990s and indicate that Sebastian's partying had been a problem:




Bach would later give his opinion:



Bach would also describe Axl:




Axl commenting on the story:



A couple of years later, and after having toured together in 2006, Bach would discuss Axl: