2010.08.04 - Chart Attack - Steven Adler's Learned From His Mistakes

Former Guns N' Roses Drummer Steven Adler's Learned From His Mistakes

by Adam Kovac (CHARTattack)

Your first thought is, "This man should be dead."

Your second thought is, "Holy shit, I'm shaking hands with the guy who played drums on 'Paradise City.' And 'Rocket Queen.' And who co-wrote "Sweet Child O' Mine.'"

Then you think, "I thought he'd have more scars. Don't track marks leave scars?"

Steven Adler's scars might not be immediately apparent, but that's only because he wears them well.

In the 20 years since being fired from his job as drummer for Guns N' Roses, the world's biggest rock band, just as they were preparing to record the follow-up to the iconic Appetite For Destruction, he went from overdose to overdose (28 in total), culminating in two heart attacks and a stroke.

It's been less than two years since got sober, an accomplishment he credits to his friend Dr. Drew Pinsky, Adler's drug counselor on VH1's Celebrity Rehab and Sober House reality shows.

Besides helping Adler free himself from heroin and crack cocaine, his stints on those shows have won him new fans from an unlikely source. That's become evident in the midst of his current 55 city American tour with his Adler's Appetite band.

"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," Adler says, clearly thrilled at how many people genuinely care about his recovery.

He claims 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."

Adler has had two projects since leaving Sober House: staying clean and compiling those fuzzy memories into a memoir.

My Appetite For Destruction: Sex, Drugs & Guns N' Roses is a vivid, funny and often disturbing but brutally honest look into a life lived on the ragged edge.

Adler claims writing it was a cathartic experience, especially when discussing sexual abuse he suffered as an adolescent — something he never told anybody about until now.

"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," he says. "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."

The shocking thing about meeting Adler after reading the book is aside from slightly slurred speech, there are few clues this guy has seen more dark days than some people have had hot meals.

He drums his hands on table tops, squirms in his chair like the bored kid in class, and his eyes gleam with a youthful mischief that makes it easy to see how he thrived in a band notorious for bad behavior.

But the thing you notice most of all is his smile — it stretches from ear to ear, and he never stops wearing it, even when talking about substance abuse that resulted in a two decade-long lost weekend.

"Drugs, drugs, drugs. It's a biggie. Biggest waste of my life," Adler says. "But I didn't know back then."

We're sitting in a downtown Toronto restaurant, talking about 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," he says. "We would have been even bigger. Look how big we were and how big we are. It was the drugs that held everything back."

I tell him how the stories in his book about his grandmother remind me of my own — both are tough, old-school Jewish ladies with a philosophical bent — and how one of my grandmother's favourite truisms is that everything happens for a reason.

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

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

I can tell he likes the idea.

"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."

That lack of bitterness is extremely endearing — it's hard not to get caught up in Adler's enthusiasm. The old wounds have healed, and you won't catch him talking shit about anybody — even a certain you-know-who who gets a lot of the blame for the dissolution of the classic Guns lineup.

"I know Axl [Rose, Guns N' Roses singer, in case you live under a rock], 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," Adler insists.

"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."

Despite it all, Adler says he still dreams the original five will take over the world again. It's a faint hope — the divide between some of the former members and the man born William Bruce Rose, Jr. is still massive.

But if Adler can sit down and talk about 20 years spent killing himself only to come out stronger, who's to say anything is impossible?

The only certainty is that come what may, this drummer will always have something to smile about.

*

Adler will sign copies of My Appetite for Destruction: Sex, Drugs & Guns N’ Roses at the Toronto Festival Hall Chapters (142 John St.) tonight at 7 p.m. A free download of Adler's Appetite's "Alive" single comes with purchase of the book.

You can see Adler's Appetite at these shows:

Aug. 5 Clifton, NJ @ Dingbatz
Aug. 6 Sandusky, OH @ The Underground
Aug. 7 Dayton, OH @ McGuffy’s House Of Rock
Aug. 8 Lexington, KY @ Cosmic Charlies
Aug. 10 Appleton, WI @ Mill Creek
Aug. 11 Duluth, MN @ Clyde Iron Works
Aug. 12 Brainerd, MN @ International Raceway
Aug. 13 Cedar Falls, IA @ Reverb
Aug. 14 Elko, MN @ Elko Speedway
Aug. 15 Harrisburg, SD @ Phoenix Lounge
Aug. 19 Colorado Springs, CO @ Union Station
Aug. 20 Roadhouse @ Dacono, CO
Aug. 25 Milton, WA @ Cedardome
Aug. 26 Everett, WA @ Hayley's Bar & Grill
Sept. 3 Augoura Hills, CA @ Canyon Club

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