2017.01.25 - Reddit AMA - Steven and Deanna Adler

Hey it's Steven Adler from Guns N’ Roses here today with my mom Deanna. She saved me from terminal drug addiction, then wrote a bestselling book about it. It's called Sweet Child of Mine.

Hey everyone! This is Steven Adler and I’m here with my mom Deanna Adler. She just wrote a book titled ‘Sweet Child of Mine: How I Lost My Son To Guns N Roses” The book gives an unflinching account of my heroin- fueled rise to becoming one of the founders of GNR, and my subsequent fall to drugs and alcohol. Ask us Anything!

Edit:

Steven: Thank you guys so much for having me. I hope everybody on the AMA enjoyed this. I love you all and next time I'll come back again. Just ask me, I'll be back. You know I'm lying, right? I never want to come back to this place again. I love you guys so much. Thank you.

Deanna: And I want to thank everyone for having us here. I wanna tell you, people, they make fun of me. They thought I was in denial.

Steven: You are.

Deanna: Well, I was. And you hear all this medical bunk about co-dependency. All I know is I have never given up on Steven. If I had given up on Steven, he would probably be dead now. I'm happy that I never gave up. So, who's the wiser here? My son is clean, happy, and playing drums again. Please, everyone. Read the book. Buy the book. Buy the book and read it. You're gonna love. You're gonna see that everything's gonna be alright.

Steven: Or my brother, Chuck, will come and kick your ass.

What is your favorite memory from your time with Guns N' Roses?

Steven: The whole five years that we were together. Every moment. It was magic. It was really magic. We couldn't do wrong and it was excitement 25 hours, 8 days a week. So, just being a part of those guys was great. It was like I was part of the cool kids in school.

Deanna: That was his family. When he was in a band, that was his family. And that was okay.

Steven: Assholes.

[laughter]

What's a crazy story about raising Steven and the Guns N Roses?

Deanna: One of the most exciting times for us is the first time we saw him play.. We went in and we saw Steven and he says "stand over here so you won't get hurt." So he leaves us and all of a sudden the light goes down, pitch black, and then all of a sudden we hear Steven bang on the drums, the guitar, and it was so loud, I actually thought a 747 landed on my head. That's how loud it was, I immediately got deaf, I lost my hearing. My head was going boom boom boom! There was so much weed in that place!

Steven: And that was just from me! That was just me smoking!

Deanna: I was high, I had a headache, I mean my brain was going crazy, I couldn't hear nothing. So I lasted about 3 songs and then we left. On the way home, don't even ask me what was going on in the car, I couldn't hear anything, Jamie fell asleep, he was probably stoned already and he passed out. On the way home I got scared. I said What's going on? What's this all about? What's happening? I never in my wildest dreams thought that they were gonna make it big, that they were going to be the number 1 band in the country at that time.

Steven - what advice would you give to someone just entering into recovery after most of a lifetime of drug addiction?

Deanna - what advice would you give to the friends and loved ones of someone just entering recovery?

Steven: Be patient. Just live your life one second, one day at a time. Hang around with people who are not addicts. You are who you hang around with. If you hang around with junkies, you are going to be a junkie. If you hang out with nice, happy, good loving, caring people, you're going to be good, happy, loving, caring person. Definitely go to meetings and listen, and talk. One thing that is really cool about my mom writing her book and then me writing me book was that you should take a pen and paper and write down your life. Be completely honest, it's yourself, you can't lie to yourself, even though people do. Be completely honest and write down your life, everything that was good and bad, and read it, and then burn it and move forward.

Deanna: I am so glad that Steven is back with me, he's back on top, He knows what he's doing. To make sure that everyone out there can find strength and inspiration from this book and hopefully free themselves from addiction.

Deanna: I would also say the same thing, go to these meetings. You can go to Al-Anon, you could go to AA, talk to your friends, talk to your minister, talk to your Rabbi, just don't keep it inside. Don't be like me, where I kept everything inside and denied everything. When I finished writing this book, it was so cathartic for me, because all of a sudden I don't care if anyone knew what was going on in my life. It was wonderful. I'm not ashamed anymore that my son is called a "drug addict" and "alcoholic. “it’s okay I'm not alone. I want people to realize this, that they are not alone.

Steven: Don't give up on this person that you love and just realize that it's a disease. Just like if you had asthma or cancer, you're not going to give up on that person because they need an inhaler. It's a disease. When I was doing drugs and I was hurting my mom, my family, my wife, people around me, I wasn't doing it on purpose. I wasn't waking up like "I'm gonna get high just so I can fuck with my family and piss them off and hurt them." It's a disease and you have to be patient. Don't give up.

Deanna: The book "Sweet Child of Mine" has everything that I went through. I never gave up on my son. He'll tell you, he can stop calling me for a year, and as soon as he called me, I was there in five minutes. I never gave up on him and these parents should never give up on their children because they're babies! They're children.

Hi Steven! Thanks for doing this AMA!

Which was the first "hooooooly shit we're huge" moment while on GNR?

Steven: When we played the street scene in 1986, downtown LA. There were 100,000 people in the streets, outside, and we started playing. Literally not 10s, or 100s, thousands of people were spitting on the stage at us. I was in the back, so I wasn't getting hit. The coolest thing was, nobody in the band got pissed off , they started spitting back at them. It was one of those moments like "holy shit! What am I doing here? How did I get here? and Why is this so awesome!"

Deanna: I'm so glad I wasn't there.

Steven: That and playing with The Rolling Stones at the coliseum was pretty fucking cool!

Hey Steven, First off I'd like to say thank you for all the work thag you've done with GnR, Adler's Appetite, and Adler. Your drumming inspired me to become a drummer myself. My question is: Do you have any advice for up and coming musicians?

Steven: Practice, practice, practice. Repetition makes the master. Stay away from alcohol and drugs and you can't lose.

Deanna: I agree with Steven, especially about staying away from alcohol and drugs. He practices every single day.

Steven: Alcohol and drugs are a waste of time.

Deanna: 3-4 hours a day he practices, even now.

Steven: That is because I love to play. Always practice and play with everybody and anybody you can.

[Deleted question]

Steven: Hi u/f3lip3, thank you very much. And no, I had a mild stroke when I was shooting cocaine. The only thing that it affected was my speech. I basically had to go back to Kindergarten and learn how to speak again. Dr. Drew, when I did that celebrity rehab, he had a special speech therapist come in and actually teach me how to speak again. I mean I can barely speak fucking English, as it is, but it's much better than it was in 1994.

Deanna: When I found out he was in the hospital because nobody would tell me when he would have an overdose. Nobody would tell me because they didn't want me to know because he has numerous times he's had an overdose, but I never knew. Well, this time, I found out because the nurse from the Century City Hospital calls me up on the phone and says, "Your son needs dialysis". I said, "What do you mean?". And she says, "Well, he came in yesterday from a drug overdose". I said, "So, give him dialysis. What's the big thing?". Well, I had to sign a paper for him to have it. So, she faxed me over a paper. I signed the paper. He had dialysis. So, then I went to the hospital to see him. I walk into this room and he is attached to so many tubes. And I said, "Oh my god, I've never seen anything like this before". So, I sat down next to him. I says, "Steven", cause I heard that people in a coma they can hear you, so I sat down next to him and said, "Steven, Steven, please wake up. Everything's going to be alright". And then what happened was, he opened one eye and a single tear came out of that one eye. A single tear. And then he closed his eye again. And then, of course, I burst out crying. I mean, it was so horrible. I told the doctors. When I was at the hospital, that day, his lawyer came over. Former lawyer, came over to see him.

Steven: His name was Satan.

Deanna: His name was Satan.

Steven: Louis Cypher, I recall. Louis Cypher. Lu-ci-fer. Louis Cypher. Yea.

Deanna: I said thank you for coming over, but he's in a coma. He said, "I just wanted to check up on him". I said, "Fine". A few weeks later, I got a bill. He charged us for going to the hospital to look at Steven when he was in a coma.

Steven: For 30 seconds.

Deanna: 30 seconds!

Steven: He just looked in at the door and went, "Okay".

Deanna: That's how people take advantage of people that are drug addicts and alcohol abusers. They take advantage of you and it's not right. So, I called up the lawyer. I says, "What it this? I see you're charging him for him for you coming to visit him in the hospital. Are you nuts?". I said, "You better take that off the bill". And he took it off the bill. But, can you imagine going to the hospital to check on a client, just to say hello and see how you're doing and he charges for that? That was sick.

Hey Steven! I have a few, hopefully simple, quick questions.

1. Why do they call you Steven 'Popcorn' Adler? Is it cause you're energetic, and bounce up and down when you're beating on the drums?

And

2. Will you be joining GNR for a larger portion of the NITL Tour? Rather than a few appearances here and there?

Those are my two questions that I had to ask. Ps you fucking rock dude much love

Steven: I think that's what Axl was thinking. We played that show at the Ritz that was live on MTV one night and he introduced me as Steven Popcorn Adler. That one and only time. He would always introduce me as Steven California Indica Bud Adler. I'm a big pot smoker. So, that one night that it happened to be live on TV, out of nowhere he just called me popcorn and it just stuck. I think it was like when I play my hair bounces up and down. Like popcorn popping in a machine. I don't know. He's insane. I don't know why the hell he did it. It just happened. He just called me that.

Deanna: I never like that, by the way. I never liked that.

Steven: I had a great time last year doing the couple shows that I got to do with them, but it was everything that I thought it was going to be. It was the complete opposite. If it was going be just the five original guys with Dizzy and Axl, Slash, and Duff and myself, then yes I will, but otherwise, it's not the magic and it's not fair to the fans. Me and Dizzy actually really do wanna be a part of it.

Hi Steven, have any crazy stories from touring in Canada?

Steven: I love Canada. You're so lucky that you live there. Yes, we were touring with "Iron Maiden" and one night me and Nicko McBrain went out to this bar. We were in Quebec, French Canada, and it was just a beautiful town and it was snowing. Me and Nicko, we were hanging in a bar and we were doing shots. We did like maybe 8, 9 shots and then the 10th shot he did, everything was going great between us, we were having a good time, and then once he took that 10th shot, he got so crazy and turned into a different person and was going to kick my ass. All we were doing was just sitting there talking and that one drink just was the one that broke him. And you've seen this guy. This is one ugly motherfucker, okay. He'll kick your ass just by you looking at his face. So, I was all whooah, one second, one moment here, I'm gonna go outside for a second and I'm gonna come back in and we'll try this again. I walked outside and I left. I remember walking through the snow on these cobblestone streets, freezing my ass off, going what the fuck just happened? What the hell just happened?

What do you miss most about the rock n roll scene from the 80s compared to today?

Steven: It was more exciting back then 'cause you didn't find out everything like you do now. Everything is instantly over people's phones and everything. It was like exciting to read magazines and read about your bands and what's going on and it's just a completely different world now. I think I got to catch the end of when rock was really rock. That's what I miss. I miss going to record stores and hanging out. I miss going to magazine stands and reading magazines and looking at pictures. I miss looking at record albums and reading all the liner notes and looking at the pictures in the sleeves and reading how they did the record and what happened. That was exciting. Nowadays, it's nothing. You just push a button and you're on the computer. There's no liner notes. There's maybe one goofy picture that's been photoshopped. I like the real stuff. I like real instruments. Reality. Real. People practicing. I've never known one person that practices as a teenager and looked in the mirror and was air guitar playing practice to see how they look and thinking in their head, "Oh, I just wanna play for myself". No, it's that I wanna play for the world. And I miss that whole real kinda rock thing, ya know. Music.

Deanna: I miss him. That's it.

Steven: She misses me practicing my drums in the bedroom. Oh god, please stop! Pleeease!

Deanna: That's exactly right.

Steven: When he goes to school, I'm throwing these out.

What music are you listening to these days?

These days, I still listen to the same music I did when I was growing up.

Hi Steven, how surreal was it to be in a band with your friend growing up and make it big? Does your mom have any funny/interesting stories about Slash from when he was younger?

Steven: It was a dream come true. Every musician that I can imagine, having a friend that was as talented as Slash was and being able to be a part of him and his life and us doing it together was just so fun and so magical. Everything in our lives just fell into place. It's not like we had to do anything extraordinary. We just woke up in the morning and did what we did and it just worked. It was magic.

Deanna: I didn't really know Slash when he was young because Steven was living with his Grandmother and so they hung out together, of course. But I don't really have any stories about him.

Steven: It's funny, I was the bad influence on Slash. I'm the one who got him to start ditching school. And turned him onto Rock 'n Roll.

Hey Steven and Deanna! Thanks for doing this AMA. Question: is rock & roll dead once your generation is gone? If not, who is going to keep it going?

Steven: All I know is that the gods of rock are pissed! I think I am afraid Rock and Roll might be dead. There are just no great bands out there. The last great band that I know of was the Foo Fighters, and that was 25 years ago.

Deanna: I don't believe it will ever die. When he was playing in the 80s, we would go on sunset blvd and see all these guys with the black leather jackets

Steven: But that was the 80s, this is 2017. Music is completely different now. It sucks!

Deanna: a few weeks ago we were going down sunset blvd. There are so many young people. I don't think it will ever die. What goes around comes around, it's always gonna be there. I still listen to oldies but goodies. Good music comes back.

Hi Steven, If you had the choice to play any Guns tune other than Appetite/Lies material, which one would you choose?

Steven: Back Off Bitch, Don't Cry, You Can Be Mine, Coma, Civil War.

What is your biggest regret about the years you lost to the hard drugs you took?

Steven: Losing those years to the hard drugs and alcohol! It was a waste of time.

What's the worst experience you ever had with a fan?

Steven: Hi u/fuck_you_in_the_valley

This one girl, right after a show, I was walking to the bus and this one girl got so excited to see me that she jumped on me and pulled my back out. I had to miss like 10 shows because she hurt my back.

Did you fall in love with any groupies?

Steven: Everyone of them. For the 3 minutes I was with them. Yes. If you got 4 out of me, god bless you. You lucked out that day.

Deanna: One time he told me that he had sex with over 2,000 women.

Steven: I was on drugs.

Deanna: I says, "What kind of talk is that? I'm your mother. Stop it".

Steven: I remember telling my grandfather, my grandparents. I brought a gold record to each my grandma and grandpa one day and I said, "Here grandma and grandpa. Look. I'm famous now". And my grandpa says," Yeah, that and 50 cents will get you a cup of coffee". And he's right.

Hi Deanna. How did you deal with noise from your son when he was growing up?

Steven: You tell ‘em the truth. You threw my drums right on the sidewalk.

Deanna: I didn't deal well with it.

Steven: I went to school, the drums were on the sidewalk.

Deanna: When he was a baby, he was 2 years old, he would sit on the kitchen floor, while I was cooking and he would take out the Tupperware and the wooden spoons and he would be pounding on the Tupperware. I would play oldies but goodies!

Steven: 50's. Frankie Valli, Frankie Avalon, Veronica.

Deanna: Yea, that's what I listened to.

Steven: Frankie Valli is god.

Deanna: So, when he would get the drums, yeah, it was very hard because the neighbors would complain. I would go to work and I'd come home and the neighbor would say, "He's been playing the drums all day. How much can I take?". No, it wasn't good. I don't suggest getting the drums.

Steven: It wasn't just that. It was just he's playing the drums all day. He's playing the drums and he stinks! If he played good, it wouldn't be so bad. Tell him to take lessons. That goddamn loud Rock 'n Roll he keeps playing.

Deanna: I don't advise any parents to buy their children a drumset.

Steven: Nowadays, you have electric drums, so you can wear headphones, so you don't bother anybody. Me personally, I love fucking with my neighbors.

When you guys finally broke out, I'm assuming you had a chance to meet alot of your idols. Who exceeded expectations for you and who disappointed you when you met them?

Steven: My favorite person that I have ever met was Steven Tyler, from Aerosmith. Nobody that I met has disappointed me. Everybody that I looked up to was already as cool as I thought there would be.

What's your favorite dessert?

Steven: Cheesecake with whip cream. Plain New York cheesecake with whip cream in the microwave for 6 seconds.

Deanna: And my favorite dessert is chocolate cream pie with whip cream. Lots of whip cream.

Hi Steven your an amazing artist and your work with GNR is awesome! Really good to hear that you were able to get clean, and that your mother helped you. Mothers are the best, what do you think was the most important thing she did that helped you? Also what are you listening to now in terms of music?

Steven: The most important was love, support, and not giving up on me. No matter what an asshole I was, she didn't give up on me.

Deanna: I'm so happy that Steven is clean and happy now and that's a miracle. You can never give up on your child. I want people to read the book "Sweet Child of Mine," I think it will inspire people never to give up on their child.

Hey Steven! Love ya, man! What's your favorite GnR song to play?

Steven: Every single one of them. I still play the ones that I recorded the demo tapes I helped write on "Use Your Illusion". At least 12, 13 of those. I'll still practice to those because I love them so much, but obviously, I play em my way, which is the right way.

Deanna: Steven is the greatest drummer in the world. He is my king. He is the best.

Steven: I'm the biggest asshole you're ever gonna fuckin meet.

[laughter]

Deanna: No son, don't say that.

My father has been a huge fan of yours as long as I can remember. You two are around the same age, so I'd like to ask you a question for my father, if I may. Over the years, have you developed any changes to your technique, due to aging, that I can pass on that may assist him? Edit: feel free to use whatever lingo you want.. I'll be passing it on verbatim (I'm a bass guy and don't understand the shit you silly head beaters talk about)

Steven: u/Mafiya_chlenom_K I owe no money to you. No money.

Well, yes. I've gotten better. The more you practice, you know. Like I said in the past, the repetition makes the master. When I first started doing "Appetite for Destruction", the timing on that, you cannot use a metronome to that record. It will not work. It was all feel. Back when I was younger, I didn't have that much of a grasp on what timing really is. It was more about just having fun and kicking ass. And now, I'm more into learning a lot of style and perfecting myself. So, I'm practicing a lot more and watching more like Buddy Rich. I watch a lot of him playing and I'm just practicing that song. I'm definitely a lot better. I'm way more comfortable and repetition makes the master.

What songs did you play to when starting out as a drummer?

Steven: My favorite songs, like I said earlier, were Kiss, Queen. I loved Disco. I loved Jazz. I love 70's Rock. I love 60's Rock. Just music that made me feel good, that I still listen to today and I still practice today. It's so cool. You just go on the Internet and get 70's hits, ya know, a collection of all these different 70's songs. And I went this one, this one this one, and I picked all these different ones, so I got all these great songs I practice to and they're such great songs 'cause they're stories about something that's meaningful. Nowadays, I listen to these bands and for one, you can't understand what they're saying, two it doesn't mean anything. I just like a good story and something that makes my heart feel good. And then 30, 40 years later I listen to it and I still get that euphoria. I love Rock.

Holy fuck, Steven, you're the reason I ever started playing drums. Which got me to playing other instruments, which got me to be the shitty musician I am today. I love your work man. What do you think is the coolest drum beat you've come up with to a song?

Steven: Dude, I'm sure you kickass if you've been playing that long. Keep practicing. Repetition makes the master, as I say many times, which is true. What's my favorite drum beat I came up with? There's "Rocket Queen, there's "Welcome to the Jungle", there's "Mr. Brownstone".

Deanna: "Paradise City" I like.

Steven: "Paradise City" is a great one. Every song I recorded with them I love. It was my favorite.

Deanna: And because he loves them I love them all too.

Hi Deanna
Could you tell us when and why you decided to write this book?
Thank you!

Deanna: I decided to write the book after the time I first saw him perform. I couldn't sleep, I was so wound up, so I just wrote down my thoughts. Eventually every time I would see him, whether it was a good time or a bad time, I would just write down my thoughts on a piece of paper, on an envelope, on a-

Steven: Like a diary!

Deanna: Like a diary! So I never thought about writing a book per say, it just happened.

Steven: Writing things down that go on in your life, it's so helpful to be able to get it out of your head, put it down on paper or talk to someone about it to someone who understands. In my book I talk about when I was 13, I used to hang out at clubs, with grown ups, and drugs. I got taken advantage of, I was drugged and sexually abused by an older teenager and an older guy. I couldn't talk about that for decades but once I talked to someone who understood and I got it out of my head, I can move forward, I have closure. Writing shit down is just closure. My mom doing these diaries was closure so that she could sleep at night. If you don't write, you're just thinking about it, it will drive you crazy and you can never move forward in your life. It's the best thing in the word, just write your crap down. If you have an addict in your life, video tape it. everyone has videos on their phone. Videos don't lie. When an addict sees themselves in denial and actually see the truth, it's an eye opener and a heart breaker.

Hey Steven, I'm such a big fan of yours!!!

I think you are the best drummer in the world and you are one of my biggest idols!! You are so inspirational to me as you have kept on going, no matter what! You are the type of guy that people will always admire.

I love what you did for Guns N' Roses and the work that you've done since, my question for you is:

What bands and/or artists are you a fan of???

Love from Saffron (17), UK xxx

Steven: Hi Saffron, Thank you very much! I appreciates that. My favorite bands and my influential drummers were Roger Taylor from Queen, Peter Criss from Kiss. Pretty much any 60's, 70's drummers because in the 60's is first when they started using Jazz drumming and started turning ti into rock drumming and then the 70s just took it to another level. In the 80s it just went completely out of style until I came around and changed that.

Deanna: Because you are the king!

Steven: It's good to be king.

[deleted question]

Steven: Right now, I'm just practicing, having fun, and enjoying my life. I have my beautiful wife, my beautiful dogs and I just enjoy being at home and being with them. I have like 6 really good friends and I enjoy hanging out with them. So, if something does come up that I'm really interested in. There is one band that might be looking for a drummer. I'm not gonna mention their name because I have a habit of saying things and then it jinxes it, but if it does come up, it happens. If it doesn't, then so be it. That's totally cool, too.

Hi Steven, thank you for doing this! Was there a drummer who inspired you to play while growing up? Did you ever try to emulate that person?

Steven: Piano because Freddie Mercury is God! If I could do anything, I would do anything close to being Freddie Mercury. Even if I had to be gay. In fact, I wish I was gay but I just don't have it in me!

I started playing drums at the age of 10 in 1987. Needless to say you are a huge influence on me musically. I read your book and watched you on celebrity rehab and the thing that kept coming up was you wanting to get back with your band. So when I saw you walk out on the stage in Nashville last year I don't think I've yelled louder for anybody ever. Definitely a highlight of my life. My question is what is your set up now? What kind a drum set and cymbals are you playing now? What sizes? I hope to see you again in St. Louis this year. Thanks and keep smiling.

Steven: Thank you brother! I appreciate that! I had so much fun in Nashville. My setup is a 22 inch bass drum, 10 14 inch floor toms, 16 18 floor toms, a John Bonham snare, Soultone Cymbals - the finest cymbals made, and I use Vater drum sticks 7A. I practice every day!

I wanna start a band with friends. What advice would you give me?

Steven: Play with everybody. Play every day consistently. The whole game of getting good is practice. If you're gonna play with a band, just practice, practice, practice and everything will just flow together. And if you're playing with somebody that's not cutting it or pulling it off, you either gotta be their friend and say they're going to have to practice a little harder or just keep playing. I recommend play with everybody you can, while you're young. Cause the more people you play with, the sooner you're gonna find the right people you should be playing with.

You are often sporting a huge infectious smile, did Deanna bestow this trait upon you?

Steven: No, my grandmother did. My grandma always said, "A please and a thank you and a nice smile will get you far".

Deanna: I did it. Not my mother.

Steven: Grandma did everything.

Deanna: I did it. No! She never smiled.

Steven: She hated everybody, but me.

Deanna: She only smiled at Steven.

Steven: She hated everybody, but me.

Deanna: My mother had 14 grandchildren and the only one she cared about was this one, Steven. That's the only one. It was amazing. People would see him and they would cry because they are so beautiful. It's true!

Steven: And this is what you grow up into

what's your favorite color?

Steven: Turquoise

Deanna: My favorite color is blue.

Steven: She's lying. It's black.

Deanna: No it's not. It's blue.

Steven: Black as night. Black as blood.

Deanna: No, he's lying. It's blue.

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