2024.09.21 - Manchester Evening News - Guns N' Roses legend Duff McKagan on music and life ahead of Manchester tour date

'This song saved my life': Guns N' Roses legend Duff McKagen on music and life ahead of Manchester tour date

The Guns N' Roses legend is set to embark on his third solo EU and UK tour later this month - stopping off at Manchester on October 3

By Shawna Healey

Seattle is best known for producing two things: Starbucks, which opened its doors back in 1971, and grunge behemoths Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden. What some music fans may not know, however, is that the American city was also the stomping ground of one of Guns N' Roses' founding members, Duff McKagan, pre-worldwide fame.

The Washington native, now 60, spent his formative years in the Seattle scene before moving to Los Angeles, rocketing to fame as the bassist for Guns N' Roses, one of the best-selling groups in history. While Guns N' Roses have been back together since 2016, the rock star is set to embark on his solo US, UK and EU tour of his third studio album, Lighthouse, which will grace Manchester Academy next month.

Lighthouse, which was released in 2023, has a clear Seattle influence, with much more of a punkier vibe than 2019's Tenderness. Ahead of his Manchester tour date, we sat down with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend to discuss the inspiration behind his latest release, his favourite books, and the importance of mental healthy advocacy.

Recorded in 2020 during the height of the pandemic in a studio 'four minutes away' from his house, the album is a dedication to Duff's wife, Susan Holmes-McKagen, whom he wed in 1999. "The inspiration, lyrically, runs the gamut of things, me being appreciative of my wife and being reflective on life," Duff tells the Manchester Evening News.

"I draw inspiration from real things that happened to me or that I've observed. I really observe when I travel, I'm the guy that sits back and takes notes and appreciate where I'm at and it seems to come out in my lyrics."

Duffs says his favourite song on the album is Forgiveness, which is a 'mellow song that has a grandiose intent of being world-healing'. "That yet again, is this tiny little song," he mentions. "I think we're going to set the tone of the tour and open with it."

On I Just Don’t Know with fellow Seattle rocker, Jerry Cantrell, of Alice in Chains fame, Duff mentions his sister, which is the 'first time' that he has 'lyrically inserted' his upbringing into any of his songs. As one of eight children to Irish parents that divorced by the time he was in elementary school (primary school over here), he says that he is mentioning it now as he 'can tell a story through it'.

"We can all say this happened or that happened during our childhood," he says calmly. "It didn't mess up my life hearing my parents argue or go through divorce. I was the eighth kid, so my brothers and sisters saw a lot more than I did.

"Family is really important to me, I've just got back from a trip with three of my brothers and my nephew. We had dinner, saw the Blue Man Group, and flew back. It was great to be with them for 24 hours. Of course, my wife and my two girls are everything."

Towards the end of the album is Hope, which kicks off with an instantly recognisable riff from fellow Guns N' Roses member, Slash. The song, which also features Abe Laboriel Jr on drums, who has been a part of Paul McCartney's touring band since 2001, was written and recorded back in 1996 - two years after Duff made the decision to become sober after being hospitalised for acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis.

It was supposed to come out in 1994 but was shelved after a merger between Duff's parent label Polygram and Universal, where he lost the rights to it. "Hope was finished in 1996. I recorded a record called Beautiful Disease, I was two years sober," he said.

"The record never came out because the record label got bought and I only got the masters back during Covid. When I started to put the line-up together, Hope seemed to be a good fit. I'm old school, I listen to a record from beginning to end. When I put an album together, I want it to be like a mini novel. So Hope fit right in the middle, Slash played some really good stuff in there."

Prior to the release of Lighthouse, Duff dropped This is the Song, a three-track EP in May 2023 to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month in the US. The rocker said it was important for him to release it so others could relate and understand that even stars like him 'have some quirks'.

He said: "I dabbled with depression, which came out of nowhere. I've had panic attacks since I was 16 but I got my first depression attack at 50, it was terrifying. I wrote this song during a panic attack, in the middle of it I got my acoustic guitar, started writing lyrics down and thought this was the song that's going to save my life."

Duff toured with his second album in 2019 but didn't get a chance to visit Manchester, which is why he is 'so excited' to be coming back. "I didn't get to play Manchester during the Tenderness run, so that's going to be fun," he said. "These venues are smaller, some are really beautiful and ornate, so playing these venues is really special."

A New York Times bestseller with his 2011 autobiography, It's So Easy (and other lies), Duff is a keen reader and was more than happy to share his current reads. He said: "There's this novel called James by Percival Everett that I just downloaded on my Kindle.

"But I'm finishing The Company: The Rise and Fall of the Hudson's Bay Empire by Stephen Brown. It's so nerdy, it runs from the 1650s up to the 1790s. I'm also quite good friends with Dan Jones, a British historian, and I'm also reading one of his books at the minute."

While Duff didn't talk too much about his time during Guns N' Roses, he did mention that 'something is in the pipeline' and that fans can expect something soon. Although, he didn't specify whether it's going to be a new record or a tour.

Duff's Lighthouse tour kicks off in Dublin on September 30 and will play Manchester Academy on Thursday, October 3. For tickets, visit here or to pick up a copy of his latest album, Lighthouse, visit here.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/this-song-saved-life-guns-29878997