Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has said that the band wouldn’t be able to get away with some of their 1980s antics in the modern day. He explained that the mildly questionable hijinks would really feel the 40 years of age in the cold light of 2023 and likely have them “cancelled”.
In a new conversation with Yahoo Entertainment promoting his new book, The Collection: Slash, the legendary guitarist revealed that he omitted some of the more outrageous anecdotes from the memoir. He said he was worried that the behaviour deemed mildly hedonistic in the 1980s would not “fare well” in the modern age. He had previously revealed some of Guns N’ Roses’ wildest moments in his 2007 self-titled memoir.
When asked if he’d “thought about” what to include, the musician responded: “I haven’t actually . . . thought about it in that context. I mean, I really, to be honest, I haven’t really thought about all that [scandalous stuff] that much recently. But now that you mention it, most of everything that [Guns N’ Roses] did would’ve gotten us cancelled in this day and age. We would not have fared well in this environment, for sure – I mean, on so many different levels.”
He continued: “But I mean, a lot of things from back then would not be what you consider acceptable at this moment in time,” he continued. “I’m just glad that we didn’t have the internet back then! It would’ve been a different world altogether. But anyway, I don’t dwell on all that stuff. It just is what it is.”
Towards the end of last year, Guns N’ Roses announced that they would cross the Atlantic to headline British Summer Time (BST) Hyde Park for the first time in 2023. The performance will mark the concert series’ tenth anniversary. The West Coast rockers will headline on Friday, June 30th.
Other acts announced for the exciting series include Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, Billy Joel, P!nk with special guest Gwen Stefani, Take That and BLACKPINK. More announcements are expected in due course.
Guns N’ Roses are also heavily rumoured to join Elton John as a headline act at Glastonbury 2023. Last month, bassist Duff McKagan appeared to accidentally confirm the booking while talking on his Sirius XM radio show, Three Chords & The Truth.
While discussing his band’s summer plans, McKagan mentioned the Hyde Park concert before adding: “…and Glastonbury is gonna be iconic.”