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Daily Mail
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Guns N' Roses ex-manager reveals what the 'nightmare' rock 'n' roll band were REALLY like as he exposes antics
Alan Niven, the former manager of Guns N' Roses, is pulling back the curtain on his time with one of rock's most infamous bands — including how Slash's charm convinced him to sign on, why 'narcissist' Axl Rose abruptly fired him, and how rampant drug use impacted the group. The New Zealand-born mega-producer, songwriter, and manager — who's also worked with the likes of Great White, Dokken, Berlin, and Mötley Crüe — is detailing the wild ride in his upcoming book Sound N' Fury: Rock N' Roll Stories, out August 5. Speaking exclusively to ahead of the release, Niven recalled how he turned down the job three times before finally agreeing to manage the band—whose unhinged reputation was already well-established long before their 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction hit shelves. At the time, Guns N' Roses consisted of Axl on vocals, Slash on lead guitar, Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, Duff McKagan on bass, and Steven Adler on drums. 'No one wanted Guns N' Roses. They'd been through at least two other management situations… They couldn't get rid of them fast enough. No one wanted to deal with them. They were a nightmare,' Niven said. 'So the question is, "How did I get sucked into that?"' he quipped, claiming it was Slash who ultimately drew him in. 'It was Slash because I found out, one, he was English, and two, he was not just articulate, he was eloquent, he was smart, he was incredibly charming. And I'm going, "This is not just a knucklehead drunk like I saw on the stage of the Troubadour where he was just a knucklehead, Sunset guitarist drunk. This is a really interesting guy. He's smart, very charming."' 'That was the beginning. That's where it all started to go wrong,' he joked. 'And of course then I got to know Izzy and simply put, Izzy Stradlin… for me… personified rock and roll.' Niven said he only began to understand Slash and Izzy during their first truly bizarre meeting — the moment he reluctantly agreed to try and bring some order to the chaos surrounding Guns N' Roses. 'I turn up for a band meeting and I park my bike outside and there's this broken toilet by the front door and I go, "That's interesting symbolism." Most people put a big old pots of beautiful flowers, but they've got a broken toilet by the front door. That's a different message.' Inside, the eccentricity continued, per Niven. 'The door opens and out wanders this quite well-known stripper and she smiles and walks past. I go in and there's only two people there at the meeting — Slash and Izzy… And then there was one, because Izzy nodded out. He's sitting at the table and literally he just slowly goes like this,' Niven said, mimicking someone passing out face-first. 'So that just leaves me and Slash, and Slash says, 'Let me show you something in the bedroom.' Oh, that's an interesting invitation. I go in and I freeze 'cause there's this enormous snake in there and I hate snakes.' Then came the kicker. 'He goes, 'Watch this.' And he takes a perfect beautiful little white bunny and feeds it to this legless monster.' Even with their outrageous antics, it was clear to Niven early on that the band was becoming a sensation. 'You're driving down to Electric Ladyland Studios one afternoon and you see that there are some kids in leather jackets running after the car because Slash is sitting next to me,' he recalled, describing one of Slash's first brushes with fame. 'And we pull around on Eighth Street, I dive out of the car, get the front door of the studio open and go 'Curly, get your ass in here!' And he leaps from the car and zips in, and we close the door and look at each other and go, 'Whoa, that's different. Things have changed, haven't they?'' He added, 'Because the one thing about fame is everybody knows you're famous before you do.' Still, not every band member handled fame the same way, according to Niven. 'It didn't change Axel one bit. It amplified him. He was always that way. He's a narcissist,' Niven said. 'And I think if you go and look at the employment forms for 'Front Man in Band,' the first box that you have to tick is, 'Are you a narcissist?' Tick. Okay. Now you can answer the rest of the questions.' The weight of managing the band's meteoric rise hit Niven almost immediately. 'My sense of lighthearted joy of what I did evaporated in September of 1986 when I signed a contract with five individuals collectively known as Guns and Roses,' he joked. 'From that point on, we had stress, we had pressure every day.' That included alleged pressure from Geffen Records co-founder David Geffen. 'David Geffen getting right in your face. I mean, this close,' Niven said, holding a hand to his face. ''When am I going to get my record?'' Niven recalled him asking. ''When it's done, David!' You had to give as good as you got from him.' Regarding the band's well-known struggles with addiction, Niven offered a deeper perspective on which member was most affected. 'I had this perception that in most bands, all those who were band members usually came from dysfunctional childhoods and families and a part of the motivation of forming a band was not just to make noise, not just to get laid, but to create your perfect family that substitutes that,' he said. 'So there's that aspect of it in that everybody who comes into the band brings familial dysfunction with them. Now, in terms of how does that relate to recreational drugs use or addiction? I believe people from dysfunctional circumstance are prone to addiction.' He continued, 'Now, with Axel, his sense of dysfunction… and I'm not talking outta school here, I mean, he's talked about this. He had a rotten childhood. I'm aware of some of the rottenness of his childhood, and he's had to deal with that. So that absorbed Axel, as he was not one really for getting f***** up and out of it.' 'Now Slash, bless his heart, he had an appetite for anything.' As for Izzy, Niven said he was 'incredibly street smart and cool' — and once confessed that he had sold drugs to Aerosmith frontmen Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. 'When we were going out with Aerosmith, Izzy sidled up to me in the office one day and he said, 'Now, I think we're gonna have a bit of a problem.' And I said, 'Oh, why?' He said, 'Well, I should tell you this, but I used to deal for Joe and Steven. I was their dealer once.'' 'I turned around to Izzy and I said, 'If you don't mention it, I'm sure as hell they won't mention it.' Because they were in super rehab mode. So everybody was on the down low.' Niven insisted addiction wasn't what ultimately wrecked the band — it was ego. 'It became about power. It became about control,' he said. As for the end of his relationship with Guns N' Roses in 1991, Niven said it came without warning. 'There was no breaking point except for a phone call from Axl,' he recalled. 'I was on the East Coast, he was on the West Coast. I was gig at Meadowlands. There was a phone call in the production studio, 'Axl's on the phone for you.' Axel says, 'I can't work with you anymore.' 'Okay, Ax, I'll be back in a couple of days. Let's go have dinner, talk about it, and if you still feel the same way, then we'll deal with what we have to deal with.'' 'I never heard from him again. He did not have the courage, the grace, the appreciation to even sit down and say, this is why.' Twelve weeks later, Izzy also left the band. 'I get a phone call. I'm in Switzerland at a gig in Switzerland, and I go get a phone from Izzy and he goes, 'I'm out. I can't deal with this anymore.'' 'And I said, 'Well, you better tell me about it.' And he told me about it. And I said, 'Well, what have you got left on the calendar?' And he said, 'Well, you've got Wembley left.' I said, 'Well, you are playing Wembley. You cannot not turn up for Wembley.'' Izzy indeed played Wembley in August 1991 with the original lineup, sans Adler, who had already been fired in 1990 due to his drug use and was replaced by Matt Sorum. By 1997, lead guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan had also departed, leaving Axl as the sole original member. The band's lineup continued to shift throughout the 2000s, culminating in the long-delayed Chinese Democracy album in 2008 with an entirely different cast. In a shocking turn, Slash and Duff officially rejoined in 2016 for the Not in This Lifetime... reunion tour, marking the first time the trio had shared a stage since 1993. The band's present-day roster includes Rose, Slash, McKagan, Richard Fortus on guitar, Isaac Carpenter on drums, and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese. Although his relationship with Axl remains fractured, Niven said he still cares deeply for Slash, even though they lost touch after Slash ended his feud with Axl. 'I considered Slash a friend for life until he reunited with Axel,' he said. But Niven believes they'll reconnect eventually. 'I didn't hear from Slash from '91 to '98. I didn't hear for seven years, and then he called me up and we spent some time together. And the cliché is there are certain people in your life that you can be separate from them for a long time, but the minute you're back together, it's as if it was just yesterday.' 'He's one of those people in my life. I may not see him for two or three years. I know I'll be in a groove with him when I do see him again.' Looking back, Niven admitted that walking away from Guns N' Roses may have been for the best—despite the years of toil and dedication he poured into the band. Under his leadership, Appetite for Destruction became a landmark release and the best-selling debut rock album of all time, launching the band into global superstardom. His role in shaping their legacy is indisputable. 'I don't think I've ever said this to anybody else before, but in some ways I'm really glad that I got outta GNR when I did,' he said. 'Because sometimes I have the honesty to sit in a tub and think, 'What kind of an ass*** do you think you would've been if you'd been multimillions rich?' 'What makes you a character that you can live with? What gives you a persona that you can live with when you are going through the tough times. 'So as I can live with myself, I can look at myself in the mirror.' Alan Niven's Sound N' Fury: Rock N' Roll Stories hits shelves August 5.
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Guns N' Roses Spotted Rehearsing For Ozzy Osbourne's Farewell
Guns N' Roses Spotted Rehearsing For Ozzy Osbourne's Farewell originally appeared on Parade. Ozzy Osbourne is set to play his final show with Black Sabbath—the group's first show together in two decades—on July 5. The concert will be one for the history books, as Black Sabbath will be joined by several other legendary rock bands, including Metallica, Pantera, and Guns N' Roses. At a recent show, Guns N' Roses played a Black Sabbath cover during their soundcheck, prompting speculation that they may play it at the July 5 concert in Manchester. Spanish Guns N' Roses news site SFP Magazine posted a photo on Facebook from the group's latest performance in Norway with Axl Rose and Slash front and center, reporting that they rehearsed "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" onstage. While it may have just been a coincidence, playing a Black Sabbath cover at Osbourne's final show would be the perfect way to pay tribute to the rock music and reality TV legend. Who doesn't want to hear "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" after "Welcome to the Jungle"? 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 The 76-year-old rockstar has had Parkinson's disease since 2003 and has had seven surgeries in the last five years. Because of his health, Osbourne has chosen to step away from the stage after taking his final bow on Saturday. "It means everything, I am forever in their debt for showing up for me and the fans," he told Blabbermouth. "I can't quite put it into words, but I feel very emotional and blessed." He added, "It's a goodbye as far as my live performances go, and what a way to go out." Blabbermouth also reported that the epic extravaganza is expected to bring millions into Manchester's local economy—about $27 million, to be exact. But that's pocket change compared to Taylor Swift, whose "Eras" tour reportedly pumped $5 billion into the U.S. economy. Guns N' Roses Spotted Rehearsing For Ozzy Osbourne's Farewell first appeared on Parade on Jul 2, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 2, 2025, where it first appeared.
Forbes
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Guns N' Roses Tour The World — And Storm The Charts Again
Several Guns N' Roses albums return to the charts in the U.K. following the band touring the nation, ... More as Greatest Hits and Appetite for Destruction surge. INDIO, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 06: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (L-R) Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses perform onstage during the Power Trip music festival at Empire Polo Club on October 06, 2023 in Indio, California. (Photo byfor Power Trip) It's been 15 years since Guns N' Roses released its last album, Chinese Democracy, which had been in the works for 15 years by the time it dropped. That full-length cost millions to produce, was delayed multiple times, and underperformed commercially. There is a good chance that the hard rock group may never produce another complete project again after that flop. While new music is not expected from Guns N' Roses anytime soon, the band still plays live. The group is currently traveling around the world on the Because What You Want and What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour — yes, that is the actual name of the concert trek — which began in May and is set to end in November. The rockers are currently in Europe, where they recently performed several dates in the United Kingdom. Whenever a major act arrives in that country, fans typically begin buying and streaming the act's catalog in large numbers. This week, several Guns N' Roses albums return to the charts as a result of the expected uptick in consumption. Two Guns N' Roses Albums Return to the Charts Two Guns N' Roses albums live on the U.K. charts at the moment, and both manage to reappear on at least one list. The biggest gainer between the two is the band's Greatest Hits compilation. The project, which gathers together many of the tunes that made Guns N' Roses so famous in the first place, breaks back onto the Official Rock and Metal Albums, Official Albums and Official Album Downloads charts, coming in at Nos. 38, 77, and 87, respectively. The project also surges more than 20 spaces on the Official Album Streaming ranking, where last week it barely held on at No. 95. Now, it lands at No. 72. Appetite for Destruction Becomes a Bestseller Again Appetite for Destruction, which is easily the most famous Guns N' Roses traditional full-length, finds its way back to the Official Album Downloads tally, joining the group's Greatest Hits. The bestseller returns at No. 61, while at the same time jumping five spaces to No. 21 on the Official Rock and Metal Albums chart. Three Guns N' Roses Singles Climb A trio of Guns N' Roses smashes live on the Official Rock and Metal Singles chart, but none of them need to return, as they were all present on the list last frame — though they do manage to climb. "Sweet Child O' Mine" pushes to No. 4, while "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" are only a few spaces apart from one another as they settle in at Nos. 21 and 27, respectively.
Time Out
24-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Guns n Roses at London's Wembley Stadium 2025: timings, set list, last-minute tickets and everything you need to know
This year's stadium gig season in London is now in full swing. Following the likes of Sam Fender, Dua Lipa and Beyoncé in playing the capital's biggest venues are legendary American rockers Guns n 'Roses, who're stopping by Wembley this week. Axl Rose, Slash and the band are bringing their 'Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things' tour to northwest London on Thursday (June 26). The tour began in South Korea in May and will see the band play dates in Europe and South America before it wraps up in Mexico in November. Heading down to see immortal rock hits like 'Sweet Child o' Mine', 'Paradise City' and 'November Rain' performed live at Wembley this week? Here's everything you need to know about Guns n' Roses' London show, from timings to remaining ticket availability. When are Guns n' Roses playing London's Wembley Stadium? Axl Rose, Slash and co are in northwest London on Thursday June 26 2025. What time will Guns n' Roses come on stage? The band haven't announced exactly when they'll come on stage. However, judging from previous tour stops we'd expect them to kick things off between 7.30pm and 8pm. Doors open at 4pm, though those with 'ultimate', 'premium early entry' or 'early entry' packages must sign in between 1pm and 3.30pm. Are there any tickets left? At time of writing, tickets are still available for GNR at Wembley, with both general sale and resale options. How much do tickets cost? You can currently get general sale from £78.65, and resale from £63 – find tickets on Ticketmaster here. What's the full setlist? For an idea of what GNR will play at Wembley, this was the setlist at Villa Park earlier in the week (according to Welcome to the Jungle Bad Obsession Brownstone Live and Let Die (Wings cover) Chinese Democracy Pretty Tied Up Out ta Get Me Slither (Velvet Revolver cover) Absurd Estranged You Could Be Mine Coma Hard Skool Reckless Life Knockin' on Heaven's Door (Bob Dylan cover) Double Talkin' Jive Civil War I Wanna Be Your Dog (The Stooges cover) Catcher in the Rye Slash Guitar Solo Sweet Child o' Mine It's So Easy Perhaps November Rain Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover) Patience Rocket Queen Better Down on the Farm (UK Subs cover) Nightrain Paradise City Who will be supporting Guns n' Roses in London? Support comes from US rockers Rival Sons, who'll take to the stage at 5.30pm. Weather forecast According to the Met Office, while it will likely be a bit rainy in the day on Thursday, that rain will have subsided by the evening. Temperatures will range from 18C to 23C, with wind gusts of up to 32mph in the afternoon. Are there any banned items? Each person can only bring in one bag, and it must be smaller than A4 size. These items are banned: Wallet chains and jean chains Weapons of any sort Recording equipment (sound or video) Professional or semi-professional (4K/8K) cameras Bottles, cans or glass containers Fireworks Alcohol Laser pens and pointers Go Pro cameras, selfie sticks, iPads and tablets Drones Banners, posters and signs bigger A3 in size Metal bottles Find a full list of prohibited items at Wembley here. Those with standing tickets are not permitted to bring a bottle of any kind, though all other ticketholders can bring in empty plastic, crushable bottles under 500ml.
Los Angeles Times
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Guns N' Roses' former manager recalls harrowing stories, calls Mötley Crüe ‘brutish entertainers'
As the manager of Guns N' Roses during the band's debauched heyday, Alan Niven has no shortage of colorful stories. The LAPD fetching Axl Rose from his West Hollywood condo and bringing him directly to the stage so Guns N' Roses could open for the Rolling Stones at the L.A. Coliseum. Slash going off script and taking a Winnebago for a joyride — and then standing in rush hour traffic and brandishing a bottle of Jack Daniels — while filming the 'Welcome to the Jungle' music video. Guitarist Izzy Stradlin carrying a $750,000 cashier's check that Niven had to take from him and hide in his own shoe for safekeeping during a raucous trip to New Orleans. About 15 minutes into a thoughtful Zoom conversation, the garrulous Niven poses a question of his own: 'Why was I managing Guns N' Roses?' Given what he describes, it is a good question. 'Because nobody else would do it,' he says, noting that the band's former management firm 'could not get away fast enough' from the group. 'No one else would deal with them. Literally, I was not bottom of the barrel, darling — I was underneath the barrel. It was desperation.' Case in point: his very first Guns N' Roses band meeting. On the way into the house, Niven says, he passed by a broken toilet and 'one of the better-known strippers from [the] Sunset Strip.' Stradlin and Slash were the only ones who'd shown up. Once the meeting started, Stradlin nodded out at the table and Slash fed 'a little white bunny rabbit' to a massive pet python. 'And I'm sitting there going, 'Keep your cool. This may be a test. Just go with it and get through it.' But that was my first GNR meeting.' These kinds of stranger-than-fiction anecdotes dominate Niven's wildly entertaining (and occasionally jaw-dropping) new book, 'Sound N' Fury: Rock N' Roll Stories.' With brutal honesty and vivid imagery, he describes the challenges of wrangling Guns N' Roses before and after the band's 1987 debut, 'Appetite for Destruction.' These include mundane business matters (like shooting music videos on a budget) and more stressful moments, such as navigating Rose's mercurial moods and ensuring that band members didn't take drugs on international flights. But 'Sound N' Fury' also focuses extensively on Niven's time managing the bluesy hard rock band Great White, whose lead singer, the late Jack Russell, had his own struggles with severe addiction. To complicate the entanglement, Niven also produced and co-wrote dozens of the band's songs, including hits 'Rock Me' and 'House of Broken Love.' Niven mixes delightful bits of insider gossip into these harrowing moments: firing for bad behavior future superstar director Michael Bay from filming Great White's 'Call It Rock 'n' Roll' music video; Berlin's Terri Nunn sending President Reagan an 8-by-10 photo with a saucy message; clandestinely buying Ozzy Osbourne drinks on an airplane behind Sharon Osbourne's back. And his lifelong passion for championing promising artists also comes through, including his recent advocacy for guitarist Chris Buck of Cardinal Black. Unsurprisingly, Niven says people had been asking him for 'decades' to write a book ('If I had $1 for every time somebody asked me that, I'd be living in a castle in Scotland'). He resisted because of his disdain for rock 'n' roll books: 'To me, they all have the same story arc and only the names change.' A magazine editor paid him such a huge compliment that he finally felt compelled to write one. 'He said, 'I wish I could write like you,' ' Niven says. 'When he said that, it put an obligation on me that I couldn't shake. Now I had to be intelligent about it and go, 'Well, you hate rock 'n' roll books, so what are you going to do?' ' Niven's solution was to eschew the 'usual boring, chronological history' and structure 'Sound N' Fury' more like a collection of vignettes, all told with his usual dry sense of humor and razor-sharp wit. 'If you tell the stories well enough, they might be illuminating,' he says. 'I saw it more as a record than I did a book. And you hope that somebody will drop the needle in at the beginning of the record and stay with the record until it's over. 'For me, dialogue was key — and, fortunately, they were all more f— up than I was,' he adds. 'So my memory of the dialogue is pretty good. … There's some dialogue exchanges in there that imprinted themselves for as long as I live.' One of the artists that doesn't get much ink in 'Sound N' Fury' is another group known for its hedonistic rock 'n' roll behavior, Mötley Crüe. Niven promoted and facilitated distribution of the independent release of the band's 1981 debut, 'Too Fast for Love' and helped connect Mötley Crüe with Elektra Records. He doesn't mince words in the book or in conversation about the band, saying he feels 'very ambivalent about the small role I played in the progression of Mötley Crüe because I know who they are. I know what they've done to various people. I know how they've treated certain numbers of women. And I am not proud of contributing to that. 'And on top of that, someone needs to turn around and say, 'It's a thin catalog that they produced,' in terms of what they produced as music,' he continues. 'There's not much there and it's certainly not intellectually or spiritually illuminating in any way, shape or form. They are brutish entertainers, and that's it.' Still, Niven says he didn't hesitate to include the stories that he did in 'Sound N' Fury,' and by explanation notes a conversation he had with journalist Mick Wall. 'He sent me an email the other day saying, 'Welcome to the club of authors,' ' he recalls. 'And I'm going, 'Yeah, right. You've been doing it all your life. I'm just an enthusiastic amateur.' And he said, 'Welcome to the club — and by the way, it's cursed.'' Niven pondered what that meant. 'A little light bulb went on in my head, and I went, 'Ah, yes, the curse is truth,' because a lot of people don't want to hear the truth and don't want to hear what truly happened. 'There are people in the Axl cult who won't be happy. There will be one or two other people who won't be happy, but there's no point in recording anything unless it's got a truth to it.' Niven says when the book was done, he didn't necessarily gain any surprising insights or new perspectives on what he had documented. 'The fact that people are still interested in what you've got to say about things that happened 30 years ago is almost unimaginable,' he says. 'I never used to do interviews back in the day. But at this point, it would just be graceless and rank bad manners not to respond. 'Occasionally people go, 'Oh, he's bitter,'' Niven continues. 'No, I am not. I don't think the book comes off as bitter. Many times I've said it was actually a privilege to go through that period of time because I didn't have to spend my life saying to myself, 'I wonder what it would have been like to have had a No. 1. To have had a successful band.' Well, I found out firsthand.' Niven stresses firmly that management was more than a job to him. 'It was my way of life,' he says. 'People who go into management and think it's a job that starts maybe at about half past 10 in the morning once you've had your coffee and then you check out at six, they're not true managers. 'They're not in management for the right reasons,' he adds. 'Rock 'n' roll is a way of f— life. It's 24/7, 365. And that was my approach to it.'
