Guns N' Roses Off Rock In Rio

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NEW YORK (Billboard) - Guns N' Roses has canceled its scheduled May 30 headlining appearance at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon. In a statement, sole original member Axl Rose places the blame on guitarist Buckethead, who has apparently exited the lineup.

 

"The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure," Rose said. "During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment -- despite being under contract -- creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence."

 

Rose cited Buckethead's interest in furthering a solo career first established with the 1992 release of a self-titled album on the Avant label. The masked artist, who is never seen in the flesh or without a KFC bucket on his head, will kick off a solo tour tomorrow (March 31) in Milwaukee supporting jam band Particle.

 

"It appears his plans were to secure a recording contract with Sanctuary Records which I encouraged my management to make available to him, quit GNR and to use his involvement in the upcoming Guns release to immediately promote his individual efforts," Rose said.

 

"There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed," Rose added. "We as a whole definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation perhaps so much so that it may be that we, or more precisely, I may have done Guns a disservice and unintentionally allowed Guns to be put in this position."

 

The Rock in Rio appearance was to be the group's first since a disastrous 2002 comeback tour that was canceled with 13 dates remaining.

 

"On behalf of Guns N' Roses and myself I apologize to the fans," Rose said. "The festival and its tradition mean a lot to me personally and I sincerely do not enjoy being robbed by one of our own of the opportunity to be the first artist to play it for the third time."

 

Rose admitted that "there are obviously several issues to resolve" regarding Buckethead's longtime involvement and the band's long-awaited Geffen album "Chinese Democracy."

 

"In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, Guns will be moving forward," Rose said, "and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months."

 

Reuters/Billboard

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Press Release Source: Sanctuary Records Group

Guns N' Roses Not Able to Perform at Rock in Rio

Tuesday March 30, 6:00 am ET

A Message from W. Axl Rose

 

LISBON, Portugal--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 2004--Guns N' Roses will not be performing as scheduled at Rock In Rio - Lisbon.

 

The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure. During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment - despite being under contract - creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence. His transient lifestyle has made it impossible for even his closest friends to have nearly any form of communication with him whatsoever. Last time I talked to Bucket, he called to tell me he had bought a bootleg DVD off EBay and how proud he was to be in Guns and how impressed he was with everyone's performance. Then, in February we got word from Brain that Bucket had called him and said he was back in Guns!? Apparently, according to Bucket he had been "Gone" but had turned himself around and was really excited to do Rio-Lisbon and a European tour. Somewhere in the following month things changed once again. According to those who have actually spoken with Buckethead it appears his plans were to secure a recording contract with Sanctuary Records which I encouraged my management to make available to him, quit GN'R and to use his involvement in the upcoming Guns release to immediately promote his individual efforts...Nice guy!

 

There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed by this event, and more to the point - if not this individual, certainly this individual's choices. Regardless of anyone's opinions of me and what I may or may not deserve, clearly the fans, individuals in this band, management, crew and our support group do not deserve this type of treatment. We as a whole, definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation perhaps so much so that it may be that we or more precisely, I may have done Guns a disservice and unintentionally allowed Guns to be put in this position.

 

On behalf of Guns N' Roses and myself I apologize to the fans who planned to see us at Rock In Rio - Lisbon. The festival and its tradition mean a lot to me personally and I sincerely do not enjoy being robbed by one of our own of the opportunity to be the first artist to play it for the third time. I would also like to express my gratitude to those who chose to embrace Buckethead's role in Guns and support our new line up. We greatly appreciate Bucket's contributions and remain open to "discussions" as there are obviously several issues to resolve. In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, Guns will be moving forward and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months.

 

Sincerely,

 

W. Axl Rose

 

 

 

I can't believe Axl commented. It's his first statement in what......like 16 months?

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My favorite part is Axl saying this about someone else...

 

Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment - creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence.

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My favorite part is Axl saying this about someone else...

 

Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment - creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence.

Haha yeah, that was definitely my favorite part too.

 

That's like Scott Weilland criticizing someone for being a drug addict.

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I wasn't too pumped for Rock In Rio actually, it doesn't bother me too much. It's cool to see Axl make a statement about anything, just to know he's still around somewhere. Too bad he didn't say anything else.

[MrRant 0]

Exactly how many months are in a few... in Axl language? 6-7?

 

Just release the album.

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Hey how come that bastard apologized to Lisbon, but STILL hasn't apologized for no showing in Philly?

 

Fucker............

[Styles 0]

Good to see Rock's biggest running joke is still alive and well...

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Good to see Rock's biggest running joke is still alive and well...

God I wish the album would come out. I firmly believe it would silence most of the naysayers. Unfortunately, the departure of Buckethead will lead to Axl auditioning others, then hiring someone, then having them rerecord all of Bucket's parts. Who knows how long that will take...........

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...A really long time.

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I give up.

 

There.

 

UYI

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Good to see Rock's biggest running joke is still alive and well...

God I wish the album would come out. I firmly believe it would silence most of the naysayers. Unfortunately, the departure of Buckethead will lead to Axl auditioning others, then hiring someone, then having them rerecord all of Bucket's parts. Who knows how long that will take...........

another 5 million dollars.

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When a guy who wears extra-crispy on his head bails on you, I think you're pretty well fucked.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

There's still a quasi famous rogue guitarist or two out there.

 

How about Wes Borland?

Yngwie Malmsteen?

Jake E Lee?

 

I still think Guns n Halen is the only answer, but I must praise Buckethead greatly for going all Axl on Axl.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Wait, I've got it now.

 

Dave Navarro. The trainwreck is all Axl's got left, I think..

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I would just like to say that the title of this thread from the main page says Guns N' Roses off rock...which made me think they were all on crack or something. Just thought I would share the humor.

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Wait, I've got it now.

 

Dave Navarro. The trainwreck is all Axl's got left, I think..

Well, he has worked with GNR in the past.

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It's always the quiet ones...

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Wait, I've got it now.

 

Dave Navarro. The trainwreck is all Axl's got left, I think..

Well, he has worked with GNR in the past.

Yeah he was almost Izzy's replacement in the early 90s. He also worked on the song "Oh My God" that was GNR's last "official" new song in 1999.

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from NYTIMES.com

 

n the 11 years since Guns N' Roses last released an album, fans have often wondered what Axl Rose, the group's reclusive lead singer, has been doing. Apparently, attending how-to workshops for publicists has not been on the agenda.

 

Last week, Mr. Rose issued an emotional and apologetic news release through the Business Wire to explain the recent departure of the new Guns N' Roses guitarist, Buckethead, and the group's subsequent cancellation of its May 30 appearance at the Rock in Rio concert in Lisbon.

 

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"During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment - despite being under contract - creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence.''

 

"Regardless of anyone's opinions of me and what I may or may not deserve,'' the release added, "clearly the fans, individuals in this band, management, crew and our support group do not deserve this type of treatment."

 

Mr. Rose's approach was not embraced by his newfound colleagues. Public relations professionals usually advise clients to distance themselves from bad news by letting a representative or corporate entity break the information, said Bob Merlis, who worked in publicity at Warner Brothers Records for almost 30 years, and whose firm M.f.h. handles media contacts for John Mellencamp and others.

 

Lois Najarian, a publicist with Dan Klores Communications whose clients include Prince, called the dirty laundry Mr. Rose talked about in the release "a cringe factor."

 

"The criticism that Axl gets when he does bold stuff is that he's showing some sort of instability or lack of reason," Ms. Najarian said. Still, she said some fans appreciate Mr. Rose's candidness.

 

Few have ever doubted Mr. Rose follows a quirky muse. He has spent more than a decade working on his group's next record, and alienated his original bandmates in the process. The group's 2002 tour was nixed after Mr. Rose did not show up for concerts in Vancouver and Philadelphia.

 

Buckethead himself is no stranger to eccentricity. Born Brian Carroll, Buckethead never appears in public without a wig, a mannequin mask and a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on his head.

 

Despite Guns N' Roses' travails, the public's appetite for its releases has not abated. Last week, the group's "Greatest Hits" album made its debut on the Billboard 200 albums chart at No. 3, having sold 169,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.