10 Musicians Who Decided To Quit Huge Bands
6. Slash - Guns N Roses
Guns N Roses was one of those few bands where you got two frontmen for the price of one. Even though Axl Rose was the main draw with his venomous delivery and furious vocal affectations, the subtle awesomeness from guitarist Slash gave every young kid a new guitar hero to idolize. That silent badassery was a sight to behold in the ‘80s, but the band got to each others’ throats once the ‘90s rolled in.
Going into the Use Your Illusion double album, Rose started to seize creative control, with the band’s street sound being traded in for grandiose material and songs that sounded closer to Elton John’s work than balls-to-the-wall hard rock. After kicking out drummer Steven Adler and guitarist Izzy Stradlin leaving halfway through the tour, Axl was slowly turning into the biggest diva in the music industry.
After the tour kicked in, Rose’s no-shows at concerts left many fans pissed and the band mortified to take the stage. Also, I imagine that anyone who spends more than 5 minutes with the diva version of Axl Rose wants to murder him after a while.
Once the band finally settled down, the strenuous process to create their next album was the last straw for Slash, leaving Axl as the only original member of Guns who’s been through it all. The lucrative ambitions for a new Guns album would have been enormous, but this guitar-toting troubadour was not going to suffer the aura of Rose any longer.