Bumblefoot’s Days with Guns N’ Roses are Numbered
Current Guns N’ Roses guitarist Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal is like the anti-Dj Slashba. That is to say, at least in the press, he comes off as a non-sycophantic dude who has no problem speaking his mind regardless of the possible consequences. Case in point: he almost didn’t get the GN’R gig in the first place because he made the mistake of daring to tell fans that he had auditioned for the band, he’s publicly chastised Axl Rose for his ongoing tardiness at concerts, and now Classic Rock tells me that Blabbermouth tells them that Bumblefoot told Radio Futuro this:
“It seems like the running gag was, ‘If you want Guns N’ Roses to hit the road, all you have to do is book your own tour. They’ll book one at the same time and you’ll have to cancel yours.’
“I could be planning something for next April, then Guns will book something on March 31 for April. Suddenly you’re in this situation where you have to choose.
“The changes came at a very big loss. It also came at a detriment to my name. You book something with agents and promoters, and their biggest concern is you’re going to cancel because Guns is going to book something. When you do that, they’re going to be very reluctant to book again. I can’t let that happen any more.
“I was doing the solo stuff and everything was growing,. As soon as I joined Guns it’s like everyone hit ‘delete’ on everything I did. Even after twenty years of putting out music people say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you sang. I didn’t know you did other things.’ That’s not right; that’s not good – I’ve put out more music than Guns.
“I’m trying to work something out with management so I don’t have to choose. Because if I do have to choose, I’m choosing my own life. I have to.
“If I’m going to be painted into a corner where I have to choose between Guns and the rest of my life, and if they’re not willing to help me keep the two functioning together, then I’m out.”
Bumblefoot’s position is certainly fair (although I’m sure Axl Rose would argue that being in GN’R has made Bumblefoot far more famous and has therefore only helped his solo career), but I sincerely don’t know what he hopes to accomplish by discussing this with anyone outside of the Guns camp. It’s like, oh yeah, play chicken in the press with Axl Rose and see how that goes. He’s too stubborn to accept a billion trillion dollars to spend a few hours on stage a night with Slash and Bumblefoot is just one of SIX guitarists who have been in the band since 1997. But I’m sure Rose will be totally reasonable about this, because “Totally Reasonable” is that dude’s middle name.
Oh well. I enjoyed having Thal in Guns N’ Roses, but at this point I’ve pretty much just accepted that everyone will quit or be fired from that band eventually. I dunno how Dizzy Reed has managed to hang around for so long; he must give the best wristies ever or something.
Bumblefoot replaced Buckethead who, of course, replaced Slash. Which one-named guitarist will join Guns N’ Roses next? And will his single name begin with the letters “B” and “U”? Stay tuned to find out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuutK2Mz9-M
