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But maybe he's still working on the rumored new album?

Izzy Stradlin Purportedly Joins Twitter, Denies Involvement in Guns N’ Roses Reunion Shows

  • Axl Rosenberg
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People sometimes don’t realize that Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin grew up together in Lafayette, IN (their names were “Bill” and “Jeff” back then), and that Rose actually followed Stradlin out to Los Angeles when they were teenagers — some stories even say that the only reason Stradlin ended up in Guns N’ Roses is because Slash wanted to work with Rose and Rose and Stradlin were a package deal. In any case, what’s interesting about the two childhood friends turned rockstars is that despite being overtly quite different personalities (Rose is an outspoken maniac with a flare for the dramatic; Stradlin is the definition of “chill”), they both seem more comfortable off the grid than on it. Stradlin maybe even more so than Rose; while the singer pops his head up from time to time for live performances and to enjoy the night life of whatever city he’s currently in, Stradlin sightings are considerably more rare. In fact, Stradlin quit GN’R shortly after the release of the Use Your Illusion albums in 1991 — when the band was at the height of their success. Shortly before that, he enigmatically did not show up for the “Don’t Cry” video shoot, leading to Duff McKagan’s infamous decision to tape a “Where’s Izzy?” sign to his back for the video. Stradlin is clearly not comfortable being in the spotlight.

Which is all a long-winded way of saying that if you’re holding out hope Stradlin will part of the upcoming reunion between Rose, Slash, and McKagan, you’re probably shit out of luck.

Someone claiming to be Stradlin has launched a Twitter account, apparently for the express purpose of breaking the hearts of GN’R fans everywhere:

https://twitter.com/IzzyStradlin999/status/701863312737210369

Although the account has yet to be verified by Twitter, Neil Shah, music critic for The Wall Street Journal, says it’s legit (and humorously used a screencap of the aforementioned “Where’s Izzy?” sign when reporting as much):

I’m guessing the Twitter account is real; if not, someone did a very good job of making this video with the real Stradlin:

https://twitter.com/IzzyStradlin999/status/704537465495748608

That’s the bad news.

The good news is this: Stradlin hasn’t addressed the rumors that he’s working on a new GN’R studio album. If the old Guns are, indeed, making a new album, Stradlin’s involvement will be essential — because the guy was such a wall flower, people tend not to realize how much of the heavy lifting he did when it came to songwriting in the band’s heyday. On the other hand, he’s not the most electric presence live (Rose once allegedly asked him to accept less money for playing shows than other, more athletic members of the band). Stradlin continuing to shun stardom is less of a big deal so long as he’s there to turn all the riffs Slash discards into awesome songs (see: “Sweet Child O’ Mine”).

More news as it develops. In the meantime… ever checked out Izzy’s solo debut? It’s not metal at all, but it is fucking awesome.

[via Alternative Nation]

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