Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has two necks on his guitar, both meant for GN'R, he insists. © Jordan Axtman ./Retna Ltd./Corbis
During the past few months, Guns N' Roses have been the subject of lineup rumors: the current band is breaking up, the old group is getting back together, what have you. In a statement on the GN'R fansite Here Today...Gone To Hell!, guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal says that, as far as he's concerned, such talk is a bunch of malarkey.
"OK, here's the deal with all the GN'R rumors," Thal writes. "Some trolls tried to get attention by starting rumors, as they had seen others get. I called a few out on it personally, smacked 'em down and their panties are still all bunched up over it, so they've been going to different GNR fansites, they create an account with an IP scrambler, post these fake stories, and then disappear.
"They're 1) trying to get me back for bruising their ego, 2) they're trying to mindfuck the *real* GNR fans and make them lose faith in the band and band members they've gotten to know over the years, 3) they saw someone else get a lot of attention in a similar scenario recently, and want some attention themselves, from fans, and from me.
"All they want to do is hurt the fans and the band," Thal continues. "All the credible GNR fan-sites see it and have been deleting the silly posts by their own choice. Don't buy into it. Don't stand for it. And don't believe a WORD of it. If the people spreading this would like to come forward and show who they are, I'd be happy to bring them into a courtroom with a libel suit, and if they can prove their statements to be true I'll cover all costs and whatever else. But that wouldn't happen because every word of it is made up and that's why they don't stick around and remain in hiding.
"To any news sites that spread the rumors without fact-checking, that'll post anything any sociopath makes up and give it a platform, you need to do better."
In somewhat related news, the band's former bassist, Duff McKagan, currently promoting his group Loaded, said this week that his onstage reunion with Axl Rose during a GN'R performance at London's O2 Arena last October might have sent the wrong message to fans. "I almost wish the getting on stage part hadn't happened," he told Spinner. "The most important part for me was the chance meeting. Our hotel rooms were right next to each other. It was meant to happen - we were meant to connect again. It was a private matter, but I'm glad it happened."
McKagan blamed severe jetlag for his decision to join Rose and the band for a rendition of the song You Could Be Mine. He was so out of it, in fact, that he doesn't even remember the car ride to the show. "I was on so much energy drink that it was all sort of surreal by that point. It was like, 'I should be in bed right now. I've got a meeting in the morning. What am I doing here?' Then all of a sudden there's a bass in my hands. 'What am I going to play?' You Could Be Mine - I haven't played that song since 1993. Shit, how does it go?'
Since that surprise appearance, McKagan said he and other former Gunners have fielded constant inquiries about a formal reteaming - playing the halftime show at next year's Super Bowl has been tossed around. McKagan, however, insisted that the original lineup would never get back together.
