Guns N’ Roses’ career has been rocky, but that has somehow made the act’s journey even more memorable. There have been disputes between bandmates due to creative and personal differences, and numerous accusations have been made. Overall, they were a typical troublemaker rock band until 1991, as things would get more complicated after that.
The act’s Use Your Illusion tour has a legacy of its own. The band visited 27 countries, and they performed almost 200 shows. It took two years for GN’R to finish the tour, and during this long period, the band experienced inner turmoil, which later on resulted in a departure.
The only controversy wasn’t a core member leaving the band, though. The tensions increased even more when Axl Rose made some accusations against Slash and former manager Alan Niven. The tour spiraled out of control due to these controversies, and ultimately, Slash and Niven’s attitude toward Axl greatly hurt him.
Axl Rose Felt Let Down By Slash And Alan Niven
The ‘Use Your Illusion’ tour had many supporting acts, one of which was Skid Row. After the tour, Rachel Bolan recalled that period and traveling with GN’R. The guitarist stated that while the other members of GN’R traveled by plane, Izzy Stradlin preferred to travel by bus.
Bolan didn’t know that Stradlin had been experiencing problems with his band. So, when he mentioned to Duff McKagan how he had observed that Izzy was traveling separately, the bassist was quite surprised. Then, McKagan told Rachel Bolan that Izzy hadn’t spoken to any of his bandmates for almost a year.
Izzy departed the band in November 1991, almost ten months after the tour had begun. This departure would affect the band greatly, but losing Stradlin wasn’t the only problem. Axl Rose discussed the tour with NME in 2013, and the rocker expressed that he had felt let down by Slash and former manager Alan Niven.
Axl addressed Slash and his other bandmates’ autobiographies as he criticized how they had portrayed him. For instance, Slash and the lineup of the Use Your Illusion tour had targeted Axl for always being late to the shows. However, the frontman denied their varying accusations and claimed that they were saying stuff like that to gain publicity and a following.
“‘The Illusions’ lineups comments that I’ve read in the media or in Slash’s books were, in my opinion, predominantly public gamesmanship, strategy, and politics on their part,” remarked Axl and continued to address the band’s complicated relationship. “Pretending to be unaware or innocent to the public has been a common deceptive tactic often used in regard to what was happening with the band and our relationship with each other.”
“As I’ve said before, I shouldn’t have been on tour when we started in 1991,” added the rocker, claiming that Slash and Alan Niven didn’t care for his well-being. “That had a lot to do with Alan Niven, our then manager, and Slash. In my opinion, Alan wanted money, and Slash wanted the touring to get the better of me, given my circumstances at the time. My safety and well-being were not their concern.”
Axl felt sabotaged by Slash and Alan Niven since he emphasized that the pair didn’t care for his safety or mental and physical health. The Use Your Illusion tour was a major commercial success for GN’R, but it seemed to Rose that he was used by his bandmate and manager for profit and personal feuds.
