In a recent interview with Reverb, Duff McKagan shed light on the ‘secret’ behind Guns N’ Roses’ success. McKagan mentioned that many people are unaware of the intense dedication that the band had before achieving fame. He stressed that the band’s success was not only due to their lifestyle of debauchery and rock ‘n’ roll, but also to their relentless dedication to their craft. He said:
“What’s maybe not known totally about early Guns N’ Roses, and still to this day, we rehearsed twice a day. That’s all we fucking did. So, we worked on parts, where Slash’s guitar would go in that part, and where Izzy (Stradlin)’s guitar (would go). Everybody would find their piece, and Steven (Adler, drums) wouldn’t fill through somebody else’s lick. Every little piece of ‘Appetite for Destruction’ was super thought out. And then, ‘Just play it and be a rock band.'”
He went on to highlight the amount of rehearsals they had done. He continued:
“But we were prepared. And it sounds raggedy, ferocious, and loose, and because we rehearsed so much, we were able to get the first and second takes on ‘Appetite.’ Like, that’s it — why do three? We’re good!”
Axl Rose’s Work Ethic
Axl Rose, who has not left the band, played a big role in the survival of Guns N’ Roses. Although it sometimes doesn’t look like it from the outside, Guns N’ Roses members have often praised Rose’s professionalism in recent years. In 2022, Slash spoke to Classic Rock Magazine about Axl Rose’s approach to his work after the Guns N’ Roses reunion that took place in 2016. He said:
“In all these years that we’ve been apart, he’s become super-f—ing professional. And he’s never missed a beat during this whole time. So it’s been great. There has been a sort of synergy that’s been happening this last six years that we never had in our first incarnation.”
In a 2019 interview with Q104.3, Duff McKagan explained the effect Rose’s newfound professionalism has had on him. He said:
“What I’ve observed has really made me work so much harder. His work ethic is…he’s an animal. He’s in the gym. He starts and hour-and-a-half before the show vocal warmups. We do a three-and-a-half-hour long show. He broke his foot at the beginning of the tour; he didn’t say, ‘Let’s stop.’ He said, ‘Let’s continue, I’ll do it sitting down.'”
While this was not the case for Axl early in his career, his approach to his work has evolved as his career has progressed.
