Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum spoke to AXS TV and recalled when he decided to invite ZZ Top singer Billy Gibbons to one of his projects. Also, the musician revealed its details and named the Gibbons album that he co-produced.
Even though Sorum gained fame and popularity with his career as a Guns N’ Roses member, he created and became a part of various projects that showed his talent and harmony with other musicians from different genres. As one of them, hard rock supergroup Camp Freddy members and guests such as Dave Navarro, Scott Weiland, and Chester Bennington played covers for their live performances between 2012 and 2014.
Then, Sorum founded another supergroup named Kings of Chaos, including Duff McKagan, Gilby Clarke, and himself as the core lineup and famous touring members. They played with Myles Kennedy, Sebastian Bach, Steven Tyler, Gene Simmons, and Billy Gibbons. During his interview, Sorum stated that he always wanted Gibbons to join them as his musical hero to play classics like ‘La Grange’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Man.’
Thus, his dream came through thanks to the Kings of Chaos. Sorum and Gibbons performed concerts worldwide for the project, and the drummer said they became close friends in time. He added that the singer always sends him gifts, and Sorum collaborated with the ZZ Top icon for his third solo studio album, ‘Hardware,’ released on June 4, 2021. Sorum served as a co-producer for the album and co-wrote some lyrics.
Sorum said in his interview that:
“He’s amazing. I met him on the road, occasionally at festivals, but then I had this band called Camp Freddy with Dave Navarro. We used to invite like it was a bucket list thing. We would call everybody that was our heroes if they would answer. We were like, ‘Let’s call him.’ He’d play with us, and we would do the classics, ‘La Grange’ and ‘Sharp Dressed Man.’ We became friends, and I morphed my Camp Freddy into Kings of Chaos.
He played on that a lot. We went to Africa together. I have amazing stories with Billy, but not enough in the book. We went to Africa and traveled to Europe and South America together. We’ve become good friends. Recently, I co-produced his last record, ‘Hardware’ which was cool. I played on the songs too. He likes me. He always sends me gifts in the mail, and it’s cool. I grew up with ZZ Top. ZZ Top and Aerosmith, all of these guys, and Cheap Trick. I’m playing in Kings of Chaos with them.”
You can check out the interview and listen to Gibbons’ album below.
