Slash has opened up about the turbulent period that led to his departure from Guns N’ Roses and the unexpected reconciliation that followed.
The guitarist reflected on how external interference played a major role in deepening the rift between him and frontman Axl Rose. He noted that once those outside forces were removed, the two were able to reconnect with surprising ease.
“You’re talking to somebody who had no inclination of rejoining the band, and there was nothing in the cards about that happening,” Slash said. “It just sort of happened out of the blue.”
Slash was candid about where the real tension had come from, pointing the finger not at his relationship with Axl, but at those around them.
“The actual issues between Axl and I weren’t insurmountable,” he continued. “It really had to do with other people that had gotten involved and exacerbated the issues that we had. Without them around, it was really easy for me and Axl to get past it — we haven’t had one f*cking fight the whole 10 years we’ve been together this time around.”
He also shed light on how the reunion first came about, describing a low-key but meaningful first step toward reconciliation.
“Axl got in touch with me through management, and that wasn’t about Guns N’ Roses getting back together at the time — that was really about mending the fences,” Slash said. “He and I had dinner, and everything just blossomed from there.”
The story of how Slash and Axl Rose found their way back to each other had been building quietly for years before it became public. It was shaped by personal growth, the fading of old grievances, and a willingness on both sides to let go of the past.
Much of the tension between the two had dissipated long before any formal reunion was discussed. A significant portion of the drama had been amplified by outside forces rather than reflecting the true state of their personal relationship. The animosity had grown worse over time precisely because the two had stopped communicating — a cycle that only broke when they finally chose to speak again.
The first reconnection was deliberately understated. Axl reached out to Slash by phone while the guitarist was on tour in South America. The two then met in person once Slash returned home. That initial conversation proved to be a turning point. “It was a huge kind of weight lifted off of our shoulders,” Slash said of the moment they began talking again, describing the experience as cathartic for both of them.
Slash left Guns N’ Roses in 1996 following a bitter falling-out with Rose — a split that lasted nearly two decades and was marked by public hostility on both sides. At one point, Axl had gone so far as to call Slash “a cancer” within the band. The depth of that animosity made the eventual reconciliation all the more striking and, by Slash’s own account, all the more overdue.
What followed the reunion was nothing short of historic. The Not in This Lifetime… Tour launched in 2016 and became one of the highest-grossing rock tours of all time. It drew millions of fans across the globe who had long given up hope of ever seeing the classic lineup perform together again. Slash later described the onstage chemistry with Axl as something he had forgotten could be so intense — a reminder of what had made Guns N’ Roses one of the defining rock acts of their generation.
A decade on from that reunion, the two remain on solid ground. The version of their relationship that exists today bears little resemblance to the one that collapsed in the mid-nineties. By Slash’s account, the absence of the people who once fueled their conflict has made all the difference.
