Guns N’ Roses plans to take a break from touring in 2027 to focus on working on new material, guitarist Slash revealed in statement shared via Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk.
Slash explained that the band has accumulated a large amount of material that needs to be organized and developed. He described the challenge of bringing these songs together and working on them as a group.
“We’ll get done with [shows in India, Indonesia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand in November and December], and next year basically Guns is off,” Slash said. “But I’m hoping that, because we have so much material that we need to sort of, like, put together and start getting into that whole phase, so I’m hoping that’s what the next phase is gonna be.”
“We have so much material, and it’s all over the place, and it needs to,” he continued. “That’s one of the things that’s been hard to do, is the amount of time and focus it takes to sort of get all that material together and start working on it.”
Slash noted that creating together while on the road presents a particular problem for the band. “It doesn’t work on the road,” he said. “Writing on the road for me is easy, and I’m the only one that seem, seems to like to sort of sit up all night and do that. But Duff [McKagan, Guns N’ Roses bassist] does his own thing, and Axl [Rose, Guns N’ Roses singer] does his own thing. And so we’re all creating on the road just individually. But getting us together and trying to do that while you’re touring is next to impossible.”
The comments came as the band prepares to finish its current tour dates across Asia and the Pacific region before taking time away from live performances.
The band has been working on fresh material for some time. Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan reunited for their ‘Not in This Lifetime’ tour, which started on April 1, 2016, at the Troubadour in West Hollywood. This marked the first time the three performed together since the Use Your Illusion Tour in 1993. Since the reunion, they have released individual songs rather than a full studio album.
The most recent full album from Guns N’ Roses is Chinese Democracy, released on November 23, 2008. Following the reunion, the band released “Hard Skool” and “Absurd” in 2021, both of which date back to sessions for Chinese Democracy. In 2023, they issued “Perhaps” in August and “The General” in December, followed by “Nothin'” and “Atlas” in 2025, marking their first new music in two years.
Slash’s comments about taking time off from touring reflect the band’s ongoing effort to complete a new full-length album. Earlier, McKagan confirmed that the band had plans and desire for new music. Slash himself has stated that Guns N’ Roses is “trying” to make a new album and working with his bandmates toward that goal.
