The Song That Broke Up Axl Rose + Slash

Here’s the story of the song that broke up Axl Rose and Slash.

Things were never perfect within the Guns N’ Roses camp, and tensions between the singer and the guitarist existed long before Slash actually left the band in 1996. Rose was assertive and confrontational, whereas Slash was quieter and tried to avoid conflict at all costs.

Addiction and fame were the band’s two biggest problems throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, both of which led to the firing of drummer Steven Adler, the departure of guitarist Izzy Stradlin and Rose becoming paranoid about the group’s future.

By the mid-to-late ’90s, Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan were the only remaining members from the band’s Appetite for Destruction lineup — the one they became famous for. Legal contracts, substance abuse and a Rolling Stones cover song were the ultimate nails in the coffin for the trio, and by ’97, the vocalist was on his own.

“Axl went on to do the vocals and brought in another guitar player with him, who’s a guy from Indiana who I can’t stand,” Slash said in an interview at the time. “You’ll hear my guitar, and then you’ll hear this tingy little thing in the background. So that pissed me off.”

Rose stayed quiet for a few years while he picked up the pieces of his band and brought in a plethora of new musicians to work on its industrial-infused new album Chinese Democracy, which infamously didn’t see the light of day for around another decade.

READ MORE: Guns N’ Roses – A Photo Timeline of Their Famed Career

He and Slash exchanged words about each other in interviews from time to time during that decade, but they were eventually able to bury the hatchet to reunite in 2016, and with McKagan too.

In the latest episode of our Behind the Feud series, we tell the story of Rose and Slash’s relationship, from the early days of Guns N’ Roses all the way until now. Watch the full video below.