GNR Pulls Out Of 'Rock In Rio' Fest

Billboard ^ | 3.30.2004 | Barry A. Jeckell

[NYC GOP Chick]

GNR Pulls Out Of 'Rock In Rio' Fest

Guns N' Roses has canceled its scheduled May 30 headlining appearance at the Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon. In a statement, sole original member Axl Rose places the blame on guitarist Buckethead, who has apparently exited the lineup.

"The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure," Rose says. "During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment -- despite being under contract -- creating uncertainty and confusion and making it virtually impossible to move forward with recording, rehearsals and live plans with confidence."

Rose cites Buckethead's interest in furthering a solo career first established with the 1992 release of a self-titled album on the Avant label. The masked artist, who is never seen in the flesh or without a KFC bucket on his head, will kick off a solo tour tomorrow (March 31) in Milwaukee supporting jam band Particle.

"It appears his plans were to secure a recording contract with Sanctuary Records which I encouraged my management to make available to him, quit GNR and to use his involvement in the upcoming Guns release to immediately promote his individual efforts," Rose says.

"There is not a member of this camp that is not hurt, upset and ultimately disappointed," Rose adds. "We as a whole definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation perhaps so much so that it may be that we, or more precisely, I may have done Guns a disservice and unintentionally allowed Guns to be put in this position."

The Rock in Rio appearance was to be the group's first since a disastrous 2002 comeback tour that was canceled with 13 dates remaining. "On behalf of Guns N' Roses and myself I apologize to the fans," Rose says. "The festival and its tradition mean a lot to me personally and I sincerely do not enjoy being robbed by one of our own of the opportunity to be the first artist to play it for the third time."

Rose admits that "there are obviously several issues to resolve" regarding Buckethead's longtime involvement and the band's long-awaited Geffen album "Chinese Democracy."

"In the meantime rather than dwelling on the negative, Guns will be moving forward," Rose says, "and surprisingly (without giving away any details) this unfortunate set of circumstances may have given us the opportunity to take our recording that one extra step further. Regardless we hope to announce a release date within the next few months."

[NYC GOP Chick]

Egads! Plastic surgery gone bad...*very* bad!

Vs.:

Who are YOU going to believe?!

[SICSEMPERTYRANNUS]

As much as I like their original music I think their 15 mins was over a loooooong time ago.

[cmsgop]

This Band is Sooooooooo Dooooooomed!!!!!

More Drama then a Soap Opera...

[Viking2002]

First of all, wearing a KFC bucket on your noggin might be novel, but it isn't exactly a gimmick most fans are going to get into. Second, if anyone has shown bizzare and erratic behavior for the last ten years, it's Axl. Guns N' Roses without Slash is like Van Halen without David Lee Roth - it might sound familiar, but it just ain't the real deal.

[Alberta's Child]

"The band has been put in an untenable position by guitarist Buckethead and his untimely departure . . . During his tenure with the band Buckethead has been inconsistent and erratic in both his behavior and commitment . . . We as a whole definitely feel that we afforded Bucket every accommodation . . ."

If he said all these things with a straight face, I think he deserves an award of some kind. I would have burst out laughing as soon as I tried to utter the first "Bucket."

[BigSkyFreeper]

Speaking of Van Halen, I read over the weekend that Van Halen reconciled their differences with Sammy Hagar, and plan on touring the country this Summer, with Hagar fronting the group.

I like the 80's metal music, but one of these days, these bands are just going to have to finally realize they're 15 minutes are up and just let go. They're getting too old to be flopping around on the stage.

[NYC GOP Chick]

If he said all these things with a straight face, I think he deserves an award of some kind. I would have burst out laughing as soon as I tried to utter the first "Bucket."

You know, I'm sure he's a very good guitarist, but every time I see him, I flashback to an old boss.

Back at one of the stock brokerage firms where I worked, the CEO had something of a sadistic streak -- every time he fired a broker, he'd not only feel compelled to do it publicly, but he'd stick a FedEx envelope on the poor guy's head and make him say "Would you like fries with that?" He made sure to do this in front of as many people as possible. After witnessing a few of these, I managed to convince him not to pile on like that when canning people, but he probably reverted to type after I left...

[NYC GOP Chick]

If it ain't with DLR, I ain't interested in Van Halen.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Amen!

[Alberta's Child]

If I ever worked for a boss like that he tried to pull that stunt with me, he would have walked out of that office with a FedEx envelope stuck up his @ss.

[kenth]

Stuck a Fedex envelope on their heads and made them say "would you like fries with that?" You mean people allowed him to do that and went along without stomping his guts out?

[Viking2002]

Come pay us a visit: http://www.dlrarmy.com

Tell 'em you know Viking - I'll get you set up properly. LOL :-)

[reagan_fanatic]

If it ain't with DLR, I ain't interested in Van Halen.

AGREED 1000 PERCENT!! David Lee Roth WAS Van Halen. Hasn't been the same since. :(

[T. Jefferson]

Eddie ain't the same player. I saw them tour BEFORE their first album, saw the 4th album tour (their peak), and now he's a sloppy parody of himself...like Jimmy Page trying to play his old stuff. Really sad. I saw DLR last summer and they did nothing but old Eddie stuff and some unknown guy did it note for note and then some. Great stuff.

It's always the same thing. A guy is a bad ass stud, gets married, and goes straight downhill. The day Tiger Woods announced his marriage I told everyone watch his game go straight to hell. Been right on the money so far.

Eddie needs to get divorced, get a bottle, get pissed off and find his cajones. Rock gods are meant to be mamby pamby daddies.

[NYC GOP Chick]

Did you see him on The Sopranos the other night? :)

[NYC GOP Chick]

Well, he's a very charismatic guy who exudes power and intimidates lots of people. He's also a big guy who likes to "hint" at his mob ties.

[SamAdams76]

Has anybody seen Axl Rose and Amy Carter in the same room?

[ottothedog]

I did not know that GNR was still around. I certainly didn't know that there was a guy called "Buckethead" in the band. After I stopped laughing at that picture (30 mins) I had to go check out if it was for real. I can't stop laughing.

[Alberta's Child]

This Clymer used to be a charismatic guy, too. He didn't exude much power after this, though. And I smacked him around so badly that his clothing was out of style by the time he got back up again. LOL.