Matt Sorum Says He 'Wasn't Asked' To Take Part In Guns N' Roses Reunion

[Original GNR]

Although Matt wrote many of the drum parts on the Illusions albums (although not all, as some of the songs were played live during the Appetite-era), Axl still very much views him as a hired hand. So I suppose in Axl's view, why replace one hired hand (Frank) who he has known and worked with since 2006, with an older hired hand (Matt) who he hasn't worked with since the mid-90s and arguably doesn't really get on with? 

If we are going to get anyone back on drums from the 85-93 era it has to be Steven. 

[Asia]

10 minutes ago, Mr. Dude said:

If Steven comes back they should just keep all the songs strictly from Appetite and Lies. It would be a slap in the face of the real GNR to not keep it true to their original sound. I don't even see why they ever learned any new songs. It was disrespectful to the original 5. 

LOL

[DR DOOM]

48 minutes ago, Mr. Dude said:

If Steven comes back they should just keep all the songs strictly from Appetite and Lies. It would be a slap in the face of the real GNR to not keep it true to their original sound. I don't even see why they ever learned any new songs. It was disrespectful to the original 5. 

You're a very sad individual.

[LovelessNL]

Hey cool, thats my screenshot, they 'stole' it from the social media thread here.

[Kater]

2 hours ago, Mr. Dude said:

If Steven comes back they should just keep all the songs strictly from Appetite and Lies. It would be a slap in the face of the real GNR to not keep it true to their original sound. I don't even see why they ever learned any new songs. It was disrespectful to the original 5. 

I hope this is sarcasm!

 

[gunners fan]

My thoughts are:

Is there now bad blood or hard feelings between Matt and Duff/Slash?

Was it some sort of negotiation between Axl mgmt. and Slash/Duff...ie...Ok...I keep Frank, Dizzy. Chris is toast, new stage, old GNR logos, 3 way profit split...everyone else in band is salary staff.

Did Axl put his foot down and state...no Matt, or no tour? I know that Matt was very harsh of Axl in the subsequent years...a lot more so than Slash.

 

 

[thunder120]

We have to still take into consideration that Matt is still being extremely quiet on the situation. He replied to a tweet and immediately deleted it. that's about all we got. You have to question the motives of not only Sorum but Izzy , Adler, Gilby and even Pittman as to why they haven't spoken publicly. If they were all a forgone conclusion than there would be no reason for any of them to not come out publicly. Yet noone has, which leads me to believe that things are open for the future, if not guest appearances than maybe the AFD 30 year anniversary. Seems like no one wants to put there foot in there mouth and ruin a potential run in the near future.

[DR DOOM]

Let's not give Pitman the dignity of being discussed in the same breath as even Matt or Gilby.

He's pond scum next to the horn section in my book.

[thunder120]

Doom, I agree, but if there was anyone who had the right to come out firing isn't it him? I mean, on the verge of the biggest tour in his life and boom, hes replaced, and yet utter silence from him..

[liers]

17 hours ago, ohmygod said:

No reason to ask Sorum. Why get rid of Ferrer? The dude has been with the band since 2006 and does a great job.

 

Exactly. Axl wasn't going to kick anyone out to make this reunion happen... He simply just filled the open spots.

[liers]

4 hours ago, star said:

I'm sure if Frank pulls out for whatever reason, Sorum would get the call. 

I think theres a better chance of freese or brain.

[Tom-Ass]

21 minutes ago, liers said:

I think theres a better chance of freese or brain.

Anyone but the current guy!

[bigpoop]

4 hours ago, liers said:

Exactly. Axl wasn't going to kick anyone out to make this reunion happen... He simply just filled the open spots.

lol  @ open spots. Do you seriously believe this whole thing is happening because DJ Ashba was too busy with Sixx AM?   

[CardinalGunner]

Matt is a Slash/Duff guy..  Probably better to avoid tipping the scales that much.  Frank is Axl's guy.    Frank was already there anyway, so no need to remove him to make room for someone else.

[stella]

Frank had also had several chances to "audition," so to speak...he played quite a few shows with Duff when he filled in for Tommy during NuGuns. That's probably the person in the band he had to click with most, since the bassist and drummer work so closely. Duff seemed to enjoy working with Frank, and that probably made it even easier to keep him on. 

[Tom-Ass]

1 hour ago, CardinalGunner said:

Matt is a Slash/Duff guy..  Probably better to avoid tipping the scales that much.  Frank is Axl's guy.    Frank was already there anyway, so no need to remove him to make room for someone else.

Tipping scales is a great analogy..  Axl/Fortus/Melissa/Dizzy/Frank heavily outweigh____________Slash/Duff..  Definitely a lot of binkies for Axl.

[sonofnazareth]

Matt could probably whoop everyones' ass in GNR if he wanted to..'and on the drums, here to turn your brains into mashed rice, is Mr Matt Sorum!'

Edited April 14, 2016 by sonofnazareth

[James Bond]

I always gathered that Matt and Axl never truly got along. That's probably mostly on Axl due to his behaviour in the UYI days, but nevertheless it could be an issue. Duff makes it sound like Matt is confrontational like that. On one hand, it shows that Matt actually had some balls to stand up to Axl, but on the other hand it could send the reunion sour pretty quickly. For all we know, Slash and Duff were perfectly fine with Axl keeping Frank on. As someone mentioned, even Duff has admitted that Matt can be hard to get along with. Maybe they just didn't want to throw him into the mix when Axl and Slash are still in the healing process so to speak. If the exchange for having Slash and Duff back in the band is that Frank sticks around on drums, then I'll take it. All signs point to Steven having had some involvement until this apparent back trouble came about, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if the original plan was to share duties between Steven and Frank as opposed to Steven and Matt.

That said, I don't think Matt was whining at all in his Tweet. He answered the question upfront and that was it. I've grown to like Matt more over the years.

[3rd Wheel]

11 hours ago, Mr. Dude said:

Let's be honest here. Slash and Duff have never done a full-scale headlining tour without Matt Sorum. I think at the very least they need to bring him on for council.

Being honest, as you said in your post, this doesn't mean shit. Duff is a business man. Slash is sober and has handled his solo stuff without Matt holding his hand along the way. The fact Matt was part of VR is simply Matt was their buddy. He isn't some sort of necessary wizard who magically makes a "full-scale headlining tour" successful for Slash and Duff.

[madison]

On 4/13/2016 at 3:34 PM, RecipeForDisaster84 said:

There was no need for him to respond,it was clear who the drummer was in Vegas,Matt was better off not saying anything.

Huh?  Matt was one of the key people who helped bring GNR to the top of the music world.  If he hadn't, he certainly wouldn't have been inducted as a member of GNR in the Rock Hall of Fame. Matt has said in the past - and repeated in this article - that he'd be happy to share drums with Steven - which is what every diehard fan wants to see.

Certain fans love dumping on Matt - and I have no idea why. The guy is actually really cool - and very respectful toward the other band members. 

And now you're dissing him for answering a reporter's question?  Geesh. Why wouldn't he respond when asked?  I'm guessing if he had refused to answer, then you'd be ripping him a new one for being "standoffish" or "refusing to answer questions."  The guy can never win in your eyes. Sad - and extremely unfair. 

As for Frank - tell me, what role did he play in the band's success?  He's a session musician - a hired hand - brought in to play the songs other musicians wrote and created. If you can't understand Matt's disappointment, then I can't explain it to you. 

 

On 4/13/2016 at 4:08 PM, Liquor & Whores said:

thank god he wasn't

mr Additional Musician

 

Oh please. The only reason Axl called him that was because they had a fight. If I remember correctly, Matt was worried that the psychic woman was taking advantage of Axl back in the day, and Axl got mad. Matt wasn't dissing Axl - he was genuinely concerned. But Axl took it as a diss. At least, that's the story that made the rounds back then. 

On 4/13/2016 at 3:57 PM, Nosaj Thing said:

Agreed.

I think a lot of people have this weird concept and idea that Matt Sorum is a douchebag.  I have read some people think he is a douchebag because he used to have that utterly awful hair back in the UYI days.  Like, one thing is connected to the other.   I mean, you can't try to be rational with them.  They're blind.

I'm glad he was asked and I'm glad he replied.  Now I know he wasn't asked.  Which is too bad and too sad.  He's a great drummer.

Agreed.

Not sure why Matt gets such a bad rap on this forum.  Does he speak his mind?  Yeah. But, what's wrong with that? 

He's actually a pretty cool guy to talk to - and not at all arrogant as some people seem to think. 

On 4/13/2016 at 3:50 PM, ohmygod said:

No reason to ask Sorum. Why get rid of Ferrer? The dude has been with the band since 2006 and does a great job.

 

Matt played a role in GNR's huge success, and deserves to be part of the reunion along with Stevie. He certainly earned that spot - which Frank did not. 

[passenger57]

My roommate is friends with Matt. She hooked me up with this awesome signed GnR drumhead for my bday present.

 

[Nosaj Thing]

11 minutes ago, passenger57 said:

My roommate is friends with Matt. She hooked me up with this awesome signed GnR drumhead for my bday present.

 

I have a drumhead and drum sticks signed by him, too.

[madison]

26 minutes ago, passenger57 said:

My roommate is friends with Matt. She hooked me up with this awesome signed GnR drumhead for my bday present.

 

Nice.

[Nick Cobraetti]

6 minutes ago, madison said:

Huh?  Matt was one of the key people who helped bring GNR to the top of the music world.  If he hadn't, he certainly wouldn't have been inducted as a member of GNR in the Rock Hall of Fame. Matt has said in the past - and repeated in this article - that he'd be happy to share drums with Steven - which is what every diehard fan wants to see.

Certain fans love dumping on Matt - and I have no idea why. The guy is actually really cool - and very respectful toward the other band members. 

And now you're dissing him for answering a reporter's question?  Geesh. Why wouldn't he respond when asked?  I'm guessing if he had refused to answer, then you'd be ripping him a new one for being "standoffish" or "refusing to answer questions."  The guy can never win in your eyes. Sad - and extremely unfair. 

As for Frank - tell me, what role did he play in the band's success?  He's a session musician - a hired hand - brought in to play the songs other musicians wrote and created. If you can't understand Matt's disappointment, then I can't explain it to you. 

 

Oh please. The only reason Axl called him that was because they had a fight. If I remember correctly, Matt was worried that the psychic woman was taking advantage of Axl back in the day, and Axl got mad. Matt wasn't dissing Axl - he was genuinely concerned. But Axl took it as a diss. At least, that's the story that made the rounds back then. 

Agreed.

Not sure why Matt gets such a bad rap on this forum.  Does he speak his mind?  Yeah. But, what's wrong with that? 

He's actually a pretty cool guy to talk to - and not at all arrogant as some people seem to think. 

Matt played a role in GNR's huge success, and deserves to be part of the reunion along with Stevie. He certainly earned that spot - which Frank did not. 

 

Pleased to meet you! Let me say first that I like Matt and I love UYIs. However...

Axl doesn't like Matt's drumming, and Matt has gone out of his way to bury Axl and GnR after his departure. That's why Matt's not there.

The issue with Matt and the psychic wasn't that "Axl took it as a diss", it was that Matt was discussing rumored details of Axl's private life in the press. To me that's not concern, it's schadenfreude.

IMO Matt had little-to-no role in the band's success. He was lucky enough to get on the elevator when it was already on the top floor. All he had to do was not suck - and to his credit, he didn't. But that doesn't make him an indispensable component by any stretch of the imagination. He was inducted because he was the drummer, not because he made a significant contribution to their success...I mean, Dennis Wilson is in the hall!

[CardinalGunner]

Axl does not see this as a reunion, he sees this as Slash replacing his departed guitarists.   Duff replacing Tommy.    

The press is calling it a reunion, but this is not that far removed from the 2014 lineup replacing DJ with Slash and Chris with Melissa.    

If you look at it that way, it makes sense that Matt wasn't called because Frank was already there.