Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagicGuns N’ Roses‘ massively successful Not in This Lifetime… tour features a reunion of most of the band’s Appetite for Destruction-era lineup, although one of the members who hasn’t taken part in the trek is rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin. Long considered the group’s most reclusive member, Stradlin has issued a statement to The Wall Street Journal regarding why he didn’t join his old band mates for the trek.
“The current GnR tour has been a great success for the guys,” writes Izzy. “My non-participation was simply not being able to reach a happy middle ground through the negotiation process. That’s life, sometimes things don’t work out.”
This isn’t the only comment Stradlin has made about why he hasn’t been touring with Guns N’ Roses. In September 2016, GN’R frontman Axl Rose suggested during a Brazilian television interview that when the trek was being organized, Izzy was indecisive about taking part. The guitarist responded by posting a now-deleted message on his Twitter feed that read, “B*******. They didn’t want to split the loot equally. Simple as that. Moving right along.”
The Not in This Lifetime… tour marked the official return of guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan to the Guns N’ Roses lineup for the first time since the 1990s. Founding GN’R drummer Steven Adler, meanwhile, has made a few guest appearances during the trek, which kicked off in April 2016 and currently is mapped out through late November. The tour currently is the fourth highest-grossing trek of all time, having earned more than $480 million to date.
As previously reported, GN’R will release deluxe reissues of the band’s 1987 debut album, Appetite for Destruction, on June 29.
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