Duff McKagan has praised Axl Rose, saying that the Guns N’ Roses frontman has become “a master” of vocals.
The bassist and vocalist, along with guitarist Slash, reunited in 2016 for their mammoth Not In This Lifetime tour, with hopes high that new material from the band could possibly arrive before the end of the year.
And in a new interview with the podcast Mohr Stories, McKagan has reflected on getting back together with GNR and what the journey has been like.
He says: “I had a lot of respect for us as a band as I was pre-rehearsing all this stuff before the tour. Then when Axl came in to rehearse, and when we played our shows… what he's done to his voice!
“The first time I saw him sing, I was this punk rock kid from Seattle, and I saw him in late 84. He was like Henry Rollins, but he had this vocal range and had the intensity of Rollins, but he could sing. He had this dual-voice thing.
"He'd do a low and a high thing at once. Sure, he was born with certain gifts, singing-wise, but he works his ass off.
“He was doing vocal lessons, he was doing vocal warm-ups, warm-downs back then.
He was born with certain gifts, singing-wise, but he works his ass off
Duff McKagan
“Now, when we go out and play, he does an hour and a half of pure vocal warm-ups. And then we play three and a half hours, sometimes at altitude. The guy has become a master.”
Meanwhile, in a now deleted Facebook post, it was reported by Kruse Kontrol Amplification that Slash was due to record with Rose over the weekend.
The original post showed Slash’s 1987 Silver Jubilee Marshall amp, with the caption: “Dropped off by GNR producer Caram Costanzo himself, the amp needs to be serviced and tuned up to sound stellar for this Saturday's recording of new material at Axl Rose's studio in Malibu."
Guns N’ Roses were recently confirmed for Louder Than Life in Louisville and Tennessee's Exit 111, with Slash telling Futuro 88.9FM: “With Guns N’ Roses, we have a little tour between September and October.
"There’s been a lot of talk about an eventual new album with Guns N’ Roses, but in reality we haven't done anything, so we can focus more on that there.”
McKagan will release his new solo album titled Tenderness on May 31.
