Myles Kennedy looks back on the time he refused to audition for Slash and Velvet Revolver: “I knew that I wasn’t mentally prepared to jump into something of that magnitude”

Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy has looked back on the time he refused to audition for Slash and other then-former members of Guns N’ Roses as they put together their 00s supergroup Velvet Revolver.

In a new interview with Metal Hammer, Kennedy recalls the period of his life where he withdrew from the music industry after developing tinnitus. Because of his condition, he turned down the chance to show his skills to Velvet Revolver, with the band eventually bringing Stone Temple Pilots man Scott Weiland in on vocals.

“It was very difficult to turn that opportunity down,” Kennedy remembers today. “Though my friends might have thought that I was crazy, I knew that I wasn’t mentally prepared, at least at that stage, to jump into something of that magnitude and do it justice.”

The singer/guitarist adds that his diagnosis with tinnitus, a chronic condition which causes ongoing ringing in the ears, was “very disturbing initially, especially mentally”. “The biggest concern was maintaining the hearing quality that I still had,” he continues. “Fortunately, since I’m very careful with how loud I listen to music, I’ve managed to keep it in check.”

Kennedy’s self-imposed exile from music didn’t last too long, however. In late 2003, he accepted an invitation from former Creed guitarist Mark Tremonti to join what would become Alter Bridge.

“Enough time had passed,” Kennedy explains when asked why he took the Alter Bridge gig and not the Velvet Revolver one. “There was a limited amount of music written at that point, but I could recognise from the beginning, this was potentially something that would be appropriate for my voice and songwriting approach.”

Alter Bridge debuted with their album One Day Remains in August 2004, and the record quickly earned Gold status in the US. The band’s lineup has remained the same since they started, with Kennedy and Tremonti both having individual side-projects.

Kennedy’s career came full-circle when, in 2010, he contributed vocals to Slash’s self-titled solo album and became his touring vocalist. The pair continue to collaborate, but Kennedy confesses to Hammer that he still has no clue how the legendary guitarist first heard of him more than 20 years ago.

Kennedy released his third solo album, The Art Of Letting Go, in October 2024, and Alter Bridge are currently preparing to put out their self-titled eighth album, due on January 9 via Napalm. The band will tour Europe from January to March then play across North America in the spring, before returning to Europe for the summer festival circuit. On June 27, they’ll headline the inaugural edition of their own festival, Blackbird Festival, at Cardiff Castle in Wales.