Duff McKagan is reuniting with Guns N’ Roses for five shows across South America.
The legendary hard rock group’s former bassist – who played in the original line-up with singer Axl Rose, guitarists Slash and Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steven Adler and was a member of the group from 1985 to 1993 – will "help out" by heading out on the road to fill in for current bassist, Tommy Stinson, who has already been scheduled for reunion gigs with The Replacements.
Tommy told Billboard.com: "I had those Replacement shows come up the same time the [South American] tour came up, and it got to be a scheduling issue right out of the gate.
"I didn’t want to f**k anyone up in Guns by saying, ‘Hey, I can’t do this tour,’ or anything like that. Luckily someone was able to reach out to Duff and he was amenable to the idea and was into doing it. So I’m like, ‘Thanks dude, for covering my ass on this one.’ "
Duff will join the current line-up – which includes keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarists DJ Ashba, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Chris Pitman – from April 6 until April 17 for shows in Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina before his last set in Brazil.
Tommy will play one show in Brazil on April 3 before rejoining the group in Pennsylvania on May 13.
Duff – who quit Guns N’ Roses in 1997 – made a post online revealing his return, which read: "Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil! See y’all in the next few weeks, Si? GNR. (sic)"
Duff’s decision to work with Axl again has given fans hope Slash and the other former members will be able to bury the hatchet with the difficult frontman so the classic line-up can tour once again.
Slash and Axl have barely spoken since the guitarist quit the band in 1996 due to a breakdown in their songwriting partnership and the collaborative process between the entire group.
Their rift only worsened when Axl refused to join the other original band members at their induction into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in February 2012.
Duff McKagan rejoins Guns N’ Roses for South America shows
