Guns N Roses has tapped Alice In Chains to open the band’s two sold out Las Vegas dates at T-Mobile Arena on April 8th and 9th. Featuring the iconic lineup of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, Guns N Roses announced a classic reunion (of sorts) last month as Coachella headliners. Shortly after the Coachella announcement, the Las Vegas dates were announced followed by a pair of Mexico City dates on April 19th and 20th.
Rumors of a classic Guns N Roses lineup have been surfacing since Slash confirmed that he and Rose were back on speaking terms last summer after more than 20 years. Fans and the media have been speculating original founding rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and drummer Steve Adler’s involvement.
Finally, after months of speculation, Stradlin has confirmed that he is not currently participating in the reunion.
“At this point in time, I’ve no involvement in the upcoming April 2016 GNR shows,” he tweets.
https://twitter.com/IzzyStradlin999/status/701863312737210369
The guitarist also spoke to Rolling Stone via email and by phone where he elaborates a little more on the rumors.
“At this point in time, I will not be playing at any of the April 2016 GNR shows,” the guitarist said in an e-mail. “I’ve also not been in the studio recording or writing with any of the others recently. There is so much speculation, but so very little info, [that] I thought I should reach out.”
The guitarist also confirmed that he opened a Twitter account to let the fans aware of his involvement.
“I know there’s a lot of questions regarding my Twitter account,” he said in a voicemail to Rolling Stone. “But it’s me. I opened the Twitter account. There was just so much speculation going on regarding my involvement and studio recording. There’s so much misinformation, so I wanted to clarify that I’m not in the studio recording with any of the Guns N’ Roses guys. At this point in time, I’m not involved in the actual shows … A lot of stuff [fans] are reading isn’t true.”
GNR’s camp has not responded to comment as of press time. Adler’s involvement still remains a mystery, but rumors have circulated that he will have limited involvement as plans are finalized for a larger tour.