Band members straddling multiple groups has become an issue for several bands when both go on tour. Therefore it's always nice to have someone who already knows all of your tracks ready to step in. Current Guns N' Roses bassist Tommy Stinson is being forced to take a leave of absence from the band, and the natural replacement is original four-stringer Duff McKagan.
Stinson got his start as a member of The Replacements, a band that had been broken up since 1991 until its reformation during 2012. In other words, the bassist didn't have anything else on his schedule until recently, and the Guns' forthcoming tour in South America conflicted with that of his original group.
"I had those Replacement shows come up the same time the tour came up, and it got to be a scheduling issue right out of the gate," Stinson said. "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 amiable to the idea and was into doing it. So I'm like, 'Thanks dude, for covering my a-- on this one.'"
The original Guns N' Roses lineup split less than amiably during the mid-'90s, leaving vocalist Axl Rose with a new assembly of musicians forming the band. McKagan has been more friendly with Rose than most of his cohorts in recent years, having performed with the band once during 2010, and McKagan's band Loaded opened for the Guns during its 2011 tour, occasionally appearing onstage with the Guns for stints during the show. So don't expect this brief run of shows to indicate anything bigger, like Slash's return.
McKagan will perform with the Guns N' Roses in Paraguay, Bolivia, Argentina and Brazil while Stinsons' Replacements play at Coachella.
