Def Leppard Guitarist Phil Collen Calls Guns N’ Roses Reunion ‘Really F—ing Lame’
It sounds like Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen is not in the market for Guns N' Roses reunion show tickets.
Plenty of GNR fans were thrilled to hear the news that frontman Axl Rose was welcoming back former members Slash and Duff McKagan for a round of live dates this year, but when the subject came up during a recent interview with the Daily Telegraph, Collen offered a strongly dissenting point of view, dismissing the whole idea as "really f---ing lame."
Which is not to say that Collen dislikes the band's music or its members — quite the contrary, in fact. "I love Guns N’ Roses, I think they’re really cool, I’d love to see Slash and Axl and Duff play together," he insisted. "That’s great."
The problem, as Collen sees it, is that a band that's allowed personality conflicts to completely alter its course over the past 20 years can command reportedly outrageous guarantees simply by agreeing to get back onstage together again. Meanwhile, bands that have stayed together for years — like Def Leppard, for example — are left feeling taken for granted. "I think it’s f---ing lame considering we’ve been hardcore," continued Collen. "Our integrity’s still intact, we’ve never split up. We’ve gone through if someone had a little sniffle or something, we soldier on."
During their time together, Def Leppard have been through far worse than sniffles. "Someone dies, someone loses an arm, someone gets cancer, we soldier on," said Collen. With Guns N’ Roses, "if someone has a little barney backstage, they can’t deal with each other. I know it’s difficult, but I do think it’s pretty lame when you compare anyone else to us."
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