Duff McKagan Still Insists ‘Simpsons’ Beer Was Named After Him

Duff McKagan continues to insist that he inspired The Simpsons’ Duff Beer.

“So I was Duff, the King of Beers,” the Guns N’ Roses bassist explained to Stereogum. “But this is 1988, 1989 and our management, I remember they called me and said some arthouse-like cartoon wants to use your name as the beer, like a college arthouse cartoon. There weren’t any adult cartoons at this point.”

McKagan agreed and initially didn’t think much of it.

“I didn’t know about branding or anything like that, but that show took off,” he explained. “And then they started selling merch and stuff. I never went after him, but I’m like, ‘Hey, motherfuckers,’ you know?”

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This isn’t the first time McKagan has claimed he was the inspiration for the fictional beer brand. In his 2011 autobiography, the GNR rocker offered a similar tale. “When Guns N’ Roses began to break into the public consciousness, I was known as a big drinker,” he wrote. “In 1988, MTV aired a concert in which Axl introduced me — as usual — as Duff ‘The King of Beers’ McKagan. Soon after a production company working on a new animated series called me to ask if they could use the name ‘Duff’ for a brand of beer in the show.”

'The Simpsons'’ Writers Have Continually Rejected McKagan’s Claims

McKagan’s story regarding Duff beer has continually been refuted by The Simpsons’ writers. Creator Matt Groening reportedly called it “absurd,” while former showrunner Mike Reiss addressed the rumor in his book Springfield Confidential.

“We needed a name for Homer’s favorite beer, and (writer) Jay Kogen came up with Duff,” Reiss noted. “No, it was not named after Duff McKagan, bassist for Guns N’ Roses; we’d never heard of this guy. Have you?”

Despite such responses, McKagan insists his claim is real.

“I think it’s very probably business savvy of them to say that’s not true,” the bassist explained to Stereogum. “But if you just do your own math behind it, look at when they started off with the King of Beers, and I had my King of Beers belt I wore all the time.”