In a recent interview with Appetite for Distortion, Dave Kushner looked back on his time with Velvet Revolver. The rocker recalled how Scott Weiland was always late to the shows.
“Everyone has problems in their life, things they deal with,” he said. “And sometimes, people think, ‘Oh, what are you complaining about? Because you’re in a big rock band, and you’re making money.’ But quality problems are still problems. Like when you’re sitting in a room at a venue, and you’re wondering where your singer is, and there’s people booing. Those guys went through it in GN’R too, from what I hear.”
Looking back, Kushner noted that Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum had similar problems with Axl Rose: “I would just be like, ‘God, I can’t believe these guys have to deal with this again,’” he recalled feeling sorry about the matter. “Like, I remember thinking that sometimes when we were waiting, I would just be like, ‘These poor guys, man. I’m going through it for the first time, but these four guys are going through it all over again.’”
Throughout his career, Weiland dealt with many things, including financial issues, divorce, and substance addiction. In addition to these, Kushner and Doug Grean had suggested that paranoia about Guns N’ Roses reforming added to these issues. However, this wasn’t the case.
“No, I don’t think so,” Velvet Revolver director Rocco Guarino responded in another interview when asked about the matter. “He never said anything to me about being worried about [Guns N’ Roses] reforming because, man, we were at the height. I don’t know what the hell Axl was doing, but I don’t think he was doing that much in 2002, ’03, ’04, ’05 dates. Maybe he works, I don’t know.”
“[He wasn’t] concerned about Guns N’ Roses, whatever you wanna call it, which was Axl and his buddies. No, that wasn’t really an issue,” he added.
After Weiland’s death, Slash mentioned that he never planned to fully revive Velvet Revolver, even though the band did have a reunion benefit show in 2012.
Following Weiland’s passing, a full Velvet Revolver reunion seemed unlikely. However, the band members did come together for a single, ‘Judgement Day,’ with Kings of Chaos later.