1992. MTV Video Music Awards. Guns N’ Roses are about to hit the stage to perform “November Rain.” But Kurt Cobain has other ideas. Deep in a feud with Axl Rose, the Nirvana frontman decided to bring Axl down a peg or two by leaving multiple loogeys across his piano just before the performance. Regrettably, Kurt had unknowingly targeted Elton John’s piano, who was due to perform with Guns N’ Roses. Luckily, eagle-eyed roadies saved the day and managed to clean up the biohazard with moments to spare.
The band and Elton then delivered a timeless rendition of Guns’ greatest ballad. Elton and Axl really brought the emotion with their poignant opening piano duet. Guns N’ Roses were firing on all cylinders here, as the third classic lineup of the band was really a force to be reckoned with. The smile Axl gives at 4:12 and again at 5:24 as Slash nails his solos says it all. The Music Man has to say we could listen to this version of Gunners all day!
A fan channel recently uploaded an HD version of the September 9, 1992 MTV performance to YouTube. Viewers loved to be reminded of an era where the Music part of MTV meant something, and added comments such as “Just a masterful performance of a masterpiece. Short run at the top for them but they are one of the best of all time” and “The smile from Axl, when Slash is playing his guitar.”
The 1992 lineup of Guns N’ Roses left a number of gems for us to enjoy. One of the highlights was their cut of “Don’t Cry” at the Tokyo Dome. The Use Your Illusion tour was the final run of the classic era of the band, but boy did they go out with a bang. The way Axl and Slash masterfully build up the tension slowly over the course of the song before unloading with raw power shows why they were the greatest hard rock band on the planet at that point.
The 1992 lineup of Guns N’ Roses featured mainstays Axl Rose (vocals), Slash (lead guitar), and Duff McKagan (bass). This core lineup was bolstered by the newer members Matt Sorum (drums), Gilby Clarke (rhythm guitar), and Dizzy Reed (keyboards). The Music Man has to say this lineup shared incredible chemistry, in particular between Gilby and Slash, as well as Matt and Duff on the rhythm section. Unfortunately, the lineup did not last all that long. Axl was increasingly tightening his grip on the creative and personnel aspects of the band and went on to fire Gilby and Matt in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Slash and Duff quit of their own accord in 1996 and 1997. The trio of Axl, Slash, and Duff would reunite 20 years later in 2016 and have continued to perform together.