Last month, Slash and Duff McKagan stepped on stage at The Troubadour in Hollywood, California, to bring their old Guns N’ Roses hit, “It’s So Easy,” back to life. But nobody in the entire concert hall expected the band’s original drummer, Steven Adler, to join them in a surprise reunion, marking the trio’s first live performance together in a decade.
With the rock scene stunned to see Guns N’ Roses’ original bandmates finally back together again, fans were quick to pick up on Steven Adler’s strength in this scenario, naming him a “warrior” and the driving force behind GNR’s original sound. Music Man readers can check out the reunion in the viral video below—it’s already racked up more than 465,000 views to date!
To fully grasp what makes this recent Steven, Slash, and Duff reunion so legendary, we need to unravel a bit of Guns N’ Roses history…
Steven joined the band at its very beginning, featuring as drummer and co-writer on GNR’s first two albums: 1987’s world-renowned “Appetite For Destruction” and 1988’s “G N’ R Lies.” But things quickly fell apart during the recording of their third record, the double album “Use Your Illusion I & II.”
After leaving Guns N’ Roses, Steven formed and re-formed multiple bands including Road Crew, BulletBoys, Adler’s Appetite, and Adler – none of which managed to rise close to GNR’s legendary status. But, despite the turmoil and bitter nature of his departure from Guns N’ Roses, Steven reconnected with some of his former, original bandmates with whom he’d shot to stardom.
In 2007, Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin joined Steven on stage to mark “Appetite For Destruction”’s 20th anniversary. Three years later, Steven featured on Slash’s eponymous solo album and, two years after that, joined Slash and Duff once more for Guns N’ Roses’ induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His last appearance with the band came in 2016, and since then, fans have been itching for another reunion.
Finally, a full ten years later, Steven blessed the rock scene with his latest GNR appearance, and fans can’t believe the impact – not just on them, but on Steven himself. As one top commenter wrote beneath this recent performance, “Anyone else have a huge smile on their face the entire time they watched this? So happy to see Steven on the drums behind Slash and Duff!” Another noticed, “You can tell this means everything to Adler. I’m super happy for him.”