ABC/Travis Bell
ABC/Travis BellFoo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins has revealed that he was offered a chance to audition for Guns N’ Roses.
Speaking to LouderSound.com, Hawkins recalls getting a call from GN’R’s management while the Foos were on tour in support of their 1999 album, There Is Nothing Left to Lose.
“Axl [Rose] was trying to get together a new version of Guns N’ Roses, and I think he was checking around for people,” he says. “They wanted to know if I would come in and try out or whatever. It was kind of otherworldly.”
Hawkins, who had just joined the Foos in 1997 after drumming in Alanis Morissette‘s band, eventually decided to turn down the offer, thanks to some advice from Queen drummer Roger Taylor.
Taylor told him a story about how, in the early ’70s, he was offered a spot in a new band with Mott the Hoople‘s Ian Hunter and David Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson. Ultimately, Taylor decided to stick with Queen — which had not yet blown up into giant stars — based on his chemistry with Freddie Mercury and Brian May.
“[Taylor] said, ‘I see you and Dave [Grohl] onstage and there’s something you can’t buy there,” Hawkins remembers. “‘There’s something between you guys that might not be there with Axl Rose.’ And he was right.'”
Hawkins could’ve probably asked for Grohl’s advice, too. Following Kurt Cobain‘s death, Grohl was offered the drummer’s spot in his favorite band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but turned that down to start his own project, which eventually became Foo Fighters.
While Guns N’ Hawkins never came to fruition, GN’R bassist Duff McKagan is featured on Get the Money, the new album from Hawkins’ side band The Coattail Riders.
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