Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum recently sat down for an interview with the “Legends: Podcast,” during which he was asked about the band’s reunion with guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. Sorum, who was fired from Guns N’ Roses in 1997 following an argument with frontman Axl Rose, admitted that he has yet to see the reunited lineup perform live.
“No, I haven’t got the invite. ‘Hey, come watch the band.’ I’m, like, ‘Eh, I don’t think so.’ [Laughs],” Sorum said during the May 2024 interview.
“They invited me to come play [with them as a guest], and I declined. I didn’t think it made sense to go play — what? — two songs and then do what? I mean, I play music. I play with musicians,” he added.
“So that’s cool. Whatever they’re doing is cool. I’m still living this vagabond dream of journeyman. I kind of like where I’m at as far as taking twists and turns…”
Speaking about how he is a member of ZZ Top frontman Billy Gibbons’ solo band, Sorum continued:
“Being in the realm of Billy, I’m, like, I can die and go to heaven. I always look at that, like, well, if I was doing [the Guns N’ Roses reunion], I wouldn’t be able to do this. And this wouldn’t have happened. And this wouldn’t have happened over here. And I wouldn’t have time for my kid. So all those things in my mind are, like, ‘I’m where I’m supposed to be.’ And I say that. People go, ‘It’s bullshit. You need to be in the band.’ I’m, like, well, I’ll be honest in the beginning, it was a little weird. I’m, like, ‘Okay, well, it’s a reunion. Okay, well, make it a reunion.’ But it didn’t go that way. So, I’m much more at peace with it than I was in the very beginning. I’ll be honest.”
“A guy that called me and actually talked to me about it was Ringo [Starr of The Beatles]. And he said, ‘You didn’t get invited to the party.’ I said, ‘No, I didn’t get invited to the party.’ And you’ll know this, being a person, if you don’t get invited to a party, I mean, come on — it’s gonna sting a little bit. It’s like I didn’t get invited to the party. [Laughs] But he told me a story about him and John [Lennon] and Paul [McCartney]. And I’m, like, ‘Is he actually saying…? He’s talking about John Lennon. This is crazy.’ That right there said to me, the universe is on my side. I’m on the phone with Ringo talking about not being invited to the party. That shit, I’m, like, bing!”
In a separate interview with radio station 107.7 The Bone, Sorum echoed a similar sentiment about the Guns N’ Roses reunion, saying: “In the beginning, it was a little weird. I was, like, I didn’t even get a call [asking me to be a part of it]. But now I look at it different. I look at it like how I explained before: I’m not supposed to be there. I got a child. I got a beautiful wife. The old me, the old Matt, the old guy, if I got up there, I don’t know what would happen to me. I don’t know.”
“I still get a lot of accolades and I always get these weird fringe benefits — still, 30 years later,” he said. “I have businesses because of it. I do other things philanthropically. I’m able to put the word out because I’m the guy from that band. ‘Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Guns N’ Roses drummer has charity for kids,’ it gets press because I’m the guy from that band, and played on the records and some of the songs — a lot of the songs. So, all that being said, I’m in a really good place. So, what’s happening with me now is I’ve got a lot of businesses and philanthropic work and then I do [my all-star rock collective] Kings of Chaos for fun.”
