Expert: J.J.B - 3/6/2004

Question
hey J.J.B ,you are not at all wasting my time..in fact you were awesome, i got to know facts thanks to you.well you got me curious..whats the izzy story?

Answer
Hey Aneesh,

The story with Izzy Stradlin' leaving Guns N' Roses is as follows:

During the Use Your Illusion World Tour, Izzy became increasingly difficult to deal with, as if Axl Rose wasn't bad enough. According to Axl (so take note that his opinion would obviously be biased), Izzy was far too casual about being a rock star and seemingly 'lost his passion' for the business he was in. Apparently, Izzy failed to show up for photo shoots or rehersals held by the band during the tour, which obviously did not sit well with Axl.

On top of this problem, Izzy was not a fan of the work Axl produced for the Use Your Illusion albums. Where as Axl wanted to broaden his musical horizons and venture into different areas that were influenced primarily by Queen and Elton John (which is funny considering Axl wrote 'One In A Million',which bashes gays), Izzy thought otherwise. For Izzy, GNR was supposed to remain the hard rock band that it had originally been in the late 1980's, and he was heavily opposed to changing GNR's musical style.

Eventually, after numerous arguments and backstage altercations, Izzy quit the band (or was fired, if you want to take Axl's word). Izzy then went on to release several solo works, but they failed to make an impact on the charts.

Thanks again for all the fantastic feedback, I'm very happy I could be of assistance to you.

Take care,

JJB