The Rolling Stones’ legendary guitarist, Keith Richards, is known for his candid and often brutally honest assessments of fellow artists. While many were hailing Guns N’ Roses as one of the most prominent bands on the planet after the success of their debut album, Appetite For Destruction, in 1988, Richards had his reservations.
In spite of Richards’ opinion about the band, The Rolling Stones played a significant role in shaping the musical influences of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash. During an interview on Jonesy’s Jukebox, hosted by former Sex Pistols punk Steve Jones, Slash expressed his deep admiration for The Rolling Stones, considering their back catalogue as his “favourite music of all time”. He also singled out Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed as among his cherished albums.
“The Stones were definitely the background music to my existence for a long time – and still are. My parents were really into the Stones, too,” Slash explained. Slash and Guns N’ Roses also covered ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ for the Interview With the Vampire soundtrack. Although Richards didn’t have substantial criticisms about their musical performance and even commended their success, he did believe they could benefit from some fashion advice.
When discussing his opinion in conversation with Rolling Stone, Richards said: “I admire the fact that they’ve made it despite certain resistance from the radio biz. I admire their guts. But too much posing. Their look – it’s like there’s one out of this band, one looks like Jimmy, one looks like Ronnie. Too much copycat, too much posing for me. I haven’t listened to a whole album to be able to talk about the music.”
While Guns N’ Roses made a significant impact on the rock and roll scene in the 1980s, they clearly fell short of Richards’ definition of perfection. In his view, rock music encompasses more than just the sonic aspect. However, he did exhibit some element of self-reflection when he added: “I’m a very hard taskmaster. I know that everybody’s gonna say, ‘Oh, he’s putting everybody down.’”
Despite this, Richards later helped to keep Guns N’ Roses from disbanding during a time when Slash was struggling. While he did eventually leave the group, the advice that he received from Richards kept him in the band longer than he would have otherwise planned.
“The Stones were recording Voodoo Lounge… Keith asked me about what I was doing with Guns, and I told him the situation with Axl. Keith said, ‘You never quit,’” he told Mojo in 2009. “I thought a lot about what he said. Keith is one of the few people I look up to. (He gave me) the wherewithal to go back to rehearsal with a fresh attitude.” He added: “It kept me in there for as long as humanly possible. (Unfortunately) I was dealing with somebody who didn’t want to do anything but drag the ship down.”
