Duff McKagan reflects on his childhood, songwriting, why he’s called “Duff,” and his recent solo albums.
At one point, Guns N’ Roses was known as “the most dangerous band in the world.” They were mostly a danger to themselves, with drug and alcohol problems being well publicized.
The band’s image and attitude lived up to “Reckless Life,” the opening track on their 1986 EP Live ?!★@ Like a Suicide. At 6 foot 3 inches, McKagan loomed large over his bandmates with long blond hair, black streaks, a black bike jacket, a Harley Davidson t-shirt, and sunglasses.
Michael “Duff” McKagan recently celebrated being sober for 30 years and is now a committed family man. His wife, Susan Holmes McKagan, is a model and fashion designer, and they have two daughters, Grace and Mae Marie. During our conversation on Zoom, he talked about his Irish childhood growing up in Seattle, where he still lives today.
“The Catholic church was on the top of the hill, and everyone had huge families, so there were five Michaels born within months of each other.
You’d have five moms yelling for Michael, so my Irish grandfather named me ‘Baby’ when I was seven months old.
“I had seven older brothers and sisters calling me that nickname, and my mom didn’t want that to stick, so she called me Duff. Nobody has called me Michael since unless it’s a customer or the bank.
He added that his grandfather’s move from Cork began the family line in America. “My grandfather, John Harrington, came from Cork in 1915-ish and fought for the U.S. in World War I. As in: ‘You want to be an American kid? You can join the army.’ I still have family in Ireland, and when I go over, we meet for dinner in Dublin.
Guns N’ Roses emerged as a breath of fresh air in 1985, blending punk, hard-rock, and New York Dolls style glam in Regan’s recession-hit America. After leaving in 1997, McKagan rejoined the band in 2016 and took part in the “Not In This Lifetime” tour, which remains the ninth highest-grossing tour of all time.
Bass player McKagan, now 60, is, for many, the beating heart of the group. I asked him about the early
U.K. shows that helped break the band, explaining my uncle traveled to Newcastle City Hall in 1987 to see them perform. Even now, the sense of anticipation those early live dates with the band produced is still tangible. They appeared on the cover of Kerrang magazine in June of that year, just weeks before the release of their album Appetite For Destruction.
“We broke the U.K. first with the three nights at The Marquee with all its notoriety and played to 280 people in this small club over three nights. For us, it was the coolest thing in the world.” Duff’s estimate is modest, with many more cramming into the sweat-drenched Soho nightspot than the allowed number.
“We’d gotten semi-big,” explains Duff of the first five nights in Newcastle. “We were able to come back and do theaters. I remember we got hotel rooms; it was like, ‘this is cool.’”
He remembers, too, that there was a cool bar that sold Newcastle Brown Ale. The bartender’s accent was such that it sounded like he was saying, “[This ale] is so thick it’s got twigs in it.”
At this time, the band was mostly living together in “The Hell House” in West Hollywood, where they wrote and rehearsed.
One of the critical ingredients that gifted Appetite For Destruction its power was the creative alchemy of the five original members and the shared songwriting process.
Duff “Rose” McKagan, as his name appeared on the album’s sleeve, played a vital part in the writing of songs such as “Paradise City,” “Nightrain,” and “Welcome to the Jungle.”
Whether it’s his driving intro to “It’s So Easy,” which he co-wrote with West Arkeen, the musical notes on “Sweet Child O’Mine,” or his playing slightly behind the beat to great effect alongside Steven Adler on “Rocket Queen,” his creative spirit is all over Appetite For Destruction.
“One of the great things about Guns N’ Roses is that we learned how to be a songwriting band, and that’s not always how it goes. We would listen to each other’s ideas. If your idea didn’t work, no one took offense. Well, maybe a little bit, but it didn’t break up the band, and in the process, we would have this killer song.”
The ‘live-fast die young’ mentality almost became a reality for McKagan after a near-death experience in 1994 when he suffered acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis; it was a life-changer.
It had been a year since the band’s mostly punk covers and older songs album, The Spaghetti Incident, and Duff’s solo debut, “Believe in Me,” were released within months of each other and did poorly compared to earlier releases. McKagan was thinking about a change. At 30 years of age, he decided to put Guns N’ Roses’ classic era and the rock’ n’ roll lifestyle that went with it behind him.
He enrolled in an introductory course in finance to help him comprehend the band’s finances and “misleading” contracts. He also took up mountain biking and martial arts. Playboy hired him to write a personal finance column, and he wrote a couple of books.
“I read a lot of great authors like Cormac McCarthy, who cuts through all the fat in five words, and he will tell you the whole story and rip your heart out. “I found a new avenue expressing myself through the written word,” says McKagan.
He has always kept one foot in Seattle. On a flight home, he was one of the last to see Kurt Cobain alive. After resettling in the town where he was raised, he attended Albers School of Business and Economics. In 2011, he founded Meridian Rock, a wealth management firm for musicians.
Since he reunited with Axl Rose and Slash in Guns N’ Roses in 2016, the band has been touring on the live circuit, but its studio output has been sparse. Meanwhile, McKagan has been prolific with two strong solo albums. His songs, “Holy Water” on his 2023 Lighthouse album and “God on 10th Street” [released as a single in April 2024], show him baring more of his artistic spirit than ever before.
“I’m in touch with my maker. I can read the gospels and know about Lazarus rising from the grave, but I’m not overly religious, he says. “Holy Water” and “God on 10th” are about the disappointment factor, like preachers here in America stealing money and doing bad stuff.”
When writing a new song, McKagan will run it past Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains or Mike McCready from Pearl Jam, who is a regular visitor.
Of his new folky style of songwriting and folky ballads, he adds, “I’ve always written on acoustic guitar, but it’s just in last ten years I hold the acoustic against my chest cavity, and it tells me where to sing. I’ve written a lot of songs that way.”
I ask a final question. “Will Guns’ N’ Roses ever put out another long-player with Slash and Duff back in position?
“Whose to say we haven’t been in the studio?” McKagan answers with a wry smile. “I didn’t say it,” he adds quickly, “but I’m putting the question out there. I love recording, the creative process, and playing live shows, but that ‘a-ha moment ’ [in the studio] with Slash…. He always finds the right thing, that guy, and Axl is a master.” ♦
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