Duff McKagan addresses ‘punk rock guilt’ after Guns N’ Roses success

Duff McKagan, bassist of Guns N’ Roses, recently opened up about the “punk rock guilt” he experienced upon finding mainstream success with the band. In an interview with Stereogum, McKagan discussed the internal conflict he faced as a punk rocker from Seattle’s underground scene who suddenly achieved widespread popularity.

McKagan stated, “It wasn’t easy. It was kind of mind fucking blowing. You go through life, and nobody recognises you in a grocery store, why would they? And then suddenly, people are looking at you at the grocery store, because you’re on the cover of Rolling Stone, where they have the magazines right by the checkout stands. And you’re plastered across, and they’ve seen your video, like you said, every 20 minutes. And that kind of being recognised, it was mind-blowing.”

He acknowledged the existence of “punk rock guilt,” saying, “I had punk rock guilt, that’s an actual thing. But then I realised, nobody gave any of this to me. I worked my ass off for this thing. I don’t know how to deal with it. Yeah, and it took me many years to learn how to ‘deal with it.’ The popularity and all that stuff. I understand it now. I totally do, because I have people like that. I’m a fan of rock people. So I get it. I totally get it. But there’s no manual that tells you what to do. There wasn’t a how-to-video.”

When asked if his guilt stemmed from concerns about his Seattle acquaintances’ perceptions, McKagan responded, “No, it wasn’t that so much, because my friends were stoked, happy, the first ones to tell me. But it was… there’s plenty of other good, great players too, it’s almost like, ‘Why was it me? Because that band over there….’ it was that kind of thing, right? But in my case, what kind of alleviated that was a lot of my friends from Seattle, their bands started to just, about two years later, break through. So I’m like, ‘Okay, Soundgarden, Kim and Chris. They’re breaking. So okay. Now I feel alright. Now things are becoming even. Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam… Mike McCready finally got his. He’s a good player.’ He was one of the guys. I felt guilty, like, ‘How come not him,’ you know?”

McKagan had previously noted that success did not change him as an individual but rather altered how people perceived him, stating, “When we started to break through was so crazy. You start to break through, and then really break through. It was so crazy. People ask, ‘How has this changed you?’ Around ’89, I remember getting asked questions I’d never been asked before. ‘How has this changed you?’; everybody asked me the same question. And I thought about it. I realised it didn’t change me; it changed how people responded to me.”

Following the successful release of his third solo album Lighthouse in October 2023, Duff McKagan has announced a European tour for October 2024. Kicking off from Dublin, the series of shows will see the iconic musician play in 15 cities in 11 countries.