Richard Fortus on 'intense, focused' Guns N' Roses rehearsals

Richard Fortus
Richard Fortus (Image credit: Getty)

Guitarist Richard Fortus says he’s rehearsed more with Guns N’ Roses in the past year than the previous 14 years.

The axeman left his role in the Dead Daisies alongside keyboard player Dizzy Reed in January to join Guns N’ Roses at their Las Vegas and Coachella comeback shows – before they later announced their Not In This Lifetime world tour.

He tells Gretsch: “I’ve rehearsed more in this last year with that band than I have in the previous 14 years put together. It’s been really intense, and very focused, and a great learning experience, as well as a great honour to play with those guys.”

Last year, Fortus said the band would release new material for the first time since 2008’s full-length Chinese Democracy. Axl Rose later confirmed he’d presented his Guns N’ Roses bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan with new material.

Meanwhile, a guitar played by Slash during the early days of Guns N’ Roses is expected to fetch up to $80,000 at auction this week.

Guns N’ Roses are currently touring South America.

Guns N Roses Not In This Lifetime tour 2016⁄2017

South America

Nov 04: Buenos Aires River Plate Stadium, Argentina
Nov 08: Porto Alegre Estadio Beira-Rio, Brazil
Nov 11: Sao Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Nov 12: Sao Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Nov 15: Rio de Janeiro TBC, Brazil
Nov 17: Curitiba Pedreira Paulo Leminski, Brazil
Nov 20: Brasilia Estadio Nacional, Brazil
Nov 23: Medellin Estadio Atanasio Girardot, Colombia
Nov 26: San Jose Estadio Nacional, Costa Rica

Japan

Jan 21: Osaka Kyocera Dome,
Jan 28: Tokyo Saitama Super Arena
Jan 29: Tokyo Saitama Super Arena

Australia

Feb 07: Brisbane QSAC Stadium
Feb 10: Sydney ANZ Stadium
Feb 14: Melbourne Cricket Ground
Feb 18: Adelaide Oval
Feb 21: Perth Domain Stadium

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Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.