Duff Rose McKagan, geboren als Michael Andrew McKagan (Seattle, 5 februari 1964) is een Amerikaanse muzikant die vooral bekend is geworden als bassist van Guns N' Roses, momenteel speelt hij bij de groep Velvet Revolver.
Voordat Duff bij Guns N' Roses aan de slag ging speelde hij in tal van andere bands, waaronder The Fastbacks, Ten Minute Warning en The Fartz. Via een advertentie in de krant ontmoette hij Slash en Steven Adler van de groep Road Crew. Later zou hij met hen en met Axl Rose en Izzy Stradlin de 'originele' line-up van Guns N' Roses vormen.Aan zijn manier van spelen is duidelijk te zien dat Duff vooral geïnspireerd is door de punk (zijn basgitaar hangt bijvoorbeeld vrij laag en hij speelt met een plectrum voor het harde Punk-geluid). Hij is eveneens een grote fan van Sid Vicious van The Sex Pistols.
In 1993 begon hij aan zijn solocarrière wat resulteerde in het album Believe In Me. Hij speelde eveneens mee in Slash' Snakepit en in een aantal andere bands met wisselend succes. Begin 1998 verliet Duff Guns N' Roses nadat ook de andere leden de groep hadden verlaten omdat ze ofwel ontslagen waren door Axl Rose ofwel meningsverschillen met hem hadden.
Sinds 2002 speelt Duff weer samen met Slash en Matt Sorum in de groep Velvet Revolver nadat ze erachter kwamen dat ze het toch nog wel leuk vonden met elkaar te spelen. Ze besloten weer bij elkaar te komen.
Duff heeft onlangs een groep opgericht: Duff Mckagan's Loaded.
In maart 2010 duiken geruchten op dat Duff zich zou hebben aangesloten bij de herenigde Jane's Addiction. Of hij permanent lid zal worden valt te bezien. Duff helpt wel mee aan het schrijven van nieuw materiaal voor de band.
English.
Michael Andrew "Duff" "Rose" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), is an American musician and writer who is best known for his thirteen-year tenure in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He is currently the bassist for supergroup Velvet Revolver while he is also the lead vocalist and guitarist for his own solo project Duff McKagan's Loaded, and a weekly columnist for SeattleWeekly.com. He also writes a weekly financial column for Playboy.com called Duffonomics.
In April 2010, McKagan became a member of Jane's Addiction, having replaced Eric Avery, recording and performing live with the group before departing in September of the same year.
Guns N' Roses (1985-1997)
Main article: Guns N' Roses
From the wreckage of the bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin joined Tracii Guns, Ole Beich, and Rob Gardner to form Guns N' Roses. Initially formed to meet booked gigs for the disbanded acts, the new line-up was finalized on June 6, 1985. McKagan became the band's bassist, replacing Beich, and after two days of rehearsal, the newly formed group played their debut gig as GN'R on a Thursday night at the Troubadour. As with rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, McKagan also had his crack at handling lead vocals on GN'R songs such as Use Your Illusion II's "So Fine" and a handful of songs off of the cover album The Spaghetti Incident?, including live favorite "Attitude", originally by Misfits.
He brought his punk rock influences to the group, being a huge fan of Sex Pistols, Ramones, and The Clash. He cites Paul Simonon of The Clash as his favourite bassist, and is also particularly fond of Sid Vicious.
Adler and Izzy departed the band in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Meanwhile, in 1990, McKagan and Slash co-wrote and played a few songs on Iggy Pop's "Brick by Brick."
Believe in Me (1993)
Main article: Believe in Me (album)
After a half-hearted attempt at drug rehabilitation, he kick-started a solo career with 1993's Believe in Me. The album was a project in which McKagan played almost every instrument on every song.
Recovery
On May 10, 1994, McKagan became seriously ill due to his pancreas swelling to the size of a football (due to acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis). He had tried to curb his drinking and drug habits, by giving up cocaine and vodka, and switching to wine and lite beer. At his home in Seattle, he had fallen out of bed onto the floor and been unable to get up. McKagan experienced sharp pains in his stomach. He managed to call a close friend, and was taken to Northwest Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle, WA.
McKagan's swollen pancreas had leaked digestive enzymes into his body, giving him third degree burns in the lower parts of his body. His doctors did not operate right away, but instead McKagan was monitored for a few days. If an operation took place, McKagan would have had to spend the rest of his life on dialysis. The swelling went down, and McKagan had learned a harsh lesson. The doctors told him that if he did not stop drinking, he would be dead within a month, so he decided to get sober
Loaded (1999-2002, 2008-present)
Main article: Loaded (band)
The original line up of Loaded was Duff McKagan on bass and vocals, Dez Cadena, of Black Flag fame, on guitar, Michael Barragan, formerly of Plexi, on guitar, and Taz Bentley, formerly of The Reverend Horton Heat, on drums. They put out the live record, Episode 1999: Live, due to McKagan's second solo record, Beautiful Disease, becoming lost in the legal shuffle when Geffen and Interscope Records merged and McKagan was dropped from the roster of the "new combined" label. He had lost all commercial rights to release the record. The group soon disbanded with McKagan and Bentley becoming part of Izzy Stradlin's rhythm section for his tour of Japan supporting Ride On.
In 2000, McKagan reformed Loaded, remaining as the lead vocalist but switching to rhythm guitar, adding drummer Geoff Reading, of New American Shame and Green Apple Quick Step, guitarist Mike Squires, of Harvey Danger and Nevada Bachelors, and bassist Jeff Rouse, of Alien Crime Syndicate. Although both Squires and Rouse joined after the recording of debut album Dark Days, Dave Dederer formerly of The Presidents of the United States of America took up recording duties for the album, this would remain the main lineup of Loaded until 2009.
In 2002, while on tour, both Squires and Rouse left Loaded to join the reformed Alien Crime Syndicate, former Wasted Youth and Electric Love Hogs guitarist Dave Kushner and former Asva and Burning Witch bassist George Stuart Dahlquist were brought in to replace them. McKagan and Kushner went on to form Velvet Revolver, putting Loaded on hiatus.
In 2008 Loaded returned with Squires and Rouse returning to the group. They recorded a new album and released Sick in 2009, they also released the EP Wasted Heart months earlier in 2008. They have since toured with Mötley Crüe and Black Stone Cherry. In 2009, Geoff Reading departed the band with Isaac Carpenter, formerly of Gosling, Loudermilk and The Exies joining the group as his replacement. They plan to record and release a new album in 2010.
Velvet Revolver (2002-present)
Main article: Velvet Revolver
Since April 2002, McKagan has played bass guitar for the group Velvet Revolver together with ex-Guns N' Roses' members, Slash and Matt Sorum, as well as guitarist Dave Kushner and former Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. Their debut album Contraband was released in 2004 and peaked at the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The group's second album, entitled Libertad, was released on July 3, 2007. McKagan toured with the band, until Singer Scott Weiland left the band on April 1, 2008, to reunite with Stone Temple Pilots.
Jane's Addiction (2010)
Following the departure of bassist Eric Avery, McKagan began writing with Jane's Addiction with a picture of the group working together posted on Navarro's twitter page. It was confirmed by Dave Navarro on his Dark Matter radio programme that McKagan had indeed joined Jane's Addiction on a permanent basis.[26]
On joining Jane's Addiction, McKagan stated:
“ Something like a chance to write, record, and perhaps even perform with a band of the quality of Jane's Addiction does not come around every day. I have a lot of respect for this band and the guys in it. The music that we have been writing is an extension of that mutual respect. [...] I have been a huge fan of Eric Avery since the mid-'80s, when I would go to see them play at clubs down in Los Angeles. This is not, in my mind, about me replacing him, in any way shape or form. [...] Perry Farrell is an absolute visionary. Dave Navarro has always been a guitar player who I have had a lot of respect for. Playing in a rhythm section with Stephen Perkins is almost trance-like. Kick-ass for sure. I also want to make it clear to Jane's Addiction fans that I really appreciate all of the kind words and sentiment directed to me. ”
The new lineup of Jane's Addiction made their debut, performing at singer Perry Farrell's 51st birthday celebration, at Les Deux in Los Angeles, California on March 30.
In April, the group announced two European dates, scheduled for June, taking place at the GelreDome, in Arnhem, Netherlands, and an appearance at the Rock in Rio in Madrid, Spain. Preceding these shows in Europe was a one-off Cinco de Mayo concert that took place at the Bardot in Hollywood, California on Wednesday, May 5. During the show, they debuted a new song titled "Soulmate".
On September 6, it was announced that Jane's Addiction had parted ways with McKagan. In a statement, the band commented: "We wanted to thank Duff for helping us write songs for our new record,” the band said via email. “We love the songs we worked on with him — and the gigs were a blast — but musically we were all headed in different directions. From here Duff is off to work on his own stuff so we wish him all the best
Duff Mckagan's Loaded- Flatline