UPDATED: Guns N’ Roses (Well, Axl Rose and Slash, Anyway) Reportedly to Reunite for 25 Dates Including Coachella
UPDATED, 12/31: The New York Times is likewise confirming a Coachella date for Guns N' Roses, again relying on anonymous sources. The report also says Axl Rose "is expected to make an announcement about the future of Guns N’ Roses on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' next week."
ORIGINAL STORY, 12/29: The latest anonymously sourced Guns N' Roses reunion rumor involves a possible 25-concert tour featuring a stop at Coachella in 2016 – but may be just as interesting for what it doesn't say.
Billboard, in a new report discussing the possibility of this Guns N' Roses tour, references it only as a new collaboration between co-founders Axl Rose and Slash. Most of the conjecture involving the band over the last few months has centered on a homecoming that also included Duff McKagan from the classic-era lineup.
Coachella is set for the weekends of April 15-17 and 22-24 in Indio, Calif. Billboard quotes multiple sources as saying Guns N' Roses will appear, perhaps as one of the initial groups to play the new Las Vegas Arena. That venue opens earlier in April. The tour would reportedly focus on North American football stadiums next summer, with tickets in the $250-$275 range.
Guns N' Roses have been hinting at a big announcement in the last days, updating their web site with older editions of the band logo and running cryptic teaser ads before major motion pictures like Star Wars. Still, reps from the band, Coachella and AEG – the company that operates the Las Vegas Arena – either could not be reached or did not immediately comment.
These would mark the first concerts featuring both Axl Rose and Slash since July 17, 1993, when Guns N' Roses played River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires. The band, which now only features Rose from its best-known albums, most recently mounted a major tour in 2014. That included dates in South America and at the Joint in Vegas.
Appetite for Destruction, their 1987 blockbuster debut, sold more than 18 million copies in the U.S. alone on the strength of the Billboard No. 1 hit "Sweet Child O' Mine." Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler were also featured.
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