I knew from the start that it was going to be a problem with Axl in the same room with Slash. Thats why I said for me it would be fine if they didn't play just being in the same room was going to be good enough for me. This whole thing is very sad for me to watch. If Axl would just get some Counseling about his beef with Slash, it wouldn't fix all the problem between them, it would lesson the blow and maybe he would be able to live life a little better.

The biggest problem is when you hold that much anger for someone, it's stops you from living life and doing the things you like to do and should be doing. If you hold a ball under water it will take both of your hands to do it. The problem is now all your energy is being used up to hold the ball under the water, now you can't swim. Let the fuck go of the hate and swim away. This is not very healthy to harbor this shit for ever. At some point you die and fine out you wasted half of your life. Talk to someone that can help, so you can get this shit of your back and start to breath again.

the Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony doesn't appear to be somewhere I'm actually wanted or respected.

Since then we've listened to fans

Under the circumstances I feel we've been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out.

For more than a decade and a half we've endured the double standards

This letter is to help clarify things from my and my camp's perspective

had discussions with the president of the Hall Of Fame,......Under the circumstances I feel we've been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out.

Neither I or anyone in my camp has made any requests or demands of the Hall Of Fame. It's their show not mine.

along with those the Hall for reasons of their own, have chosen to include in "our" induction (that for the record are decisions I don't agree with, support or feel the Hall has any right to make

but from my perspective in regard to both the Hall and a reunion, the ball's never been in our court.

APPETITE FOR INDUCTION

Some of you may know that my band Guns N' Roses will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this weekend in Cleveland. My editor has been hoping that somehow I could write about what this whole thing is like from the "inside."

Truthfully, it has been hard for me to find a good place from which to start and write such an article, head-space wise.

We are not a band anymore, and haven't been for some time. We are all still alive and well, but there has been some muddy water that has gone underneath the bridge. But water, muddy or otherwise, does indeed flow past and forever away, and I have nothing but the best of memories and highest level of love and admiration and feelings of brotherhood with all of those dudes. Seriously.

I was sent a sort of open letter addressed to us guys in GNR from a fella named Chris Gehert on behalf of "Worldwide Guns N' Roses Fans," and it sort of stopped me short. I will run it now in its entirety

"Dear Guns N' Roses,

On Saturday April 14th 2012 you will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This gave a great hope to every GNR fan on the planet for a one time reunion show. Our one and only chance to see the original lineup on stage together again, if only for five minutes. Something we've been told for years would never happen. Rumors swirled, the band denied, and the fans prayed. It will always be okay because you never promised us anything.

With less than 2 weeks before the induction, the fans are watching as our reunion hopes start to disappear like Marty McFly's family in a polaroid picture. Each day it seems like there is some new story about how there has been no communication, nobody knows what is required of them, nobody's talking, and nobody really seems to care.

We care.

It would be easy for you to just show up, accept the induction, spend a few awkward minutes together at a podium and not talk again until somebody's funeral. But this time we need more.

We are not trying to be selfish, God knows you have given us plenty of legendary songs, spectacular shows, and classic rock moments. You are sincerely the best rock band in the history of the world. All of your solo efforts and reincarnations of the group are awesome too.

Your music has inspired billions of people. Each one of you is still a fan inside. You loved Elton John, Aerosmith, Queen, Kiss, The Misfits, ELO and more. Please remember how great it feels to see your favorite band play.

We beg you to pick up the phone, grab your instruments, drag Izzy to Cleveland and play together.

You can make music history. Please do it. Give us one more memory. We deserve it.

We will continue to support you no matter what, but at the end of each concert Axl tells the crowd to "Not take ... from anyone." And that means ANYONE!

Sincerely,

Worldwide Guns N' Roses Fans."

And to this point: The one reason that I am going to Cleveland this weekend is not to savor in some polite accolade or because an award show is that important to me. I am going because I have realized how important this is all to those many, many fans that supported us and believed in us, and showed up for us in droves.

Music is not like sports, and hence, a Hall of Fame in music is almost a false pedestal to sit upon. There are no statistics in music and art. No band or artist is "better" than another. Music comes from a primal place. Thin air. Dreams. And a lot of really hard damn work.

No one worked harder than us back then, and we were very fortunate to have met each other in those dirty back alleys of Hollywood sometime in 1984. We meshed and wrote, created thunder and beauty, and parlayed our real-life experience into an album that somehow related to a whole angsty world that felt just like us right then and there. It was a brilliant time.

I, too, now hope that we can just play a couple of songs there, and just sort of throw the microphone down on the stage and walk off. The rock-and-roll world would be set ablaze once again ... and we could make a bunch of fans happy and sated to some degree.

But alas, I am only responsible for me, and can only speak for me. I have forgiven and forgotten. I have grown up and manned up. Part of me growing has been to realize I am powerless over others.

This whole deal, I hope, goes off without a hitch. I do hope we can achieve some grace in our acceptance. And I hope this grace, is enough, in the end, for the best rock and roll fans in the world. The Guns N' (f---ing) Roses fans.

-- Duff