Ron really cared for his dad. He said old man Thal had Alzheimer's, and I recall Ron being down at one point during the '06 tour; his dad's health had apparently taken a turn for the worse.

Glad he wasn't on the other side of the world during his dad's final days.

No other reason, Dougie? Not one?

GN'R's management company, Big F D Entertainment (headed up by Doug Goldstein) is suing former bandmembers Slash (Saul Hudson) and Duff McKagan (Michael McKagan) for what Big F D says are monies owed, according to papers dated December 14 and filed in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The suit claims that the pair is in debt to the company to the tune of at least $400,000.

Slash's lawyer, Zia Modabber, told MTV News that the guitarist's contract with Goldstein ended some time ago and that the manager isn't owed anything. The lawyer added that Slash intends to vigorously defend himself in court.

The filed documents include a copy of Goldstein's contract, which covers not only the bandmembers' work with GN'R, but also the individual members' solo projects. The contract appears to be valid for either a term of three-years or until the last day of the next GN'R tour cycle, which ever comes last. The three-year period appears to have started in October of 1992 and ended in October of 1995.

Note that according to the contract, Dougie got paid for the Snakepit album, among others. Conveniently, Slash was called back from the road in around July 1995, because Axl was "ready to begin working on the next Guns N' Roses record". Only it took another year for Ax to get started - while Dougie's earnings on Snakepit were about to lapse. No reason to keep the man on the tour, just promise Geffen a new album and get him back, announce him Axl's leaving the partnership and begin legal wrangling.

...The key issue apparently lies with the definition and timeline of the term "tour cycle." Big F D legal counsel Bert Deixler told MTV News there's a new Guns N' Roses record on the way (presumably "Chinese Democracy," the project Axl Rose first mentioned to MTV News' Kurt Loder in November of last year) that will give rise to a GN'R tour, and that when that tour is over, the contract will expire. - MTV, 01/04/00

You come out looking like a greedy bastard and woe that those guys dislike you.

Sure, Dougie.

John L. Reese (born 1961) is a Phoenix-born music executive who got started in the music industry by owning a concert security company in Phoenix. That led to Guns N' Roses manager Doug Goldstein hiring him to become the band's tour manager for their 1989 Los Angeles Coliseum concerts with the Rolling Stones, then as the tour manager for the massive Use Your Illusion Tours and then as a partner and personal manager with Big FD Entertainment, representing a number of artists including Guns N' Roses, The Stone Roses, Blind Melon and many more. - Wikipedia

John Reese single-handedly lied to Slash and Duff, papers at hand, without telling Axl and Doug he was leveraging on Axl not showing up on stage to get the signatures. I can so see that... not.

Not exactly.

Another one of Bucket's drummer buddies, Josh Freese, had the gig when he came on. After Freese left, Bucket seized the moment and recommended Brain to Axl.

Read it here.