Former Guns N' Roses manager Alan Niven has claimed that frontman Axl Rose now collects 50% of the band's income. Niven was speaking with Appetite For Distortion, the Guns N' Roses-themed podcast hosted by Brando Weissle.
"It's a control thing with Axl," says Niven. "Here's another little snapshot that is illuminating and goes to forming a correct perception. Axl takes 50% of the income of Guns N' Roses now. 50%, okay? That, to me, is anathema. He is not Guns N' Roses.
"They were five individuals. It was a chemistry. It was a moment. But Axl wants to be in control of everything all the time. And look what that gets you. A boring solo record and a shitty thing of punk covers. And that's it."
Niven is presumably referring to the last two Guns N' Roses albums, 1993's covers album, "The Spaghetti Incident?", and 2008's famously long-awaited Chinese Democracy.
This isn't the first time Niven – who managed Guns N’ Roses from 1986 to 1991 and oversaw their chaotic rise to prominence – has criticised Axl Rose.
"I have no hope of, or interest in, a new Guns N’ Roses album," he told Classic Rock in 2022. "The tantrums of youth look absurd on a 60-year-old. It’s a shame they have been creatively impotent since 1991."
Alan Niven's book Sound N' Fury: Rock N' Roll Stories is published on June 24 and can be pre-ordered now.
Guns N' Roses' Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour kicks off at Songdo Moonlight Park in Incheon, South Korea, on May 1. Full dates below.
Guns N' Roses Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour 2025
May 01: Incheon Songdo Moonlight Park, South Korea
May 05: Yokohama K Arena, Japan
May 10: Taoyuan Sunlight Arena, Taiwan
May 13: Bangkok Thunderdome Stadium, Thailand
May 17: Mumbai Mahalaxmi Racecourse, India
May 23: Riyadh Kingdom Arena, Saudi Arabia
May 27: Abu Dhabi Etihad Arena, UAE
May 30: Shekvetili Parka, Georgia^
Jun 02: Istanbul Tüpraş Stadyumu, Turkey^
Jun 06: Coimbra Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, Portugal^
Jun 09: Barcelona Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Spain
Jun 12: Florence Firenze Rocks, Italy*^
Jun 15: Hradec Kralove Rock For People, Czech Republic*^
Jun 18: Dusseldorf Merkur Spiel-Arena, Germany^
Jun 20: Munich Allianz Arena, Germany^
Jun 23: Birmingham Villa Park, UK
Jun 26: London Wembley Stadium, UK
Jun 29: Aarhus Eskelunden, Denmark+
Jul 02: Trondheim Granåsen Ski Centre, Norway+
Jul 04: Stockholm Strawberry Aren, Sweden+
Jul 07: Tampere Ratina Stadium, Finland+
Jul 10: Kaunas Darius and Girėnas Stadium, Lithuania+
Jul 12: Warsaw PGE Nardowy, Poland+
Jul 15: Budapest Puskás Aréna, Hungary+
Jul 18: Belgrade Ušće Park, Serbia+
Jul 21: Sofia Vasil Levski Stadium, Bulgaria+
Jul 24: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadion, Austria#
Jul 28: Luxembourg Open Air, Luxembourg#
Jul 31: Wacken Festival, Germany*
* = Festival appearance
+ = with Public Enemy
^ = with Rival Sons
# = with Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter
