Powerhouse rock icons GUNS N’ ROSES have returned today with two brand new singles. Marking their first new music release since 2023, “Nothin'” and “Atlas” find the long-running band still at the height of their powers, showcasing two different sides of their personality. “Atlas” is GN’R in full surging rock mode, while “Nothin'” grows more introspective over floaty keys and an emotive guitar. Both songs are available today via Interscope Records.
GUNS N’ ROSES have steadily been releasing new material in recent years in conjunction with their sold-out tours across the globe. Following 2023’s “The General” and “Perhaps”, “Atlas” and “Nothin'” join as vital additions to setlists otherwise featuring all the classic hits and deep cut fan favorites from GN’R‘s early catalogue. On December 12, “Nothin'” and “Atlas” will be available for pre-order on seven-inch vinyl, a GUNS N’ ROSES store-exclusive cassette and a Japan-exclusive SHM-CD.
In a recent interview with Guitar World magazine, GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash once again hinted that a new full-length album from the band is on the way. He said: “There’s so much material at this point — it’s a matter of having the discipline to sit down and fucking get into it. But the thing with GUNS is, in my experience, you can never plan ahead. You can never sit down and go, ‘We’re going to take this time, and we’re going to do this.’ Every time we’ve done that, it falls apart. It just spontaneously happens through some sort of inspiration that triggers it. And the next thing you know, it’s off and running. So it’s coming. I know it’s coming because everybody is thinking about it. It’ll just happen when it happens.”
A year ago, GUNS N’ ROSES bassist Duff McKagan confirmed to SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he and his bandmates had been working on fresh material. “There’s definitely a desire and a plan for new music,” he said. “Yeah, for sure.”
GUNS N’ ROSES released a four-song EP, “Hard Skool”, in February 2022. The effort, which was exclusive to the GUNS N’ ROSES‘ official store, contained the two new songs the band released in 2021 — the title track and “Absurd” — as well as live versions of “Don’t Cry” and “You’re Crazy”.
The legendary hard rock outfit has not released a full-length effort since 2008’s “Chinese Democracy”, which included only singer Axl Rose from the band’s classic lineup. McKagan and Slash reunited with Axl in 2016 and have since released several standalone singles — “Absurd” (stylized as “ABSUЯD”),“Hard Skool”, “Perhaps” and “The General” — but have not made any announcements about another LP.
In June 2024, Duff was asked during an appearance on SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” if he thinks GUNS N’ ROSES will ever release more “newly written music” again as opposed to continuing to rework and put out previously composed songs. The GN’R bassist responded: “Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. There’s new material. I don’t know how we’re gona put it out. I think that’s a question too. Like, do you put out a record? Do you just keep putting out singles? I don’t know what the right answer is there in this day and age.”
If and when it happens, the new GUNS N’ ROSES studio album will be the first under the GUNS banner since “Chinese Democracy” and the first to feature Slash, Rose and bassist Duff McKagan since 1993.
Written by Rose and co-produced by Rose and Caram Costanzo, “Hard Skool”, which had the working title “Jackie Chan”, was originally recorded during GN’R‘s “Chinese Democracy” era but was eventually omitted from that album. Short clips of the song were later posted online and a full version was leaked in August 2019.
“Absurd” came out on August 6, 2021, three days after GUNS N’ ROSES performed the tune live for the first time during its concert at Boston’s Fenway Park.
GUNS N’ ROSES last performed “Silkworms”, which was also reportedly written during the “Chinese Democracy” sessions, in 2001.
“The General” was the B-side of GUNS N’ ROSES‘ limited-edition seven-inch vinyl single titled “Perhaps”, which was made available for pre-order in August 2023.
Like “Perhaps”, “Hard Skool” and “Absurd”, “The General” was written during the sessions for the “Chinese Democracy” album. It was previously talked about by ex-GN’R drummer Bryan “Brain” Mantia, who reportedly wrote some of the song’s music and gave it its title, and former SKID ROW singer Sebastian Bach.
GUNS N’ ROSES will hit the road again in the spring and summer 2026. This tour will see GUNS N’ ROSES visit Mexico and Brazil, before headlining additional European markets, as well as stadiums across the U.S. and Canada. The upcoming run includes a special performance at Los Angeles’s Rose Bowl, marking a historic return to the venue for the first time in over 30 years.
The tour announcement came days after GUNS N’ ROSES released their deluxe “Live Era ’87-’93” boxset, a limited pressing with remastered audio and revamped art. Though “Live Era” remains a document of GN’R in their younger days, the release couldn’t be better timed: then and now, GN’R are one of the most ferocious live bands on the planet.
With previously announced appearances at festivals in Mexico, Brazil, and the U.K., the 31-date tour will feature a European leg with performances in Poland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and France, before GN’R returns to North America for a run traversing the United States and Canada.
GUNS N’ ROSES endure as the most dynamic, dangerous, and definitive American rock band in history to this day.
Embedded in popular culture, GUNS N’ ROSES‘ landmark diamond-selling 1987 opus “Appetite For Destruction” stands out as “the best-selling U.S. debut album ever” and “the 11th best-selling U.S. album of all time.” Following its release, GUNS N’ ROSES shook the world with the one-two punch of the over seven-times-platinum “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II”, clinching the top two spots on Billboard‘s Top 200 Albums chart upon arrival. With total sales of 100 million units thus far, their catalog also consists of “GN’R Lies” (five times platinum),“The Spaghetti Incident?” (platinum),“Greatest Hits” (five times platinum),and “Chinese Democracy” (over six million worldwide). Not to mention, they are one of the most-streamed rock bands in the world with an average of 27 million monthly listeners on Spotify and in May 2024 were inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame for their 1987 debut album, “Appetite For Destruction”.
On the touring front, GUNS N’ ROSES‘ legendary three-hour-plus shows encompass sought-after fan favorites in addition to newly dusted-off gems from their back catalog, leaving ardent audiences in awe. Their blockbuster 2024 world tour sold 1.3 million tickets around the world and marked the band’s largest run to date. Consisting of acclaimed performances in stadiums and arenas alike, the tour included headlining festival dates at Glastonbury and London’s Hyde Park, while the North American leg included sold-out performances at historic venues such as the Hollywood Bowl and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, as well as a co-headlining performance at Power Trip in Indio, California with AC/DC and METALLICA. GUNS N’ ROSES‘ previous world tour, “Not In This Lifetime…”, notably ranked as the “fourth-highest grossing concert tour of all time”, selling more than five million tickets and included a headline performance at Coachella. The band’s massive 2025 tour saw the powerhouse band hit stadiums and arenas in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America throughout the year.
GUNS N’ ROSES are Axl Rose (vocals, keyboards),Duff McKagan (bass),Slash (lead guitar),Dizzy Reed (keyboard),Richard Fortus (rhythm guitar),Isaac Carpenter (drums) and Melissa Reese (keyboard).
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