The Night SLASH Felt Deep Shame Over GUNS N’ ROSES’ Treatment of METALLICA: 'I Lost Their Respect'

Back in the early ’90s, Guns N’ Roses were living the full-throttle rockstar fantasy, loud, chaotic, and unapologetic.

Their shows were wild, their image untamed, and their reputation built on pushing limits. But even in that haze of sex, drugs, and eyeliner, there was a moment that made guitarist Slash want to crawl under the stage and disappear.

In a recently resurfaced interview, published by Far Out Magazine, Slash opened up about an incident during the 1992 co-headlining tour with Metallica that still makes him cringe.

It wasn’t a guitar flub or a drunken meltdown, it was a night when Guns N’ Roses managed to alienate the biggest metal band on the planet.

A night that went from bad to worse

During a stop on that tour, disaster struck when Metallica’s frontman James Hetfield suffered serious burns from a pyrotechnics accident mid-show.

Their set ended abruptly, and the crowd was rattled. That’s when Guns N’ Roses were supposed to step in, show up early, keep the energy alive, and save the night.

They did none of that.

Instead, Axl Rose and crew kept thousands waiting. The band didn’t hit the stage until three hours after Metallica’s forced exit.

And when they finally did, the performance was cut short again, this time by Axl himself, who walked off before finishing the set.

Slash felt humiliated

“It was something like four hours between Metallica stopping and us going on,” Slash said. “And then Axl cut the show short. I felt like a jerk. We couldn’t even look the Metallica guys in the eye. We didn’t live up to our word, to them, to the fans, or to ourselves.”

That one night, he says, left a lasting scar, not just on his personal pride, but on the band’s relationship with Metallica.

“It was incredibly tense,” he explained. “It changed everything for me and for everyone in our camp. I lost their respect. I couldn’t look James, Lars, or anyone from the band in the eyes for the rest of the tour.”

Fallout that lingered

What was meant to be a high-profile pairing of two rock juggernauts became an awkward road trip of unspoken tension. While fans came for the music, behind the scenes, the vibe was cold and full of side-eyes.

It’s not the only moment from the band’s heyday that Slash has looked back on with a wince, but it might be the one that stung the longest.

For a guy who’s played through hangovers, riots, and broken strings, feeling like he let Metallica down is the one thing that still clearly bothers him.

And yes, it turns out even guitar gods get secondhand embarrassment.

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