Duff McKagan played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
52 Facts About Duff McKagan
2.
Toward the end of his first tenure with Guns N' Roses, Duff McKagan released a solo album, Believe in Me, and formed the short-lived supergroup Neurotic Outsiders.
3.
Duff McKagan briefly performed with Alice in Chains in 2006, with Jane's Addiction in 2010 and with the supergroup Hollywood Vampires in 2016.
4.
Duff McKagan has collaborated in several short-lived projects with fellow Seattle-native musicians Mike McCready and Barrett Martin including Walking Papers and Levee Walkers.
5.
Duff McKagan has written weekly columns on a wide variety of topics for SeattleWeekly.
6.
Michael Andrew Duff McKagan grew up in Seattle's largely working-class University District, the youngest of eight children born to Marie and Elmer "Mac" Duff McKagan.
7.
Duff McKagan has been called "Duff" since toddlerhood, to which he once referred as "an Irish thing".
8.
Duff McKagan then worked as a pastry chef for the Great American Food and Beverage Company while earning his GED.
9.
Duff McKagan was later awarded an honorary diploma after speaking at the class of 2012's graduation ceremony.
10.
In 1979, at the age of 15, Duff McKagan formed the punk band The Vains, in which he played bass.
11.
In 1980, Duff McKagan joined the pop-punk band The Fastbacks as their drummer.
12.
Duff McKagan first performed with the band in December 1980, and appeared on their 1981 debut single "It's Your Birthday", which was issued on guitarist Kurt Bloch's label No Threes Records.
13.
Duff McKagan was later on the song "Someone Else's Room", which was included on the Seattle Syndrome: Volume One compilation album, released in 1981.
14.
In 1982, Duff McKagan became the drummer for the hardcore punk band The Fartz, with whom he recorded several demos, five of which were included on their 1990 album You, We See You Crawling.
15.
In 1983, Duff McKagan moved to Los Angeles, California, with one of his brothers where he found work as an appetizer server at a Black Angus restaurant in Northridge.
16.
Duff McKagan took on lead vocals on four songs, including live favorite "Attitude", originally by the Misfits.
17.
That same year, Duff McKagan released his debut solo album, Believe in Me, on which he sang lead vocals and played virtually every instrument.
18.
Duff McKagan was the last member of the Appetite for Destruction lineup to leave Guns N' Roses, resigning as bassist in August 1997.
19.
Duff McKagan was dropped from Geffen's roster, and subsequently lost all commercial rights to release the record.
20.
In 2000, Duff McKagan reformed Loaded, remaining as the lead vocalist but switching from bass to rhythm guitar, and adding drummer Geoff Reading of Green Apple Quick Step, guitarist Mike Squires of Harvey Danger, and bassist Jeff Rouse of Alien Crime Syndicate.
21.
In 2002, Duff McKagan founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash and Matt Sorum, and Loaded guitarist Dave Kushner.
22.
In 2006, Duff McKagan temporarily joined Alice in Chains as a rhythm guitarist, performing with the band for the first time at VH1's Decades Rock Live concert honoring Heart, and later during their reunion tour.
23.
Duff McKagan subsequently reunited Loaded, with Mike Squires and Jeff Rouse returning to the group, and that same year, they released the EP Wasted Heart.
24.
In 2010, Duff McKagan briefly joined Jane's Addiction, with lead guitarist Dave Navarro originally confirming that Duff McKagan had joined the band on a permanent basis.
25.
On October 14,2010, Duff McKagan appeared on stage with Guns N' Roses for the first time since 1993 at The O2 Arena in London.
26.
Duff McKagan then returned to Loaded, with whom he recorded a third studio album, The Taking, which was released in 2011.
27.
In 2012, Duff McKagan went on tour with the Rock N Roll All Stars, a band that consisted of many of rock's most recognized performers.
28.
The primary members with Duff McKagan are Joe Elliott of Def Leppard and Joe Elliott's Down N' Outz, Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver, Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses and Steve Stevens of Billy Idol's band.
29.
Also in 2012 Duff McKagan formed the band Walking Papers with former The Missionary Position members, played on the self-titled debut album and toured with them in 2013.
30.
Duff McKagan played five full shows in South America, filling in for Tommy Stinson.
31.
Duff McKagan subsequently played with Guns N' Roses at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards show in Los Angeles.
32.
In 2016, Duff McKagan was announced, as having returned to Guns N' Roses to headline Coachella.
33.
On December 5,2018, it was announced that Duff McKagan is currently in production for a new solo album to be released in 2019.
34.
On March 10,2019, Duff McKagan revealed that the album, Tenderness, would be released on May 31 and released a track from the album titled "Chip Away".
35.
In 2001, Duff McKagan played on the album Skyjin by Zilch, Mark Lanegan's solo album Field Songs, and Izzy Stradlin's album River.
36.
Duff McKagan played on three tracks off Izzy Stradlin's 2008 album Concrete, including the title track, as well as seven songs off his album Wave of Heat, which was released in 2010.
37.
Also in 2010, Duff McKagan appeared on Slash's eponymous debut solo album; he played on the track "Watch This" with Dave Grohl on drums.
38.
In 2020, Duff McKagan played bass and cowrote five songs on Ozzy Osbourne's album Ordinary Man, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith.
39.
In 2021, Duff McKagan played bass on Jerry Cantrell's album Brighten.
40.
In 2022, Duff McKagan performed on and co-wrote three songs on Iggy Pop's album, Every Loser.
41.
Duff McKagan has two minor acting credits; in 1988, he appeared with his Guns N' Roses bandmates in the Dirty Harry film The Dead Pool, and in 1997, he played a rocker vampire in an episode of the television series Sliders.
42.
In 1999, he appeared in Anthony Scarpa's documentary film Betty Blowtorch and Her Amazing True Life Adventures, which focuses on the all-female hard rock band Betty Blowtorch, whose debut EP Get Off Duff McKagan produced the same year.
43.
In 2011, Duff McKagan founded Meridian Rock, a wealth management firm for musicians.
44.
Duff McKagan has been involved in "The Heroes Project", founded by his friend Tim Medvetz, which is dedicated to helping soldiers and their families.
45.
On May 28,1988, Duff McKagan married his first wife, Mandy Brixx; the couple divorced on April 1,1990.
46.
Duff McKagan was one of the last people confirmed to have seen Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain before he died on April 5,1994.
47.
On May 10,1994, at the age of 30, Duff McKagan became gravely ill due to acute alcohol-induced pancreatitis, which caused his pancreas to swell to the size of a football and leak digestive enzymes into his body.
48.
Duff McKagan was taken to Northwest Hospital and Medical Center in Seattle, where he was monitored until the swelling had shrunken.
49.
Duff McKagan was later told by his doctors that he would be dead within a month if he did not stop drinking.
50.
Duff McKagan had made previous efforts to overcome his addiction, but this health crisis was his incentive to become sober for good.
51.
In 2000, after attending several more classes at Seattle Central Community College, Duff McKagan enrolled full-time at Seattle University's Albers School of Business and Economics.
52.
When Velvet Revolver took off in his final year as an undergraduate student, Duff McKagan took a hiatus from business school to go on tour; he is still one quarter short of graduating.