For rock drummer Steven Adler, the co-founder of Guns N’ Roses, the 2016-2019 “Not In This Lifetime…” Tour was meant to be the fulfillment of a decades-long dream. It was a partial reunion of the classic lineup, bringing together Axl Rose, Slash, and Duff McKagan for the first time since 1993, and Adler was invited to participate. Yet, despite his fervent prayers and the thousands of miles traveled, the experience was marked less by triumphant brotherhood and more by a chilling emotional distance, centered around a painfully brief, 10-second encounter with frontman Axl Rose.
The Decades-Long Wait and The Limited Role
Adler, who was famously fired from the band in 1990 due to his struggles with substance abuse, had spent 25 years hoping for a full reconciliation. His desire to complete what he started with the band that created the iconic album Appetite for Destruction was well-known. When the massive reunion tour was announced, Adler was initially sidelined, but later invited to make guest appearances. He eagerly flew across the world, rehearsing intensely, only to be allowed to play just a few songs at a handful of shows. He made four guest appearances in total, primarily performing the Appetite classics “Out Ta Get Me” and “My Michelle,” temporarily replacing the tour’s full-time drummer, Frank Ferrer. Adler later described the experience as heartbreaking, confessing it was difficult to stand on the side of the stage watching someone else play his songs. He recounted flying “fifteen thousand miles for just one song each night” during the South American leg, an imbalance that underscored his limited role in a reunion he desperately wished to be fully part of.
The Chillingly Cold 10 Seconds
The emotional toll was compounded by the distant behavior of Axl Rose. Adler disclosed that, despite the massive stage shows and their shared history, he only spoke to Rose for a total of ten seconds across the entire reunion tour. Adler recounted that his interactions were limited to a brief moment in Cincinnati where he received a simple fist-bump and a small smile, and another at Dodger Stadium where he managed to give Rose a quick hug and a sincere “thank you” for the opportunity. In Adler’s words, Rose “walked on his way. And I went on with my life.” This minimal, almost perfunctory acknowledgement after a quarter-century of separation shattered the drummer’s dream of reconnecting with his former bandmate as a brother.
The “Not In This Lifetime” Legacy
While personally painful for Adler, the tour was a monumental commercial success for the band, grossing over $584.2 million and becoming one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. The name of the tour itself, “Not In This Lifetime…”, ironically referenced a prior comment made by Axl Rose when asked about the possibility of reuniting the classic lineup. While it delivered the much-anticipated return of Rose, Slash, and McKagan, it also highlighted the lingering fractures within the original five-man line-up, as neither Adler nor rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin (who cited financial negotiation issues for declining) were included as full members. Despite the emotional cost of his minimal involvement and the cold shoulder from Rose, Steven Adler ultimately stated that the experience gave him “closure,” allowing him to move forward with a sense of having rocked with his former bandmates one last time.