Richie Kotzen , the famous guitarist who recently released his newest album in partnership with Adrian Smith , revealed that he almost joined Nine Inch Nails – if a band in his repertoire hadn't "prevented" him.
According to information revealed by Kotzen in an interview with Hot Metal (via Blabbermouth ), the event occurred between 2000 and 2008, a time when Robin Finck ( Guns N' Roses ) was absent from the band. He reported that Jeordie White , also known as Twiggy Ramirez Trent Reznor 's band , commented that they were looking for a new guitarist for the group:
“He told me, ‘Look, you need to come here. We’re having trouble finding a guitarist.’ So I went to Third Encore [studio in North Hollywood] and spent the day there. Trent told me, ‘You’re by far the best guy we’ve tried. I’d love to have you in the band. My manager will contact you.’ And I left there thinking, ‘Wow, okay, I’m going to join another band,’” Kotzen said.
Why didn't Richie Kotzen join Nine Inch Nails?
Kotzen waited for weeks for a response from Reznor's manager after their last conversation. When he went to question Ramirez about the delay, the Marilyn Manson ' threw' a bucket of cold water on the guitarist:
“I ran into Jeordie and asked, ‘What happened?’ He basically said that [Reznor] said he didn’t want to open Rolling Stone and see ‘NINE INCH NAILS signs former POISON Richie Kotzen.’ He didn’t want that association with a hair metal band. And, you know, aesthetically, when you think about the fanbase and how people would interpret that, I can even understand the point. So, I joked, ‘Hey, I’ll do it under a pseudonym,’ because at the time I wasn’t doing anything, and I think he’s a genius—I would have loved to work with him.”
Despite being rejected by the band, Kotzen states that he never regretted working with POISON, and that this "wasn't the first time something like this prevented me from pursuing one path or another."
“Now, looking at the other side of the coin, I don’t regret being part of POISON, because I think we made a truly incredible album. And I much prefer that album to be where it is now than to have done anything else I could have done. But that’s how the music industry works. It’s not just about the music; many people listen with their eyes. And that’s unfortunate in a situation like this. But it’s the reality. And, incidentally, this happens more in the rock world,” reflected the guitarist.
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