During an appearance on a recent episode of Guns N' Roses -focused Appetite For Distortion Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro spoke once again about how he almost became a member of GNR two decades ago, after Izzy Stradlin the group led by Axl Rose .
“Axl really wanted me to join the band,” Dave said. “We talked almost every day about ideas and how the band could work with me. [But] at that time in my life, I just wasn’t present enough to do it. I had an audition with the band where I didn’t actually show up because I was immersed in my drug addiction and just couldn’t show up like that.”
Dave Navarro believes everything happened the way it was meant to happen. “I moved on and went to the Red Hot Chili Peppers . Interestingly, Flea ended up joining Jane's Addiction for a tour, and Duff [McKagan] did too. It's all in the past, and we're all part of this collective musical family; we've played together hundreds of times,” he said.
Although Navarro never performed live with Rose, he played on the Guns N' Roses song "Oh My God," which was included on the soundtrack of the 1999 Arnold Schwarzenegger , End Of Days .
Regarding how his appearance on "Oh My God" came about, Dave Navarro explained that one day Axl called him and invited him to be the guitarist on the song, simple as that.
“So, I got a location, a time, and a studio, and I showed up with my equipment. There were about 10 people in the studio. And I was like, ‘Where’s Axl?’ and they said, ‘He’s coming. He’s coming. But let’s get started anyway.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ I sat down and plugged in. They played the track. I said, ‘This sounds great.’ And I recorded a few passes. But then, I swear, suddenly I hear in the background: ‘Yeah, this sounds really good. Why don’t you stick with this one?’ It was Axl on speakerphone at his house listening the whole time. I was like, ‘What?’ It was just Axl’s voice coming out of nowhere, like from a fucking speaker. Then he kind of gave me a direction, and I said, ‘Okay, cool.’ And then we were amazed, and that was it,” he stated.
“It was a very strange [experience], but I love that it was strange. You know what I mean? Because it makes the story much juicier, more memorable, and more fun,” he added.
Navarro, best known for his long-running role on Jane's Addiction, joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1993 following John Frusciante . He played guitar on RHCP's 1995 album One Hot Minute before leaving the band in 1998. He also released two solo albums, including 2001's Trust No One
Navarro and Billy Morrison ( Billy Idol ) are currently promoting the third "Above Ground" benefit concert, scheduled for December 20th in Hollywood, California. Proceeds from the event will be donated to MusiCares , the leading music charity that acts as a safety net for the music community.
