Gilby Clarke says he turned down a spot on Gun N' Roses' reunion tour

Former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke has revealed he was offered a spot in the band’s hugely-successful reunion tour, but was forced to turn it down.

In early 2016, the music world was undoubtedly shocked to learn that a reunited Guns N’ Roses were getting ready for their aptly-titled ‘Not In This Lifetime’ tour. With original guitarist Slash back in the fold, as well as bassist Duff McKagen, fans were witnessing something that they thought was never going to happen.

Since the tour first kicked off in April of 2016, the band have been out on the road constantly, visiting Australia in early 2017, and planning to keep on playing until their tour wraps up in South Africa in November.

While Slash recently explained that the reunion was only supposed to last for five shows, it turns out that it almost included another member as well – former guitarist Gilby Clarke.

A member of the group from 1991 to 1994, Clarke served as the band’s rhythm guitarist, appearing on a number of live releases, as well as 1993’s “The Spaghetti Incident?”. However, the rocker recently revealed how he was forced to turn down the high-profile gig for the sake of family.

Speaking to Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM, Clarke revealed that he was “definitely” impressed at how popular the reunion tour had been. “I think we all expected great things, I think we all thought that they were gonna sell out everywhere,” he explained.

“But, to be honest, I didn’t think that it would last this long and do this well; I definitely didn’t expect that.”

Gilby Clarke also noted how his former bandmates did reach out to him about taking part in the tour, only for him to knock the offer back.

“When it first started, they did reach out to me to come and play,” he explained, noting he had a good reason. “My daughter, Frankie, has a band. They asked me the same day my daughter’s band was playing Lollapalooza which was like the biggest break for her band.”

“It was the same day they were playing Lollapalooza and I had to be there, and I couldn’t really give that up to go be the third guitar player in the band.”

However, Clarke hasn’t written off the idea of rejoining Guns N’ Roses at some point in the future. “I have nothing against it,” he said. “It’s just that didn’t work out for me.”

Of course, while there’s no word as to when Guns N’ Roses might be coming back to Australia, their iconic guitarist Slash has revealed plans to head back for a tour with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators early next year.