The former manager of Guns N’ Roses, Alan Niven, is suing the band for allegedly attempting to block the publication of his new memoir Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories.
Per Rolling Stone, Guns N’ Roses allegedly claimed the memoir violated a confidentiality clause in a buyout agreement signed between the band and Niven when they parted ways in 1991. Niven, however, has argued the confidentiality agreement is “void and unenforceable”.
Niven claims he was “under severe personal distress” when he signed the buyout agreement, stating that he had been “betrayed by his former employee, the band’s lawyer, and his band”.
Sound N’ Fury was supposed to be published in June, but in May, Niven’s publisher ECW Press received a letter from Guns N’ Roses invoking the confidentiality agreement. Preorder listings now have the book scheduled for release in 2026.
“[D]ue to GNR’s threats, Sound N’ Fury languishes in a warehouse,” the filing alleges, adding: “Thousands of copies of Sound N’ Fury have been printed and continue to incur storage expenses. The release date has been moved several times. The public is expecting the book to be released, and Niven has accrued advance orders.”
Niven’s suit claims the buyout agreement is void because it “was not signed” by Axl Rose, essentially rendering it ineffective.
It also argues that the members of Guns N’ Roses have violated the confidentiality clause themselves when they’ve previously spoken or written about him in ways the filing describes as “inflammatory or even defamatory.” Specifically, it claims Slash and Duff McKagan each wrote about Niven, while Rose has repeatedly “violate[d] the agreement” by talking about him.
According to the suit, Guns N’ Roses never “complained” when Niven talked about the band in past interviews, and, in the past, the bandmates even encouraged him to appear in documentaries about the group. Notably, it says that between 2015 and 2018, “a member of GNR exchanged emails with Niven multiple times regarding the book and encouraged him to write it”.
Niven is seeking a judgement of non-enforceability for the agreement and rulings of breach of contract or interference with a contract.
