Duff McKagan has detailed his uncomfortable face-to-face meeting with Prince.
During an appearance on the Broken Record podcast, the Guns N’ Roses bassist admitted he idolized the Purple One, naming him — along with Iggy Pop and Lemmy Kilmister — as the three biggest artists in his life. Asked if he ever talked to Prince, McKagan was forthright.
“Yes, I met him one time,” the GNR rocker recalled. “It was in Germany. I went, it was the Diamonds and Pearls tour. Guns N’ Roses were playing the whatever stadium the next night, and he was playing the arena.”
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Naturally, McKagan jumped at the chance to see his idol perform.
“I went in through the back, Guns N’ Roses guy, all that stuff,” McKagan explained, adding that he received a message once he was backstage. “[Prince] heard I was there and would like to talk to me.”
“He knew I was a fan,” McKagan continued, but his excitement soon turned to anxiety. “I was way too drunk. It was when I was still drinking and I realized I was too drunk.”
The GNR bassist didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of one of his musical heroes and found a reason to quickly leave the room.
“I don’t remember what happened. I remember there was candles and stuff, and I’m fucking too drunk,” McKagan recalled. “And there’s Prince, and I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be here. And got out of that [situation].”
Prince Later Interviewed McKagan (Sort of)
Years after their Germany meeting, McKagan received an invitation to participate in a documentary film produced by Prince.
“Prince is doing it? Sure, yeah, OK,” the rocker responded. “So these guys came to my house and I had my basses out and things, and I dressed up a little bit.”
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Prince was not there with the film crew, but he still got involved in the interview.
“I get texts, questions from Prince in real time,” McKagan recalled. Initially, the Purple One asked about the bassist’s contributions to various GNR songs. Then, the hard hitting questions came.
“[The questions] started getting like, ‘Why did Guns N’ Roses break up?’ He was asking questions like anybody else would ask at that time.” McKagan politely declined to give Prince the dirt he wanted. “We don’t get into that,” the rocker responded. “That’s not something we talk about.”
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Gallery Credit: Matthew Wilkening
