Along with two new Guns N’ Roses songs, 2023 saw the release of a ’90s throwback featuring Duff McKagan and Slash.
The two jam together on a track called “Hope,” which appears on the GN’R bassist’s new solo album, Lighthouse, which dropped in October. As McKagan tells ABC Audio, he and Slash first recorded the tune together back in 1996.
“Slash came to my house then and was like, ‘You want me to put a guitar on that? I hear something on that song,"” McKagan recalls. “I’m like, ‘Of course!"”
The “Hope” that your hear on Lighthouse includes the same instrumental track from that 1996 jam; the only thing that’s changed is McKagan’s vocals, which he rerecorded for the album. As for why he’s put out “Hope” now nearly 30 years later, McKagan felt that its lyrics resonated with the themes and imagery of Lighthouse. He notes that both the song and the album as a whole relate to “this beacon of hope, this beacon of goodness.”
“I wasn’t trying to get, like, my famous friends on the record,” McKagan shares. “It’s just that what [Slash] plays on it is so cool, and the lyrical content fits the record, and I just think it’s a cool song.”
He adds, “I love anytime I’m doing something with Slash.”
McKagan is supporting Lighthouse with a Jimmy Kimmel Live! performance on Tuesday, January 9. You can tune in to watch at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
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