GUNS N’ ROSES GUITARIST RICHARD FORTUS SAID JOHN SYKES ONCE AUDITIONED FOR THE BAND, SAID HE WAS “INCREDIBLE”

Guitarist Richard Fortus (Guns N’ Roses) spoke on episode 91 of Tone Talk discussing how iconic guitarist John Sykes (Tygers of Pan Tang, Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder) auditioned for Guns N’Roses more than a decade ago.

Fortus stated [via Blabbermouth.net] “That was when D.J. [Ashba] came in [back in 2009], We auditioned a bunch of people, and John Sykes was incredible.”

“I remember  Tommy Stinson [then-Guns N’ Roses bassist] came in, and we walked into rehearsals, and we see John there,” he recalled. “Tommy turns around to the tour manager, and he goes, ‘Man, send him home. Why are we doing this? Axl’s [Rose, GN’Rsinger] not gonna go for this.’ And [the tour manager] is, like, ‘It’s John Sykes, man. He learned the songs. The least you can do is listen to him.’ So Tommy was, like, ‘All right. Fine.’ So we go in the room, and within two minutes, Tommy is looking over at me, like, ‘Oh my God!’ I mean, it was incredible — incredible. And he just plugged straight into the amp, and just killed it. His tone was incredible. Our jaws were on the ground, for sure.”

As for why Sykes ended up not getting the job, Fortus said, “John’s reputation does precede him. But, I personally got along great with him, and I kept in contact with him. Actually, I kept in contact with him pretty regularly until I got the Thin Lizzy gig [as a touring guitarist in 2011], and then he didn’t call me anymore. [Laughs] But I thought he was great.”

On January 1st, Sykes released the official music video for a new song called Dawning Of A Brand New Day (listen here). The tune, which was recorded at least four years ago, is expected to appear on Sykes’ long-awaited new solo album, tentatively due later this year.