Former Black Crowes guitarist Marc Ford has revealed that he was asked to join Guns N’ Roses on two different occasions.

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Speaking in a new interview, Ford discussed being asked to join the band after Izzy Stradlin abruptly left in 1991, and again in the early 2000s when frontman Axl Rose was looking to retool the GnR lineup.

“I got asked to join that band a couple of different times,” Ford said on the Black Crowes-themed State Of Amorica podcast.

“Once when Axl was still finishing that record that was taking forever,” he continued, presumably referencing Guns N’ Roses’ 2008 album ‘Chinese Democracy’. “Right about when I was about to make [my 2002 solo album] ‘It’s About Time’, I got offered to join that band.”

Ford, who joined The Black Crowes in 1991 and played on three albums – ‘The Southern Harmony And Musical Companion’, ‘Amorica’ and ‘Three Snakes And One Charm’ – then talked about the first time he was offered the gig.

“The first time, I had just come back from a sort of ‘unofficial official’, or whatever it was, joining of The Black Crowes weekend in Atlanta,” he said. “When I got back home, that Monday morning, Slash had called and offered [me the open spot in Guns N’ Roses]. He said that Izzy was leaving, and did I want the spot?”

Ford told Slash he had just joined The Black Crowes. “[Slash] was very cool and he said, ‘That’s a good gig for you. Right on,’” he said.

Listen to Ford discuss being offered the Guns N’ Roses gig below:

Last month, Slash said he was optimistic that 2021 will see new releases from both Guns N’ Roses and his band with Myles Kennedy.

The guitarist said he’s recently been working with bassist Duff McKagan on material expected to form the first new Guns N’ Roses album since 2008’s notoriously delayed ‘Chinese Democracy’.

Meanwhile, Dave Grohl has revealed that Axl Rose bought him the “nicest fucking guitar” after the Guns N’ Roses singer borrowed the throne used by the Foo Fighters frontman when he broke his leg.

Grohl was forced to use a light-up throne for Foo Fighters’ shows in the second half of 2015 after breaking his leg when he fell off stage at a show in Gothenburg, Sweden.

While the intricate set-up was specifically designed for Grohl, it found a second lease of life in 2016 after Rose injured his foot at the opening ‘Not in This Lifetime’ show at Los Angeles’ The Troubadour.