Former manager Alan Niven has filed a lawsuit against Guns N’ Roses, claiming the group has made ‘repeated threats’ to stop the release of his forthcoming memoir, Sound N’ Fury: Rock ’N’ Roll Stories.
The book was meant to hit shelves this past summer, but was pushed to September, then quietly rescheduled again, now sitting with a new release date of March 2026 on Amazon.
Behind the shifting deadlines, Niven alleges, are lawyers for frontman Axl Rose working to keep the book from ever seeing the light of day.
And it’s not the first time Rose and Niven have clashed.
Their relationship collapsed back in 1991, when the frontman reportedly refused to finish Use Your Illusion until Niven was gone. The two parted ways under a settlement deal that Niven now says Axl himself never actually signed.
In a statement to Classic Rock, Niven said, ‘Axl first breached the terms of the agreement in 1991. By 2009, I’d had enough of his public comments and began to do interviews.
‘Slash emailed me to say I should set the record straight, that obviously I’m allowed to say what I wish. He also consistently encouraged me to get the book finished.’
The lawsuit claims that the band has been invoking a ‘confidentiality clause’ in that decades-old agreement to threaten both Niven and his publisher, ECW Press.
Niven insists that clause was never meant to silence him. ‘Keep in mind the settlement agreement was formed to allow GN’R to purchase my perpetual commission rights from me,’ he told Classic Rock.
‘It was not designed to be an NDA.’
Niven’s suit seeks permission for Sound N’ Fury to be published and distributed, along with punitive damages and ‘any other relief deemed just and proper.’
If Sound N’ Fury ever makes it to print, it promises to reopen one of rock’s most volatile chapters, since Given managed Guns N’ Roses during their ascent from Sunset Strip chaos to global infamy.
The controversy follows Axl Rose’s recent onstage meltdown.
During the opening moments of Welcome To The Jungle at Estadio Huracán in Buenos Aires at the band’s concert on October 20, Rose appeared to lose his temper mid-song.
He turned his rage toward the band’s new drummer, Isaac Carpenter, and eyewitness footage shows the frontman flinging his microphone directly at Carpenter’s kit.
He then ripped off his leather jacket and stormed off stage before the band had even finished the first song.
A few days on, the band issued a statement on social media about the incident.
‘During the opening song at our recent Buenos Aires concert, Axl’s in-ear monitor pack had only the percussion in his ears versus his entire mix,’ it read.
‘The issue was fixed by our tech team by the third song, and we had a great night.’
They then clarified that the singer’s frustrations were not directed at Carpenter, who joined the group in March after Frank Ferrer’s exit.
‘The situation had nothing to do with Isaac Carpenter’s playing, who is top notch and a great drummer,’ they added.
There are sure to be more tales of Rose’s infamous rockstar behaviour in Niven’s book – but for now, the story remains locked in a legal stalemate.
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