Alan Niven, the former manager of Guns N’ Roses, is suing the band for trying to block him from releasing his memoir.
The biography, titled Sound N’ Fury: Rock ‘N’ Roll Stories, was set to be released in July 2025. This was then pushed back to September, and the delay came amid rumours that a legal team representing frontman Axl Rose were working to block the book being shared.
It is now expected to be shared in March next year, and remains available to pre-order online.
There has been tension between Niven and Rose since the 1990s, and stems back to 1991 – when the singer allegedly refused to continue work on the GNR ‘Use Your Illusion’ albums if Niven stayed on as the band’s manager.
They went separate ways and reached a settlement agreement – signed by band members Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan, but not by Rose – however, in an interview with Classic Rock magazine, Niven accuses the singer of having “breached the terms of the agreement in 1991”.
NME has reached out to representatives for Guns N’ Roses regarding the claims made by Niven.
He told the outlet that “by 2009, I had enough of his public comments and began to do interviews” for the memoir.
“Slash emailed me that I should set the record straight and that obviously, I am allowed to say what I wish. He also, in email, consistently encouraged me to get the book finished,” he added.
Niven also told the outlet that the hostility ultimately boils down to his work with the band being overlooked. “Axl seems to forget that no one, and I do mean no one, wanted to manage him in 1986,” he said. “In 1991, I put Wembley Stadium on sale. I did my job. I think what we have here is failure to appreciate.”
The crowd for Guns N’ Roses at Glastonbury 2023. Credit: Andy Ford for NME
Louder Sound reports that legal documents relating to the lawsuit see Guns N’ Roses invoke an alleged confidentiality clause in the 1991 buyout agreement. This, it claims, may have been done in an attempt to stop the book being published “through repeated threats to Niven and contact with [ publisher] ECW.”
“Keep in mind the settlement agreement was formed to allow GN’R to purchase my perpetual commission rights from me,” Niven continued. “It was not designed to be an NDA [non-disclosure agreement].”
The lawsuit pushes for the memoir to be published and distributed, and is looking for exemplary or punitive damages plus “any other relief deemed just and proper”, according to Classic Rock.
Back in April, Niven – who managed the hard rock band from 1986 to 1991 – claimed that Rose now takes 50 per cent of the band’s income and “wants to be in control of everything”.
“It’s a control thing with Axl,” Niven claimed while on the Appetite For Distortion podcast. “Here’s another little snapshot that is illuminating and goes to forming a correct perception. Axl takes 50 per cent of the income of Guns N’ Roses now. 50 per cent, OK? That, to me, is anathema. He is not Guns N’ Roses.”
NME reached out to representatives of Guns N’ Roses for comment regarding those claims.
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