DOUG ALDRICH Says He Was Once Invited To Audition For GUNS N' ROSES

Former WHITESNAKE and DIO and current THE DEAD DAISIES guitarist Doug Aldrich was interviewed on a recent episode of the GUNS N’ ROSES-centric Appetite For Distortion podcast. Asked if he was ever considered for a position in GUNS N’ ROSES during the band’s “Chinese Democracy” era, Doug responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Only by one guy, because he called me — Dizzy [Reed, longtime GUNS N’ ROSES keyboardist] called me. I had known Dizzy ’cause Dizzy and I had a mutual friend, and Dizzy played on a solo record that I did way back in the ’90s, and he played beautifully on it. It was so cool for him. But he called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re looking for a guy to play the Slash stuff.’ And we’ve got Richard Fortus and Robin Finck.’ And he goes, ‘We’re looking for someone to do the more rock stuff.’ And I was literally sitting next to [WHITESNAKE leader] David Coverdale. We were just starting to work on the first WHITESNAKE record that we wrote together [2008’s ‘Good To Be Bad’]. And I go, ‘Dizzy, I really appreciate it and I’m grateful, but I’m right in the middle of doing an album with WHITESNAKE. I co-wrote it and I’m co-producing it.’ And he goes, ‘Okay, man. Are you sure?’ And I think Coverdale heard it and was, like, ‘Douglas, tell him you’re busy’ or whatever. But, yeah, that’s as close as it came. Dizzy thought of me that I should come audition. And he said, ‘I think Axl [Rose, GUNS N’ ROSES singer] would like you’ or whatever, and he’s pretty picky about the people he is around. But I was super, super excited about what I was doing [with WHITESNAKE]. And you never know where it might’ve led to.”

Aldrich was a member of WHITESNAKE from 2002 to 2014 before leaving to spend more time with his family. The guitarist played on two WHITESNAKE studio albums, the aforementioned “Good To Be Bad” and 2011’s “Forevermore”, and appeared on several live releases, including 2013’s “Made In Japan” and “Made In Britain/The World Records”.

Aldrich left WHITESNAKE 11 years ago, saying in a statement that he “had several recording and live commitments,” so he “needed a more flexible schedule to conclude these before going full force as normal.” He added: “Unfortunately, my schedule was not workable.”

Having also played with LION, HOUSE OF LORDS, BAD MOON RISING, HURRICANE and Glenn Hughes, Aldrich joined THE DEAD DAISIES in 2016 and can be heard on that band’s last five albums, 2016’s “Make Some Noise”, 2018’s “Burn It Down”, 2021’s “Holy Ground”, 2022’s “Radiance” and 2024’s “Light ‘Em Up”.