Duff McKagan might have turned 60 this year, but at heart he’s still the same punk kid who set out from Seattle in 1984 with a dream of changing rock history. With Guns N’ Roses, it’s fair to say he did just that. Forty years later, Duff remains the ultimate rock’n’roll romantic – a constant presence on the rock and metal landscape thanks to his work with everyone from Velvet Revolver and Loaded to his solo project, whose latest album, Lighthouse, came out last year. He’s also found time to work with legends like Iggy Pop and Ozzy Osbourne on recent releases.
In fact, as Hammer chats to him over Zoom, he disappears off camera, only to return proudly brandishing a gold record he was presented for his contributions on Ozzy’s 2020 record, Ordinary Man. “I don’t have my own records up at home,” he admits. “But I’ll have an Ozzy Osbourne album any day!” But what pearls of wisdom does he have to share on a four-decade-plus career?
