I don't shop.

I have mutual funds. I have a lot of individual stocks. I'm across the board, really well diversified.

I didn't graduate high school.

I got to the point of insanity, but I also got out, but during the insane times, I felt invincible, and I felt creative and wonderful, too, but I was also hiding something.

Being in a band is the best place I can think of to be as up-front as possible. If you let something stew, it'll grow into a mountain of nonsensical black mud in no time.

'Chip Away' is somewhat of a rail against cable news and divisive agendas... all for the almighty dollar.

I made money in my 20s, became sober in my 30s, looked around, and didn't know who I could trust for money advice.

Guns N' Roses is a weighty subject, but in the same breath, I don't take it that seriously.

When I sing with Loaded, I can't move at all. I'm playing guitar, and I'm singing.

I've never seen 'The Simpsons.'

I went to Seattle U. Nice Jesuit school there.

You turn road-gay on the road. After about 10 days, the fellas in your band start looking really good.

Being a rocker, to me, is equal to living as much of the truth as possible.

'The Taking' is the closest thing to a 'concept' record that I have ever been involved with. Pain, loss, triumph, and redemption. Life. Bring it.

Read books and keep informed. The conversation can get old if you don't have some good new topics to bring to the table.

Left to my own devices, I tend to go darker and weirder, and it's fun.

Lemmy Kilmeister is most certainly a rocker.

People in Seattle - and I'm speaking from experience - are indoors more. It used to just rain a ton, and as a result, you'd be inside listening to music all the time and playing. You'd all rehearse at each other's houses and share ideas. There was no competition. When I got to L.A., I was really stunned by the competition.

If you don't have a good rhythm section, your band is toast; you're a bar band. Good rhythm section, you've got a chance to get out of the bar.

Turn off the TV, turn off the Internet, just go out, and I bet you your life will get better really quick.

When you start a band, you have to find people that are good, have the same sort of mindset as you musically.

Whenever Boston comes on, I play air guitar.

I don't know if I have a favorite song.

'Mr. Brownstone' is always a fun song to play because it's got that beat, and you see people bouncing.

When you're in a band, a marriage - whatever, it's kind of the same deal - there's a lot of things that you see, and people trust you with information about their lives. Call it a 'bro code' or whatever you wanna call it, but there are certain things you do not tell. At least, I don't.

It's funny: when I started playing bass in 1984, you had guys like Paul Simonon fron the Clash, John Paul Jones, Lemmy, and Nikki Sixx was the head guy in Motley Crue, and you had all this post-punk stuff like Magazine and Killing Joke where the bass sort of lead the way. Not that I picked it to sort of be a main dude, but it intrigued me.

You become friends with your kids' friends' parents. That's just the way it's gonna be. And sometimes you luck out, and it's great.

I can only write from a man's viewpoint.

When you're in a band, it's a close-knit thing. There's a lot of emotional stuff.

I think you can tell stories and give perspectives and yet still keep stuff for yourself, too. I keep a lot of my life private, even in a public forum like writing.

I went to business school in my thirties.

I didn't have any work to do, and I had files of my personal and Guns N' Roses financial statements for the previous eight years. I wanted to learn how to read these, but I didn't trust anybody. I just got a lightbulb in my head and said, 'I want to go to school.' That began my journey, taking accountancy and business classes at Seattle.

When the record company pays you an advance, it is just that - an advance. And it's at worse rates than any bank would charge you to pay them back.

In rock n' roll, we don't sell records at all like we used to. Yet the artist still has to pay to make records. So you've just got to get out on tour and be smarter about your merchandising.

You know what's a great song that will be stuck in your head if I say it? 'Single Ladies,' by Beyonce. Killer song.

I saw some really amazing stuff with Axl. We worked really well together. We were good friends. And I hope to perhaps have that friendship back one day, although it's not something I wait around for.

'The Joshua Tree' was the soundtrack of my life when we were making 'Appetite.'

Axl's favorite record in 1987 was 'Faith,' by George Michael.

I started playing in punk-rock bands and touring when I was 15, so I missed high school.

I'm not Cormac McCarthy, but I can get my point across in a thousand words.

I'm really not about changing my image.

I saw the Clash in '79 at the Paramount in Seattle, and it changed my whole life.

Playing with Iggy pulled me back in for a while and reminded me of what I love about music.

One of the first 45s I ever bought was the Stooges' 'I Got a Right.' Probably one of my favorite singles, ever.

I find in my career that I never know what's going to happen in two months.

I don't have resentments towards anyone I played with or to the guy who bullied me in the sixth grade. I've worked through it.

Is the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that important to me? No. Is it something I've aspired towards? No.

When you're a musician, you are around your peers a lot, like Slipknot and Alice In Chains... you name the band. We're all just kind of friends.

By the time Guns n' Roses spent 28 months from 1991 to 1993 touring the 'Use Your Illusion' albums, the tour staff sometimes approached 100 people. We were carrying not only backup girl singers, a horn section, and an extra keyboard player, but also chiropractors, masseuses, a singing coach, and a tattoo artist.

Any musician in any band - for a really good band - you know your part in the band.