Axl hits back at ex Guns N' Roses bandmates

Guns N' Roses frontman W. Axl Rose has lashed out at his former bandmates, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, after being slapped with a lawsuit by the pair over alleged unpaid royalties. Slash and McKagan sued Rose in federal court last week, charging that the singer had switched the publishing company for Guns N' Roses without their consent and had collected more than his share of the band's royalties as a result.

Axl's attorney issued a statement on Monday (August 29th) that called the lawsuit "frivolous" and "premature." It read in part, "If someone had taken the time to investigate or ask about this situation before rushing to judgment they would have learned that ASCAP (the entity that collects money for songwriters) made a clerical error and failed to appropriately divide and distribute the royalties owed for the first quarter of 2005 to Axl and the former Guns N' Roses musicians."

Rose's lawyer said that the money mistakenly sent to Rose's publishing company was never received by Rose himself, and that the publisher returned the money to ASCAP and asked it to redistribute the money appropriately.

The attorney concluded with a verbal slap at Slash and McKagan, saying, "Rather than pick up the telephone and contact Axl or his representatives...It is clear that Slash and Duff are looking for another opportunity to spread untruths about Axl in an effort to hurt his reputation and to alienate his fans while at the same time creating a profile for themselves."