Ahead of their return to Slane Castle this summer, we turn the amps to 11 with our extensive Guns N’Roses special, featuring Slash, Duff McKagan, Richard Fortus and Bumblefoot.

We recall past Hot Press encounters with Slash and Duff, where they talk their 1992 appearance at the Meath venue - “I remember the place but not the performance, which is indicative of how blurred my life had become,” Slash admits, while Duff recalls it for the first time he met his Irish family. “My Mom’s entire family, the Harringtons, from County Cork… the day before the gig we had a day off so I went down there… my cousin Joe had taken me to I swear every pub on the way down. So by the time I got there I was completely out of my mind.”

Wayne Byrne gets updates on how the Not In This Lifetime tour is going from guitarist Richard Fortus. “This tour has exceeded anything that I’ve previously been a part of… the band is tighter than it’s ever been.” Fortus also talks his onstage chemistry with Slash - “He feels like a kindred spirit.”

Former guitarist Bumblefoot speaks to Jason O’Toole about getting death threats from 16-year-old girls and life on the road during the Chinese Democracy era, recalling their infamous gig at the O2 in 2010 - “We were very late, people threw things, so the show was held off for a while, but then we went back on and finished it. I thank everybody for their patience for sticking around and seeing it through with us. That was very cool.”

Buy our Guns N'Roses Special issue on racks across Ireland now. You can also Buy 41-08: Guns N'Roses Special direct from hotpress.com, or download the iOS app for iPad.