1979–1985: early years In 1979, at the age of 15, McKagan formed the punk band The Vains, in which he played bass. During this time he performed under the stage name Nico Teen. The band released one single, "School Jerks", in 1980. He was later on the song "Someone Else's Room", which was included on the
Seattle Syndrome: Volume One compilation album, also released in 1981. His last performance was in July 1981. Around this time he also played lead guitar in the punk band
The Living, which opened shows for
Hüsker Dü and
D.O.A., which developed a devoted following. In 1982 they recorded an EP, which remained unreleased until April 2021, under the title
1982. In 1982, McKagan became the drummer for the hardcore punk band
The Fartz, with whom he recorded several demos, five of which were included on their 1990 album
You, We See You Crawling. After several line-up changes, The Fartz evolved into the post-punk band
10 Minute Warning, for which McKagan played guitar. with whom he formed the short-lived band
Road Crew. They auditioned a number of singers, including one-time
Black Flag vocalist
Ron Reyes, and worked on material that included the main riff of what would become the
Guns N' Roses song "
Rocket Queen". which was newly founded by singer
Axl Rose, rhythm guitarist
Izzy Stradlin of
Hollywood Rose, lead guitarist
Tracii Guns and drummer
Rob Gardner of
L.A. Guns. McKagan's Road Crew bandmates Slash and Steven Adler joined the band two months later, after Guns and Gardner quit respectively. After two days of rehearsal, the line-up played its debut gig at
The Troubadour on June 6. In 1987, Guns N' Roses released its debut album,
Appetite for Destruction, which to date has sold over 28 million copies worldwide, 18 million of which were in the United States, making it the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S. The following year, the band released ''
G N' R Lies, which sold over five million copies in the U.S. alone, despite containing only eight tracks, four of which were included on the previously released EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide''. In May 1991, Guns N' Roses embarked on the two-and-a-half-year-long
Use Your Illusion Tour. The following September, the band released the long-awaited albums
Use Your Illusion I and
Use Your Illusion II, which debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 respectively on the
U.S. chart, a feat unachieved by any other group. In 1993, the band released
"The Spaghetti Incident?", a cover album of mostly punk songs, which proved less successful than its predecessors. McKagan took on lead vocals on four songs, including live favorite "Attitude", originally by the
Misfits. That same year, McKagan released his debut solo album
Believe in Me, on which he sang lead vocals and played virtually every instrument. On April 3, 1993 while touring with Guns N' Roses, McKagan was hit in the head with a beer bottle filled with urine thrown by a fan in Sacramento, Ca. He was sent to the hospital minutes later. Axl Rose said this to the crowd after McKagan was hit: "I hate to ruin your fun, and our fun, but somebody just hit Duff in the head with a bottle, and now he's not able to play." "So we're sorry, have a good night. And if you find the asshole, kill him." Rose threw the mic over his shoulder and walked off the stage. In 1995, with Guns N' Roses largely inactive, McKagan formed the
supergroup Neurotic Outsiders with
Steve Jones of the
Sex Pistols,
John Taylor of
Duran Duran, and his Guns N' Roses bandmate
Matt Sorum. Originally a gathering of friends jamming together at the
Viper Room in Hollywood, they released their
self-titled album on Maverick Records in 1996. The band played a brief tour of Europe and North America, before disbanding in 1997. McKagan was the last member of the
Appetite for Destruction lineup to leave Guns N' Roses, resigning as bassist in August 1997. McKagan had recently become a father and wrote about his decision to leave in his autobiography, stating "Guns had been paying rent on studios for three years now—from 1994 to 1997—and still did not have a single song. The whole operation was so erratic that it didn't seem to fit with my hopes for parenthood, for stability." McKagan's second solo album,
Beautiful Disease, was intended to be released in 1999, but became lost in the legal shuffle of the merge between
Geffen Records and
Interscope Records. McKagan was dropped from Geffen's roster, and subsequently lost all commercial rights to release the record. For the tour supporting his ill-fated solo album, he formed the band
Loaded, which consisted of McKagan on bass and vocals,
Dez Cadena, formerly of Black Flag, on guitar, Michael Barragan, formerly of
Plexi, on guitar, and
Taz Bentley, formerly of
The Reverend Horton Heat, on drums. Loaded independently released the live record
Episode 1999: Live, before disbanding in late 1999. In 2000, McKagan reformed Loaded, remaining as the lead vocalist but switching from bass to rhythm guitar, and adding drummer
Geoff Reading of
Green Apple Quick Step, guitarist
Mike Squires of
Harvey Danger, and bassist
Jeff Rouse of
Alien Crime Syndicate. Both Squires and Rouse joined after the recording of the band's debut album,
Dark Days, released in 2001.
Dave Dederer, formerly of
The Presidents of the United States of America, took up recording duties for the album. In 2002, while on tour, both Squires and Rouse left Loaded to join the reformed Alien Crime Syndicate. Former
Wasted Youth and
Electric Love Hogs guitarist
Dave Kushner and former
Burning Witch bassist
George Stuart Dahlquist were brought in to replace them. McKagan and Kushner went on to form
Velvet Revolver, putting Loaded on hiatus.
2002–2010: Velvet Revolver, Alice in Chains, Loaded reunion, Jane's Addiction in 2007 In 2002, McKagan founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash and Matt Sorum, and Loaded guitarist Dave Kushner.
Stone Temple Pilots singer
Scott Weiland completed the line-up. In 2004, they released their debut album
Contraband, which debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. chart and sold two million copies. In 2005, the band was nominated for three Grammys, Rock Album of the Year, Rock Song, and Hard Rock Performance for their Contraband single Slither which won their first and only Grammy. Their second album,
Libertad, was released in 2007 to mixed reviews; it failed to achieve the same commercial success as its predecessor. The band toured extensively, until Weiland left in April 2008 to reunite with Stone Temple Pilots. Velvet Revolver has been on hiatus since Weiland's departure. In 2006, McKagan temporarily joined
Alice in Chains as a rhythm guitarist, performing with the band for the first time at
VH1's
Decades Rock Live! concert honoring
Heart, and later during their reunion tour. McKagan subsequently reunited Loaded, with Mike Squires and Jeff Rouse returning to the group, and the same year, they released the EP
Wasted Heart. In 2009, the band released its second studio album,
Sick, and embarked on tours with
Mötley Crüe and
Black Stone Cherry. Later that year, Geoff Reading departed the band; he was replaced by
Isaac Carpenter. In 2010, McKagan briefly joined
Jane's Addiction, with lead guitarist
Dave Navarro originally confirming that McKagan had joined the band on a permanent basis. On joining the band, McKagan stated, "Something like a chance to write, record, and perhaps even perform with a band of the quality of Jane's Addiction does not come around every day. I have a lot of respect for this band and the guys in it." He worked on several songs with Jane's Addiction and played four shows with the band—two in Los Angeles, and two in Europe, including one at
Rock in Rio in Madrid. On September 6, six months after McKagan joined the band, Jane's Addiction announced that they had parted ways due to the fact that "musically [they] were all headed in different directions." during the
Not in This Lifetime... Tour in 2017
2010–present: Kings of Chaos, his book, Walking Papers, return to Guns N' Roses, Tenderness and Max Creeps On October 14, 2010, McKagan appeared on stage with Guns N' Roses for the first time since 1993 at
The O2 Arena in London. He played bass on "
You Could Be Mine", electric guitar on "Nice Boys" and "
Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and acoustic guitar and tambourine on "
Patience". McKagan then returned to Loaded, with whom he recorded a third studio album,
The Taking, which was released in 2011. Loaded twice served as opening act for Guns N' Roses in December of that year, with McKagan again briefly joining his old band on stage. ''
It's So Easy *And Other Lies*'' is the title of McKagan's book released in 2011 in which he tells his view and perspectives on stories encountered during his career. On April 14, 2012, McKagan was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the classic lineup of Guns N' Roses. In 2012, McKagan went on tour with the Rock N Roll All Stars, a band that consisted of many of rock's most recognized performers. The band downsized and became the Kings Of Chaos in 2013. The primary members with McKagan are
Joe Elliott of
Def Leppard and Joe Elliott's Down N' Outz,
Matt Sorum of Guns N' Roses and
Velvet Revolver,
Gilby Clarke of Guns N' Roses and
Steve Stevens of Billy Idol's band. Others who round out the group are:
Glenn Hughes of
Deep Purple fame and
Sebastian Bach, formerly of
Skid Row. The band released the cover song "
Never Before" by Deep Purple. Also in 2012 McKagan formed the band
Walking Papers with former
The Missionary Position members, played on the self-titled debut album and toured with them in 2013. In 2014, McKagan again briefly reunited with Guns N' Roses. He played five full shows in South America, filling in for
Tommy Stinson. McKagan subsequently played with Guns N' Roses at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards show in Los Angeles. During Guns N' Roses' spring 2014 residency at
The Joint in
Las Vegas, McKagan played another full concert with the band. In 2016, McKagan was announced (alongside Slash), as having returned to Guns N' Roses to headline
Coachella. After playing a secret warmup gig at the
Troubadour in Los Angeles on April 1, 2016, The band embarked on the
Not in This Lifetime... Tour. On December 5, 2018, it was announced that McKagan is currently in production for a new solo album to be released in 2019. On March 10, 2019, McKagan revealed that the album,
Tenderness, would be released on May 31 and also released a track from the album titled "Chip Away". In April 2022 various famous artists, like
Slash,
Billie Joe Armstrong,
Henry Rollins, and McKagan himself, publicly bemoaned the breakup of a mysterious legendary Seattle band called
Max Creeps. In the following weeks, it turned out to be a guerilla marketing campaign for a new project, involving McKagan and
Fastbacks singer
Kurt Bloch, but so far this hasn't been officially confirmed. Max Creeps released two singles, "The Internet Killed Me" and "Hung, Drawn and Quartered". On May 13 Max Creeps released their 'second' album "Nein" on Velocity Records, though no evidence exists that there ever was a first album. In December 2025, McKagan, Slash,
Andrew Watt, and
Chad Smith performed under the band name The Dirty Bats. They were joined onstage by
Bruno Mars,
Brandi Carlile,
Anthony Kiedis,
Yungblud, and
Eddie Vedder.
Session work In 1990, McKagan—along with his Guns N' Roses bandmate Slash—co-wrote and played several songs on
Iggy Pop's
Brick by Brick. In 1995, he collaborated with Slash on his solo project
Slash's Snakepit; he co-wrote "Beggars and Hangers-On" off their album ''
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere'', which he played live during a Snakepit show in May of that year. In 1998, McKagan collaborated with his former Guns N' Roses bandmate Izzy Stradlin on his solo album
117°. The following year, he played on Stradlin's album
Ride On, and joined him on a tour of Japan supporting the album. Also in 1999, he contributed to the album
Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper, an
Alice Cooper tribute album. In 2001, McKagan played on the album
Skyjin by
Zilch,
Mark Lanegan's solo album
Field Songs, and Izzy Stradlin's album
River. The following year, he played on Stradlin's album
On Down the Road. In 2004, he again collaborated with Mark Lanegan on his album
Bubblegum, along with Stradlin. McKagan played on three tracks off Izzy Stradlin's 2008 album
Concrete, including the title track, as well as seven songs off his album
Wave of Heat, which was released in 2010. Also in 2010, McKagan appeared on Slash's
eponymous debut solo album; he played on the track "Watch This" with
Dave Grohl on drums. That year, he also made a guest appearance—along with Slash and Matt Sorum—on
Macy Gray's album
The Sellout, and appeared on the
Manic Street Preachers song "A Billion Balconies Facing the Sun" off their album
Postcards From a Young Man. In 2020, McKagan played bass and cowrote five songs on
Ozzy Osbourne's album
Ordinary Man, along with
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer
Chad Smith. McKagan's Guns N' Roses bandmate
Slash is featured on the song "
Straight to Hell", which also features co-writer
Andrew Watt of
California Breed fame. In 2021, McKagan played bass on
Jerry Cantrell's album
Brighten. In 2022, McKagan performed on and co-wrote three songs on
Iggy Pop's album
Every Loser. To promote the album, McKagan will be part of Pop's backing band named The Losers which consists of
Chad Smith,
Josh Klinghoffer and
Andrew Watt.
Other ventures McKagan has two minor acting credits; in 1988, he appeared with his Guns N' Roses bandmates in the
Dirty Harry film
The Dead Pool, and in 1997, he played a rocker vampire in an episode of the television series
Sliders. In 1999, he appeared in
Anthony Scarpa's documentary film
Betty Blowtorch and Her Amazing True Life Adventures, which focuses on the all-female hard rock band
Betty Blowtorch, whose debut EP
Get Off McKagan produced the same year. In addition to his musical career, McKagan has established himself as a writer. Since August 2008, he has written a weekly column for
SeattleWeekly.com, McKagan released a three-song EP with the same title to accompany the book, featuring
Izzy Stradlin,
Jerry Cantrell,
Roy Mayorga and
Taz Bentley. In 2011, McKagan founded Meridian Rock, a wealth management firm for musicians. Headed by McKagan and British investor Andy Bottomley, the firm aims to educate musicians about their finances. It was announced in 2012 that
Rainstorm Entertainment will produce a "biographical documentary" based on ''It's So Easy (And Other Lies)
. McKagan is listed as a producer and writer. The film, titled It's So Easy (And Other Lies)'' after the book, was released in May 2016. Those interviewed for the project include
Mick Jagger,
Elton John,
Slash,
Joe Elliott and
Arnold Schwarzenegger. Following an appearance with
the Hollywood Vampires at the
2016 Grammy Awards ceremony in tribute to
Lemmy Kilmister, McKagan was considered a member of the supergroup, although his time in the band was short-lived as he returned to Guns N' Roses two months later. == Personal life ==