Duff McKagan

Duff McKagan

Duff McKagan is a great American songwriter. His extraordinary 40-year musical journey has taken him from tiny punk clubs to sold-out world stadium tours. Along the way he’s become a founding member of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver and has collaborated with legends including Ozzy Osborne and Iggy Pop and has produced a versatile catalogue of solo material. McKagan’s millions of fans include none other than Bob Dylan. The man has music in his bones. And there’s one place he’s happiest making it. Where it all comes together. At home.

McKagan’s new album, LIGHTHOUSE, is a homespun, heartfelt celebration of life in the round. It’s the first full selection from a session of more than 60 songs McKagan recorded at his home studio in Seattle between 2019 and 2022. By turns personal and philosophical, intimate and anthemic, the album captures the essence of McKagan’s four decades at the beating heart of American music.

“These are really just simple punk songs,” says McKagan, “laid bare, without me screaming. [But] the topics run the gamut. By starting off with an ode to my wife, and ending with an ode to life, this record codifies the two things I love most…

McKagan wrote his first song in his bedroom at his mom’s house in 1978. Back then he was a 14-year punk on the verge of quitting high school, who “borrowed” cars to make it to gigs and practiced every instrument going, so he could fill any position a band had vacant. His musical apprenticeship was served in The Vains (1979), The Fastbacks (1980) and The Living (1982). Then in 1985, he formed the original line-up of Guns N’ Roses, and so began a career of astonishing creativity, which has also included time with Loaded (1998) and Velvet Revolver (2002-2008).

In 2019 McKagan revealed yet another side to his musical craft, when he released his second solo album, TENDERNESS. Produced by 3x GRAMMY award-winner Shooter Jennings, its songs combined social commentary with clear-eyed personal confession. The honesty and insight of McKagan’s lyrics, set against rich, Americana-fueled arrangements, delighted listeners and critics – as well as the world’s greatest living songwriter. Loudwire hailed TENDERNESS as one of the year’s “50 Best Rock Albums”. Rolling Stone called it “an album full of beauty and heart… it’s music of conscience, heavy songs with a light touch”. The crowning endorsement came from Bob Dylan, who was deeply touched by the track “Chip Away”:

“There’s a Duff McKagan song called ‘Chip Away’ that has profound meaning for me,” Dylan told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s a graphic song. Chip away, chip away, like Michelangelo, breaking up solid marble stone to discover the form of King David inside. He didn’t build him from the ground up, he chipped away the stone until he discovered the king. It’s like my own songwriting, I overwrite something, then I chip away lines and phrases until I get to the real thing.”

Since 2019, McKagan’s own chipping away has taken place at the studio he built at his Seattle home, where he lays down ideas as they come to him, then takes the time he needs to hone them into fully realized tracks. In this custom-built space, he can “explore songs that I may have written the night before or some of those old riffs from years ago… This is a big deal for me.” During the pandemic years, McKagan wrote and recorded more-or-less nonstop, working with longstanding producer Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan/Brandi Carlile), and emerging with a huge pool of deeply personal new songs.

The first release to reveal the depth and breadth of McKagan’s songwriting from this period was THIS IS THE SONG, a 3-track EP that debuted in May 2023, honoring Mental Health Awareness month alongside a call to action on Propellor. It was praised by Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Loudwire, American Songwriter and many others. Just as importantly, it showed the direction that McKagan’s work would take on LIGHTHOUSE.

LIGHTHOUSE showcases every side of McKagan’s gift for great American songwriting. Moments of mellow, stripped-back, acoustic soul-searching give way to high-energy, hard-edged rock and roll. McKagan’s studio sound is filled out with guitars from Tim DiJulio, keyboards from Tim Burns and drums by Jamie Douglass. And over the course of the record, there are memorable contributions from McKagan’s friends and peers. On HOPE, veteran Paul McCartney collaborator Abe Laboriel Jr. handles drums, and Slash provides sweet, melodic lead guitar. Jerry Cantrell appears on the deeply philosophical JUST DON’T KNOW. The album closes with an unforgettable spoken-word reprise of LIGHTHOUSE by Iggy Pop.

The overall effect is of musical craft and pure songwriting instinct given center stage. At its core, the album is celebratory – of life, love and the wisdom that comes with hard-won experience. As McKagan says: “The songs on this new record show topical influences, mixed with appreciation for what I have, and hope for the future… It was life-affirming to be making music with my friends as the world was sort of silent…”

That so many of McKagan’s friends and peers appear on the album is testament to his status as one of the great men, as well as great artists of the modern American songwriting scene. His interests and associations range far and wide. McKagan is the New York Times bestselling author of It’s So Easy (2011) and How To Be A Man (2015). He has also written columns for Seattle Weekly, Playboy and ESPN.com. With his wife, Susan Holmes McKagan, he co-hosts Sirius XM’s Three Chords and The Truth, on Ozzy’s Boneyard (ch.38). With GRAMMY Award-winning producer/musician Andrew Watt and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, he has written and recorded on landmark modern rock albums including Ozzy Osbourne’s 2x GRAMMY Award-winning PATIENT NO. 9 (2022) and Iggy Pop’s brilliant EVERY LOSER (2023).

It’s been an incredible ride so far – and McKagan has even more on the way. Already in 2023, he has played a series of unforgettable shows with Iggy Pop & The Losers, and a sweeping world tour with Guns N’ Roses continues. And beyond LIGHTHOUSE, there is plenty more solo material to come.

“I’ve found my place of comfort,” he says, “how I like my own music to sound.”

-Dan Jones