New Wall Street Journal Article Cites An Email Exchange with Izzy Stradlin!

The Wall Street Journal wrote an article about Izzy Stradlin’s absence from the Not in This Lifetime Tour! It appears the journalist claims to have had an email exchange with Izzy and Fernando, Guns N’ Roses manager saying:

“The current GNR tour has been a great success for the guys. My nonparticipation was simply not being able to reach a happy middle ground through the negotiation process,” Mr. Stradlin said in an email. “That’s life, sometimes things don’t work out.” He didn’t respond to further inquiries.

Fernando Lebeis, manager for Guns N’ Roses, declined to comment on the tour negotiations but said “Izzy is a dear friend.”

The article went on to talk about Izzy’s band following his departure from Guns N’ Roses, the Ju Ju Hounds.

“The band enjoyed touring abroad. But in the U.S., journalists dogged Mr. Stradlin with questions about Guns N’ Roses. A tour with Keith Richards didn’t happen; an offer from Bon Jovi was rejected. “Bon Jovi chased him high and low,” said Mr. Niven, who managed Mr. Stradlin at the time. “Izzy’s attitude was, very bluntly, I’d rather play clubs.”

Representatives for Bon Jovi and Mr. Richards said they didn’t remember the details of the tours.

Touring wasn’t easy for Mr. Stradlin. A well-known addiction specialist, Bob Timmins, was hired to help him, says Steve White, Mr. Stradlin’s former road manager. “He was still fighting off the addiction,” Mr. White said.

Mr. Timmins died in 2008. A spokesman for his foundation declined to comment on his work with Mr. Stradlin.

Mr. Stradlin’s bandmates tried to respect his sobriety. When Mr. Quintana drank during a 1992 recording session with Rolling Stones guitarist Ron Wood, for example, he put his red wine in a coffee cup, Mr. Quintana said in a 2016 interview. “He wanted a healthy band.” (Mr. Quintana died in March.)

Mr. Ashhurst remembered inadvertently upsetting Mr. Stradlin by smoking a joint on a tour bus. “I wish I could take that back, but I can’t,” he said.

The Ju Ju Hounds broke up in 1994 while recording its second album. The band members were working at the Caribbean Sound Basin studio in Trinidad, taking breaks to travel, surf and scuba-dive.

Early that year, Mr. Ashhurst called in after a diving trip and was told Mr. Stradlin had left the country. Confused, he eventually found Mr. Stradlin in a coffee shop in Copenhagen.

“I don’t think he appreciated being tracked down,” Mr. Ashhurst said.

Mr. Stradlin wanted to get away from the pressures of the music business, current and former colleagues said, but they also cited friction between Mr. Stradlin and Mr. Ashhurst over drugs. Mr. Ashhurst said he later became addicted to heroin, but not during his time with the Ju Ju Hounds.

In his email, Mr. Stradlin said “the Ju Ju Hounds was a great band.”

The article went on to talk about what Izzy is up to these days saying

“These days, Mr. Stradlin wakes up early, mountain-bikes, surfs and travels with his longtime girlfriend, Rick Richards said. “He likes to be untethered.”

According to a 1992 interview in Musician magazine, Mr. Stradlin said getting a dog helped to “keep my perspective, see life through a dog’s eyes. You’re doing all right if you’ve got food, a place to sleep and someone to pet you.”