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Rocker SLASH has spoken about his decision to oust SCOTT WEILAND from sup ergroup VELVET REVOLVER, insisting "chemical issues" led to the split.
Weiland was fired in April 2008 after a series of public bust-ups and t he band has failed to find a replacement - but Slash doesn’t regret getti ng rid of his former frontman.
In a candid exclusive with Spinner.com, the guitarist says, "Velvet Rev olver was intended to be a lot of fun and we started off having a great t ime, but I think that we all had a lot of chemical issues as that thing w ore on.
"I definitely went way down the f**king drain for a minute there after the Contraband record came out and we went on tour for two years.
"I started drinking heavily and revisited my opiate passion, then had t o come out of it, so eventually I had to say, ‘That’s it!’ Certainly Scot t had his issues, even (bandmates) Duff (McKagan) and Matt (Sorum) went d own the same road. The only one that stayed sober during the whole thing was f**king Dave Kushner.
"We all eventually came out of it and made the Libertad record, which I thought, musically, was a good record, but we lost Scott and we never re gained that. I thought the overall spirit of everything was declining at that point… The Australian tour was the final blow." Slash insists he and Weiland have now been able to put the past behind them - and he’s on good terms with the Stone Temple Pilots frontman: "I’m sort of happy for him…. I still love the guy and there’s not really an y hard feelings about the whole thing. I even hung out with him recently.
" And Slash insists Velvet Revolver isn’t over: "We’re going to reconvene next year, look at the singers again, and try to find the right guy to m ake the most bitchin’ Velvet Revolver record… Velvet Revolver still exi sts."

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