{"id":472169,"date":"2026-02-16T15:29:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:29:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/472169\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T15:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T15:29:07","slug":"matt-sorum-says-velvet-revolver-could-have-been-as-big-as-guns-n-roses-but-it-just-didnt-last-long-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/472169\/","title":{"rendered":"Matt Sorum says Velvet Revolver “could have been” as big as Guns N’ Roses but “it just didn’t last long enough”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Matt Sorum has looked back at his time in Velvet Revolver<\/a>, and said that the band \u201ccould have been\u201d as big as Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a> if it lasted longer.<\/p>\n

The drummer formed the band in 2002 alongside fellow Guns N\u2019 Roses bandmates Duff McKagan<\/a> and Slash<\/a>. Also joining up with guitarist Dave Kushner, they recruited Stone Temple Pilots<\/a>\u2019 frontman Scott Weiland<\/a>, and went on to leave an unforgettable stamp on the rock scene.<\/p>\n

They dropped two albums before breaking up in 2008: 2004\u2019s \u2018Contraband\u2019 and 2007\u2019s \u2018Libertad\u2019, and briefly united in 2012 for a one-off live show in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Weiland died in December 2015<\/a>, aged 48. He was found unresponsive on the tour bus while on tour with his band, The Wildabouts. It was reported that the cause of death was an accidental overdose<\/a>, but those claims have been contested by the singer\u2019s widow, Jamie Wachtel Weiland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, Sorum has reflected on his time in the group and shared that he thinks the band could have been massive if they didn\u2019t call it quits in 2008.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was difficult times, early days, but so worth it,\u201d he said in a new interview with Get On The Bus. \u201cObviously, I was in the other band, but it was a new band and we had to recreate. We really couldn\u2019t be Guns N\u2019 Roses. We couldn\u2019t just rest on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to explain how he thought Velvet Revolver stood out because their music was a reflection \u201cof the times\u201d they were in and brought back the sense of energy and conviction that each of the members had in their youth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a different rhythmic sense. The rhythm wasn\u2019t this swagger retro rock and roll thing, it was more like a pumping kind of punky. It was a good club,\u201d he added. \u201cWe were all in the best shape of our lives. We got really serious about \u2018How are we gonna compete?\u2019 We never talked about it like this ever, but it was known. It was just, \u2018We have to be the best we can be. Let\u2019s just fucking throw it down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cThe [debut] album blew up. It wasn\u2019t as big as G\u2019N\u2019R, but it could have been. It just didn\u2019t last long enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really wanted to keep it together. Unfortunately, it fell into bad habits again and the same old shit and the wheels came off,\u201d he added. \u201cBut I still reflect back on that [period fondly], especially picking up the Grammy. We never got a Grammy with GN\u2019R \u2014 ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

The comments echo what Sorum also told Eddie Trunk earlier this month, saying again that Velvet Revolver \u201cdidn\u2019t last as long as I wanted it to\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hoping it\u2019d be more of a long thing and we\u2019d still be here, but unfortunately it didn\u2019t go that way,\u201d he added. \u201cBut I think we could have really developed into a great rock and roll band, which I felt like we were on \u2018Contraband\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

That interview also saw him share praise for Weiland, despite the band ending on bad terms when they first split in 2008. \u201cHe was a great frontman, with his quirks and everything else that went with it,\u201d he told Trunk. \u201cStill, if you look back, in my opinion, he was one of the greatest rock and roll frontmen that I\u2019ve been honoured to work with.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

As highlighted by Blabbermouth<\/a>, after the band split in 2008, there was a brief period where they were considering coming back with Slipknot<\/a> and Stone Sour<\/a>\u2019s Corey Taylor<\/a> as frontman. They recorded demos of 10 songs together, before this eventually fell through.<\/p>\n

At the end of last year, Weiland\u2018s son, Noah, covered tracks by Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver to mark the 10th anniversary of his father\u2019s passing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That show came just days after one of Weiland\u2019s previously unreleased tracks, \u2018If I Could Fly\u2019 was shared<\/a>. It was penned by the late frontman back in 2000 after the birth of Noah, and arrived on streaming exactly a decade to the day since Weiland passed away.<\/a><\/p>\n

In 2024, it was also reported that Noah was reworking unreleased vocals from his father on a new song called \u2018Time Will Tell\u2019, after an alleged blackmail attempt<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Matt Sorum has looked back at his time in Velvet Revolver, and said that the band \u201ccould have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":472170,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[88,216,1740],"class_list":["post-472169","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-rock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472169","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=472169"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/472169\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/472170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=472169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=472169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=472169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}