Former Guns N’ Roses manager Alan Niven is suing the band over their efforts to allegedly block the publication of his new memoir, Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories.
Niven worked with several hair metal and hard rock acts during the Eighties and Nineties, but is still probably best known for his tenure with Guns N’ Roses, which covered much of the band’s early days and rise to stardom (1986 to 1991). At the heart of the dispute between the band and ex-manager is a buyout agreement that was signed when the two sides parted ways: Guns N’ Roses allegedly claimed Sound N’ Fury violated a confidentiality clause in the agreement, while Niven has argued the confidentiality agreement is “void and unenforceable.”
A rep for Guns N’ Roses did not immediately return a request for comment.
According to the suit, obtained by Rolling Stone, the buyout agreement “was not signed by all of its members,” which was required for it “to be effective.” (It specifically claims that Axl Rose “did not sign the contract.”) Niven also argues that the members of Guns N’ Roses have essentially violated the confidentiality clause themselves when they’ve previously spoken or written about Niven in ways the filing describes as “inflammatory or even defamatory.”
Specifically, the complaint claims Slash and Duff McKagan both wrote about Niven “in a manner that violates the agreement,” and it alleges that Rose has repeatedly spoken about Niven in ways that “violate the agreement.”
Niven’s suit also notes that Guns N’ Roses have never “complained” when Niven has responded to quotes about him in the press or talked about the band in interviews. He also alleges that he’s been invited by band members to appear in documentaries about the group and that, between 2015 and 2018, “a member of GNR exchanged emails with Niven multiple times regarding the book and encouraged him to write it.”
In an effort to further cast doubt on the contract, Niven claims he was “under severe personal distress” when he signed the buyout agreement. The suit states that he had been “betrayed by his former employee, the band’s lawyer, and his band,” and was “forced to take a buyout that was far less than he would have received had he stayed with GNR.”
Sound N’ Fury was originally supposed to be published in late June, but the complaint says Guns N’Roses sent Niven’s publisher, ECW Press, a letter in May invoking the confidentiality agreement. “[D]ue to GNR’s threats, Sound N’ Fury languishes in a warehouse,” the filing alleges, adding: “Thousands of copies of Sound N’ Fury have been printed and continue to incur storage expenses. The release date has been moved several times. The public is expecting the book to be released, and Niven has accrued advance orders.” (Current pre-order listings have the book scheduled for release in 2026.)
Niven is seeking a judgement of non-enforceability for the agreement, as well as rulings of breach of contract or interference with a contract.
