Guns N’ Roses released two new singles, “Nothin'” and “Atlas” in December 2025. Some fans might not be aware that “Atlas” has a deep classic rock connection to one of the band’s heroes.
Both songs date back to the lengthy sessions for 2008’s Chinese Democracy album, which took shape over many years, with numerous musicians and producers filtering in and out of the sessions.
READ MORE: Five ‘Chinese Democracy’ Songs You Need to Hear Again
Queen’s Brian May played on several songs, including an early version of “Atlas,” which at the time, was titled “Atlas Shrugged.” As he shared with Uncut in a 2011 interview, it was longtime Queen producer Roy Thomas Baker who brought him into the mix.
“[He] was doing some production for them at the time and they came up with the idea of contacting me to help them work out a direction,” the guitarist recalled. “I flew out there to meet him and he played me pretty much the whole album. We had a long night talking, thinking, figuring out potential directions.”
May spent the next couple of days “just trying things out,” in his recollection and played on several things, including “Catcher in the Rye,” which later appeared on Chinese Democracy, sans his contributions.
The recently released version of “Atlas” features Slash handling the guitar work and he admitted he was surprised to learn the guitar legend had been part of the long genesis for the song.
Listen to Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Atlas’ (2025 Version)
How Slash Found Out About Brian May’s Version of ‘Atlas’
“I didn’t even know Brian was on the track [until today],” Slash tells UCR in a new interview. “Had I known, had I heard it, it might have been something that I would have wanted to play off of Brian. It would be interesting now that I know to go back and listen to what Brian did.”
The pair got a chance to spend some good time together when May’s solo band, then touring in support of his Back to the Light solo album, opened some Guns N’ Roses concerts during the Use Your Illusion tour. Slash also ended up jamming with the Queen icon when Brian appeared on the Tonight Show in that era and he says they’ve remained close.
READ MORE: 30 Wild Moments From the ‘Use Your Illusion’ Tour
“Brian is one of my all-time favorite guitarists, but also one of my favorite composers. And I say composers because Queen stuff is so epic,” he explains during the UCR interview. “Queen was, all around, one of our favorite bands, so it was an honor to work with Brian. It always has been. I’ve worked with him a bunch of times over the years.”
Listen to Slash on the ‘UCR Podcast’
How Brian May Feels About Guns N’ Roses Now
The guitarist has similarly warm feelings about the Guns camp, which he’s expressed in interviews. Queen invited Guns N’ Roses to perform at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert and the band, as he shared, also made a large donation to the Mercury Phoenix Trust.
As he told UCR during a 2021 interview, he has good memories of the time he spent out on the road with the group in the Use Your Illusion era. “It was great for me, because I was playing with people who I respect and they also respect me,” he said. “Axl [Rose] was known for being difficult and whatever, you know, he was always great to me. He always had time to speak to me.”
“Slash was just always very relaxed [and] very cool. That’s always been the way I’ve seen Slash,” he said later in the same conversation. “He’s a real gentleman and a fantastic musician, obviously….I mean, he plays from his soul and those fingers have strength and magic.”
What’s Next for Guns N’ Roses?
The Sunset Strip legends will be back on tour and have a hefty schedule of dates throughout the year starting in March. U.S. fans will get their first look at GN’R starting July 23 in Raleigh.
As Slash told UCR, he’s looking forward to the upcoming trek. He also says that “Nothin'” and “Atlas” are the last songs from the Chinese Democracy era that they’ll be working on. From this point forward, it will be newly written music that will have their focus.
But he’s enjoyed the process of working on the Chinese Democracy tracks. “These songs that were already done, it was basically just the song itself and going, what’s my guitar interpretation of this song going to be? So it’s fun for me, because I get to write something to a pre-existing thing,” he explains. “Which calls for a different set of tools than when you’re just writing for yourself.”
READ MORE: Slash Says Guns N’ Roses Have Released Final ‘Chinese Democracy’ Songs
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Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso
