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In the early 1990s, Faith No More<\/a> opened for Guns N\u2019 Roses<\/a> (and stadium co-headliners Metallica<\/a>) during GNR\u2019s Use Your Illusion<\/a><\/em> tour. It\u2019s widely regarded as one of the most controversial tours<\/a> in rock and metal history, and during a recent interview, co-founding keyboardist\u00a0Roddy Bottum<\/a>\u00a0dove into why the tour was \u201coffensive\u201d and a \u201cturning point\u201d for him.<\/p>\n Bottum recently appeared on YouTube channel Birthday Cake For Breakfast<\/a>\u2019s 60 Minutes or less<\/em> podcast \u2013 uploaded on Dec. 16, 2025 \u2013 to discuss a wide range of topics (including his memoir, 2025\u2019s The Royal We<\/a><\/em>).<\/p>\n Eventually, the conversation turned to the Use Your Illusion<\/em> tour (which featured verbal and physical assaults, rioting, ranting, on-stage debauchery, property damage and numerous arrests).<\/p>\n Host Andy Hughes asked Bottum (who\u2019s openly gay) how he felt touring with Guns N\u2019 Roses since there was allegedly \u201ca lot of misogyny abound\u201d and<\/em> because \u201capparently, they\u2019d just put out a tune that had homophobia and racism in it [‘One in a Million<\/a>‘].\u201d<\/p>\n Bottum responded:<\/p>\n I think it was a challenge, but honestly, only for me. It was very much the rock and roll norm at that point. Misogyny, male aggression [and] toxic masculinity was all just part of the equation at that time. Everyone was on board for it. I don\u2019t know anyone who wasn\u2019t, honestly. . . . [Most of Faith No More] were leftist-leaning, progressive, weird and . . . liberal-minded. Billy [Gould, bass], Mike [Bordin, drums]<\/a> and Mike [Patton, vocals]<\/a>. We were all like, \u201cOh, my god.\u201d Kinda blown away by the audacity of that environment. We couldn\u2019t believe what we were seeing.<\/p>\n But we were very much alone in that mindset. Everyone on that tour \u2013 the Guns N\u2019 Roses people, the crew, the Metallica people, their<\/em> crew, Jim [Martin] [and] probably a lot of our crew \u2013 were down with the hedonism. They were okay with it, and it was just an era in which people got on board. Me, being the gay man, was sort of like \u2013 I grew up with three sisters, you know, basically. That was just, like, offensive and wild and \u201cWhat the fuck?\u201d to me more than anyone else, for sure.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Bottum then referenced something he says in The Royal We<\/em>:<\/p>\n Seeing the potential association of us as a band \u2013 and me in that band \u2013 being sort of regarded as that<\/em> was, like, \u201cNo, no, no, no, no.\u201d Up to that point, I hadn\u2019t really been open about my sexuality in the press, so it kind of did stir me onto making that declaration in the press and talking about being gay.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n He also mentioned finding some artwork included in 1987\u2019s Appetite of Destruction<\/a><\/em> (involving an underage schoolgirl) distasteful before discussing more about the isolation he felt during the tour.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was definitely solitude in sort of my perspective and who I was, like being the gay person,\u201d he began, adding:<\/p>\n For sure, in that camp, in that world, in that rock and roll circus, there were no gay people. No way. Like, I was the only one for certain, and in that way, certainly so much alone. I didn\u2019t do that interview [in which he came out] until the end of that tour, when something comes up in that circus that I see and it\u2019s like, \u201cOh, my god.\u201d It\u2019s kind of like the turning point for me.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n You can watch the full interview below.<\/p>\n READ MORE: ‘You Saved My Life’ – Faith No More’s Mike Bordin Recalls Encouraging First Meeting With Ozzy Osbourne<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n As Loudwire<\/a> previously wrote, Guns N\u2019 Roses tour for 1991\u2019s Use Your Illusion<\/em> lasted about two-and-a-half years (from January of 1991 to July of 1993), culminating in \u201c194 shows in 27 countries\u201d and \u201cone of the longest treks in rock history.\u201d<\/p>\n Obviously, it wasn\u2019t all sunshine and, well, roses, though, since the lengthy and\u00a0combative endeavor<\/a> saw vocalist Axl Rose<\/a> repeatedly arriving late to venues and<\/em> engaging in “onstage tantrums.\u201d In fact, he \u201cstormed offstage and cut shows short several times, in some instances causing audiences to riot and rack up hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond that, multiple members were dealing with multiple kinds of addiction, and guitarist\u00a0Izzy Stradlin<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0quit the band in 1991 \u201cafter getting sober and realizing he could no longer stomach their hedonistic lifestyle and the glacial pace at which they got things done.\u201d<\/p>\n In terms of specific events, there are almost too many tumulteous\u00a0ones to count.<\/p>\n For instance, Rose broke his foot at a warm-up gig at the Ritz in New York on May 16, 1991, and about a month later, he challenged a fan to fight during a performance in Philadelphia. Then, in July of 1991, the notorious Riverport riot<\/a> in St. Louis occurred, and on Aug. 31, Stradlin played his final show with GNR.<\/p>\n Cut to April of 1992 and Rose went on a rant about a Rolling Stone<\/em> cover story<\/a> in Chicago. Then, in July, he was arrested for the St. Louis riot and<\/em> \u2013 about two weeks later \u2013 he stormed offstage because someone hit him in the groin with a lighter during \u201cKnockin\u2019 on Heaven\u2019s Door.\u201d There was another riot (in Montreal) the next month, and at some point during the summer, Patton urinated on Rose\u2019s teleprompter.<\/p>\n If all that weren\u2019t enough, GNR guitarist Slash<\/a> died for eight minutes in a San Francisco hotel room in September of 1992. The same month, Rose and Nirvana<\/a>\u2019s Kurt Cobain<\/a> had beef at the MTV Video Music Awards, and at the end of November, a \u201cfailed military coup that ultimately claimed more than 170 casualties\u201d left the band stranded in Venezuela.<\/p>\n Those are just a few of the many things that made the Use Your Illusion<\/em> tour so infamous.<\/p>\n Capping off the 20th century <\/strong>with some remarkable concerts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nWhat Bottum Said About the Tour<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Roddy Bottum Discusses \u201cOffensive\u201d Faith No More Tour With\u00a0GNR (Dec. 15, 2026)<\/h3>\n
More About the Use Your Illusion<\/em> Tour<\/strong><\/h3>\n
10 Rock + Metal Tours From 1992 We Wish We Could See Now<\/h2>\n