Watch the official music video for the latest single “Perhaps” by GUNS N’ ROSES below
The official launch of the long-withheld track from the “Chinese Democracy” era, originally anticipated to hit the scene last Friday (August 11), arrives in under a week since its unauthorized appearance on TouchTunes machines at bars and other venues. Devotees stepping into their favorite watering holes to cue up a GN’R tune found an unexpected addition to their playlist.
This offering featured the official single cover art and bore the imprint of Geffen Records, the enduring record label under the Universal Music Group umbrella. “Perhaps” had been previewed by GUNS N’ ROSES during a soundcheck before their Tel Aviv concert on June 5; despite its omission from the live performance, resourceful fans outside the venue seized the opportunity to capture the rehearsal on their phones, leading to the emergence of low-quality clips online. Just like GUNS N’ ROSES’ 2021 track “Hard Skool,” “Perhaps” originated during the “Chinese Democracy” sessions. A preliminary demo of the song had already surfaced on YouTube via an earlier leak.
Recently, GUNS N’ ROSES‘ seasoned production manager, Tom Mayhue, confirmed the imminent release of a fresh single by the band. Mayhue revealed these plans while speaking to the press ahead of GUNS N’ ROSES’ July 13 concert in Paris, France. Noting that the North American leg of their tour concludes in mid-October, he shared: “And I know that the band’s gonna start working on new music. They’ve got a bunch of stuff recorded already. So there will be new GUNS N’ ROSES music very soon. In fact, I think they’re trying to get a single out any day now, so you may hear something very, very soon.”
Regarding what the new GUNS N’ ROSES material sounds like, Mayhue said: “It sounds great. It’s a lot more kind of ‘Appetite [For Destruction]’-orientated. They had a lot of songs. When the band went in originally and recorded ‘Appetite For Destruction’, I think they recorded, like, 29 songs. So there’s a bunch of other music that was left over that didn’t make the first record. I think there’s only 11 songs on the first record.”
The most recent offering from GUNS N’ ROSES was the “Hard Skool” EP, comprising four tracks and released in February 2022. Exclusively available through the GUNS N’ ROSES‘ official store, the EP showcased the two new tracks the band unveiled in 2021 — the eponymous title track and “Absurd” (stylized as “ABSUЯD“) — in addition to live renditions of “Don’t Cry” and “You’re Crazy.”
Back in September 2021, the band members, led by their guitarist, unveiled “Hard Skool,” extending the release timeline beyond their performance and the subsequent official launch of “Absurd,” a reinterpretation of GUNS N’ ROSES‘ previously unreleased “Silkworms.“