Hear Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan’s rousing cover of David Bowie’s ‘Heroes’
He’ll kick off his ‘Lighthouse’ tour next week
Duff McKagan has shared a cover of ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie, ahead of his ‘Lighthouse’ tour that kicks off next week.
The Guns N’ Roses bassist is playing a string of shows across Europe, the UK and the US, following the release of his solo LP ‘Lighthouse’ towards the end of last year. The tour kicks off on Monday (September 30) in Dublin and will make stops in London, Warsaw, Berlin, Milan, Paris and more in October before heading to the US the following month.
Before he takes to the stage, McKagan has released a cover of Bowie’s 1977 hit. “We thought it was good idea to put out a couple of fresh songs right here on the eve of the Lighthouse tour,” he wrote on Instagram. “Choosing David Bowie’s HEROES seemed to be a natural subject matter for me (I am of course, a massive history nerd)…star-crossed lovers in the shadow of the mid-70’s cold-war era Berlin Wall.”
Alongside ‘Heroes’, McKagan also shared a new song ‘True To The Death Rock N Roll Ballad’, which he says he wrote “to try and compliment” the era ‘Heroes’ was written about. The glam-rock anthem explores themes of love, lust and time. Check out both tracks below.
Lighthouse’ marked McKagan’s third album as a solo artist, following on from 1993’s debut ‘Believe In Me’ and 2019’s ‘Tenderness’. It also starred guest appearances including Iggy Pop, Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, and longtime Guns N’ Roses bandmate Slash.
You can see a full list of tour dates below, and find tickets to the UK and European dates here, and US dates here.
In other news, the bassist recently opened up about The Simpsons reportedly using his name for the animated series’ fictional beer brand Duff Beer. However, his claim was later dismissed by a writer and producer from the show.
In March, McKagan shared how Iggy Pop helped him through a “bad mushroom trip” when he was a teenager. “I went to an Iggy show way too high on mushrooms, thinking I was going to have to go to the hospital, freaking out,” he said on a podcast.
“I just watched Iggy the whole, just tripping way too much on psychedelics. But he brought me down. And I was already a big Iggy fan, but then I was like, he means more to me. He’s a waypoint for me in my life.”
