Comedian Bill Burr Recalls Accidentally Playing With Slash & Duff McKagan

Other than Axl Rose and Scott Weiland, there are very few people that can say that they've played with Slash and Duff McKagan at the same time. But stand up comedian Bill Burr got the surprise of a lifetime when he got to drum for the Guns N' Roses duo at a charity concert, completely out of pure luck.



While on Marc Maron's "WTF Podcast", Burr shared a story of how a simple drumming hobbyist like himself somehow found himself drumming behind Slash and Duff at a charity concert that was organized by Dave Kushner of Velvet Revolver. "Dave is such a great guy, he does a lot of stuff for charity. He knows all of those guys - the Guns N' Roses guys, Velvet Revolver, STP," Burr said. "So when he puts together a show for charity, it's like an all-star band. You feel like you're at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I went to a couple of these shows, and at one point, he said to me, 'Hey, man, you wanna sit in on one song? You're gonna do some stand-up and then maybe sit in?'"

Burr said he was a little reluctant at first, not wanting to be "that guy" that would end up looking like the "jerkoff" sitting behind a bunch of world-famous rockstars, but he later accepted Kushner's request and joined in for rehearsals of AC/DC's "Highway To Hell". He admitted that he was very intimidated by the level of musicianship by all of the other members of the band, and even more so when he actually had to look up who they were since he didn't recognize any of their names. Eventually he started to feel more confident about his performance, even though his nerves failed to subside leading up to the show.

"I sneak up onstage, because I didn't want the introduction," said Burr. Of course he ended up getting one anyway, and to the roaring sound of golf claps. But that was the least of his worries, as he felt the purest sense of terror as he saw both Slash and Duff McKagan be introduced on stage. "I had three seconds to process this, and then Slash just goes [imitates chords]. I was like, 'Oh God, here we go.' I couldn't feel my legs! Somehow I was able to get through it. I screwed up like three times, but I came back in time."

Watch Bill's full performance with Slash and Duff below!



(source: Ultimate Classic Rock)