Before Alter Bridge locked in its lineup and momentum, Myles Kennedy stepped away from music for a stretch after tinnitus became a real problem. That health issue also shaped one of the bigger “what if” moments of the 2000s: an audition opportunity for Velvet Revolver.
Speaking to Metal Hammer, Kennedy says the decision to turn it down came with a cost: “It was very difficult to turn that opportunity down. Though my friends might have thought that I was crazy, I knew that I wasn’t mentally prepared, at least at that stage, to jump into something of that magnitude and do it justice.”
He describes the early mental hit of tinnitus in plain terms: “Very disturbing initially, especially mentally. The biggest concern was maintaining the hearing quality that I still had. Fortunately, since I’m very careful with how loud I listen to music, I’ve managed to keep it in check.”
Not long after, he took a different leap, joining Mark Tremonti in what became Alter Bridge, and he explains why that felt workable: “Enough time had passed. There was a limited amount of music written at that point, but I could recognize from the beginning that this was potentially something that would be appropriate for my voice and songwriting approach.”
Alter Bridge eventually launched with One Day Remains, and later, the story turned back around: Kennedy wound up collaborating with Slash on Slash and became his touring vocalist.
As for Velvet Revolver, vocalist Scott Weiland was fired from the band in 2008 and they never quite got back together. After Weiland's departure, Velvet Revolver entered a long, uneven period of searching for a new lead singer while frequently drifting in and out of activity.
Auditions were inconsistent, often interrupted by solo projects and hiatuses, and many well-known musicians were rumored or confirmed to have been considered over the years, including Myles Kennedy, Chester Bennington, Lenny Kravitz, Sebastian Bach, and others. Franky Perez was briefly hired as vocalist in 2008, though the arrangement did not last. Band members, particularly Slash and Duff McKagan, repeatedly emphasized that no candidate had fully met their expectations, and progress toward a stable lineup remained elusive.
The band reunited with Weiland for a one-off benefit performance in January 2012, sparking brief speculation about a permanent reunion. While Weiland publicly expressed interest in fully rejoining Velvet Revolver for touring and recording, those claims were quickly denied by Slash, and no long-term plans materialized.
By 2014, the band acknowledged continued auditions but remained inactive, with members focused on other commitments. Any possibility of a reunion definitively ended with Weiland's death in December 2015, after which Slash and McKagan rejoined Guns N' Roses in 2016.
