
Duff McKagan has shared the song LIGHTHOUSE, the title track from his third solo album, LIGHTHOUSE, arriving everywhere on Friday, October 20. Pre-orders are available now. The album will be available in several variations, including CD, deluxe CD with fold-out photo print, cassette, standard black vinyl, and deluxe vinyl in a host of colors, each with lithographs, booklet, sticker, and guitar pick. Signed versions and exclusive store versions will be available as well. For more information, please visit duffonline.com.
“The crashingโฆ.the cresting waves, the falling through of all that surrounds you. Life sometimes tosses us around, and we feel the want of comfort and the pull of home. A ship tossed like a toy through the Cape, sails ripped and the wood groaning with the scraping of its ballastโฆ.a soul trying with all its might to find peace and a center. Find a lighthouse. I have my lighthouseโฆ.its beacon swirling in the darkness with her warmth and promise of nurture, love, laughter, and all that is true. Wonโt you be my lighthouse, give me light,โฆand bring me home.” – Duff
For more than 40 years, Duff McKagan has been an unstoppable creative force, spanning a multitude of bands, tours, collaborations, and writings. Now, with his long-awaited new solo album, LIGHTHOUSE, the veteran musician proves to be, at his heart, a gifted singer-songwriter with a distinctive knack for authenticity and introspection.
In 2019, McKagan opened his own recording studio, allowing him a long-hoped-for opportunity to โfinally explore songs that I may have written the night before or some of those old riffs from years ago. This is a big deal for me.โ He spent much of the next two years working with longtime producer/collaborator Martin Feveyear (Mark Lanegan, Brandi Carlile), chipping away at a series of intensely personal new songs.
LIGHTHOUSE now marks the first full-length collection born in McKaganโs studio. Songs like HOPE (featuring veteran Paul McCartney drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and melodic lead guitar from Slash) and the philosophical I JUST DONโT KNOW (featuring contributions from McKaganโs longtime friend, Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains) see McKagan baring more of his artistic spirit than ever before, fusing acoustic elements with hard-edged rock โnโ roll to land at the sweet spot between soul-searching reflection and pure energy. The 11-song collection is further highlighted by an additional take on the title track, LIGHTHOUSE (REPRISE), joined by the one and only Iggy Pop.
McKagan first unveiled his new music earlier this year with THIS IS THE SONG, a three-song EP honoring Mental Health Awareness Month alongside a call to action on Propeller. The EP โ which was met by critical applause in Rolling Stone, Consequence of Sound, Loudwire, and American Songwriter, to name just a few โ includes the deeply moving title track, THIS IS THE SONG, joined by an official companion video streaming now on YouTube.
Starting at just 15, McKagan has been a part of such diverse and influential bands as The Vains (1979), The Fastbacks (1980), The Living (1982), The Fartz (1982), 10 Minute Warning (1983), and Loaded (1998), along, of course, with his historic role as founding member of both Guns Nโ Roses and Velvet Revolver. Produced by 3x GRAMMYยฎ Award-winner Shooter Jennings, McKaganโs 2019 second solo album, TENDERNESS, marked a powerful new chapter for the ever-evolving artist, taking on societal ills and his own personal transgressions against a rich sonic backdrop of Americana-fueled arrangements. Named by Loudwire as one of that yearโs โ50 Best Rock Albumsโ and hailed by Rolling Stone in a three-and-a-half (out of four)-starred rave as โan album full of beauty and heartโฆItโs music of conscience, heavy songs with a light touch,โ the album includes the volatile rocker, โChip Away,โ which earned extraordinary praise from the Maestro himself, Bob Dylan, who recently declared the song a personal favorite.
โThereโs a Duff McKagan song called โChip Awayโ that has profound meaning for me,โ Dylan told The Wall Street Journal. โItโs a graphic song. Chip away, chip away, like Michelangelo, breaking up solid marble stone to discover the form of King David inside. He didnโt build him from the ground up, he chipped away the stone until he discovered the king. Itโs like my own songwriting, I overwrite something, then I chip away lines and phrases until I get to the real thing.โ
Along with his prolific musical efforts, McKagan is the New York Times best-selling author of 2011โs Itโs So Easy: And Other Lies and 2015โs How to Be a Man: (And Other Illusions), and the co-host (with Susan Holmes McKagan) of Sirius XMโs popular Three Chords & The Truth radio show on Ozzyโs Boneyard (Ch. 38). McKagan currently serves as a core member of a modern-day โWrecking Crewโ alongside GRAMMYยฎ Award-winning musician/producer, Andrew Watt, and Red Hot Chili Peppersโ Chad Smith, recording and co-writing on such recent albums as Ozzy Osbourneโs Ordinary Man (2020) and 2x GRAMMYยฎ Award-winning Patient No. 9 (2022) and Iggy Popโs acclaimed Every Loser (2023). Whatโs more, McKagan โ with Watt, Smith, and Red Hot Chili Peppersโ Josh Klinghoffer โ is part of the recently unveiled Iggy Pop & The Losers lineup, who made a high-profile televised debut earlier this year with an electrifying performance of the feverish โFrenzyโ on ABCโs Jimmy Kimmel Live!
McKagan is currently traveling with Guns Nโ Roses on an epic global tour set to touch down in North America beginning August 5 at Moncton, CAโs Croix-Bieue Medavie Stadium.
For complete details and remaining ticket availability, please see www.gunsnroses.com/tour
