Guns N' Roses Share New Song That Was 16 Years In The Making

"The General" is a thing of legend to Guns N' Roses fans. The band wrote the song during their Chinese Democracy sessions but never released it — until now.

GN'R officially released the song on Friday (December 8) after live debuting it at a Hollywood Bowl show last month. It's the b-side to their single "Perhaps," which was released in August and was also written during their Chinese Democracy sessions 16 years ago. Both songs feature guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan, who rejoined the band in 2016.

Although fans hadn't heard the single until a month ago, people have been talking about "The General" since it was written. As Blabbermouth points out, former drummer Brian Mantia told Rolling Stone in 2008 that the song is a sequel to "Estranged" off 1991's Use Your Illusion II.

Before that, in a 2007 interview with Metal Edge, former Skid Row singer Sebastian Bach had this to say about the song: "One of my favorite songs is this song called 'The General', which is so... it's by far the heaviest metal tune I think I've ever heard Axl do, this slow, grinding riff with these high, piercing vocals, screaming vocals."

Listen to the long-awaited song below.