“Like all young artists, sometimes you run into somebody that’s one of your heroes”: Jerry Cantrell recalls the time he tried – and failed – to pass an Alice in Chains demo tape to Axl Rose

Alice in Chain’s founder, lead guitarist, main songwriter, and co-lead vocalist Jerry Cantrell has etched his name in the rock history books as an integral part of the hugely influential ’90s grunge guitar sound. However, as an aspiring artist cutting his teeth in Seattle, Cantrell sought every way possible to make a mark – including attempting to hand over an Alice in Chains demo tape to a certain classic rock band, back in 1988.

“Like all young artists, sometimes you run into somebody that’s one of your heroes and, you know, pass them on your demo tape or whatever,” he explains on the Broken Record podcast.

“I lived right behind the Seattle Center, and that’s where they [Guns N’ Roses] were playing. So, I handed it to his [Axl Rose’s] security guard, and his security guard threw it away as they were walking, so it wasn’t Axl’s fault.”

Fast forward to Cantrell actually making it with Alice in Chains, and he eventually got to know the Guns N’ Roses members personally. Naturally, he relayed this anecdote from these early days…

“Now, I told Axl that story too, and we laughed about that as well!” he concludes.

Years later, in a true full circle moment, Alice in Chains would go on to tour with the classic rock greats as the openers of their 2016 reunion tour.

In other Jerry Cantrell news, the guitarist recently opened up about temporarily losing his trusty G&L ‘Blue Dress’ Rampage – the guitar behind practically every key Alice in Chains record – last year.