A new Guns N’ Roses song, titled “Perhaps,” accidentally leaked this weekend via those digital jukeboxes found in bars.
“Perhaps,” which dates back to the Chinese Democracy sessions, was previously played by the reunited GN’R during a soundtrack before their Tel Aviv concert in June 2023, with low-quality recordings spreading on the internet; a rough demo version has also circulated for years.
In recent weeks, pre-save pages for the track briefly appeared on streaming services heralding an Aug. 11 release date, but Friday came and went without the song’s arrival. However, TouchTunes machines across America apparently did not get the memo about the song’s postponement, as “Perhaps” appeared on the digital jukeboxes, complete with its potential artwork, Blabbermouth reports.
Guns N’ Roses’ reps did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment. No release date for “Perhaps” has officially been announced.
“Perhaps” would mark Guns N’ Roses’ first “new” music since the 2021 singles “Hard Skool” and “Absurd,” a pair of Chinese Democracy-era outtakes that were updated by the band’s current, semi-reunited lineup. Both tracks are now staples of the band’s “Not in This Lifetime” tour.
Back in 2019, bassist Duff McKagan hinted that GN’R were at work on their first album together since 1993’s The Spaghetti Incident?
“Oh, it’s real, but the fun part and the cool part about Guns N’ Roses is we don’t really talk about it, and what happens next just happens,” McKagan said of a new album.
“It’s never been that band that there’s a direct schedule of how we do things. I’ve heard some magnificent stuff that Axl has, really cool stuff he’s been working on. So I’m excited about the possibilities with that, of course. I don’t mean to get anybody rabid. Our day will happen when it happens, that’s for sure.”
Slash previously stated, “Axl, Duff, myself and Richard [Fortus] have all talked about [it]… there’s material and stuff going on already for a new record. It’s just, with Guns N’ Roses, you don’t go, ‘Oh, there is a plan, and it’s gonna be like this,’ because that’s not how it works. So, basically, the only real answer to give is we’re hoping to put a new record out, and we’ll just see what happens when it happens.”