Guns N’ Roses faces legal charges by former manager

Alan Niven, who once guided Guns N’ Roses during what his attorneys call “their most prolific period” in the late 1980s and early ’90s, has taken legal action in Arizona against former business associates.

The charges were filed over efforts to block the release of his memoir, Sound N’ Fury: Rock N’ Roll Stories.

Filed earlier this week and obtained by Variety, the lawsuit claims that a 1991 confidentiality agreement has already been broken many times by three key band members, Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan, through interviews and published books. 

Niven says he was never previously warned or threatened legally when he spoke publicly about his time with the group, making the new attempt to stop his book’s publication unfair.

Niven alleges that the band sent him a cease-and-desist letter earlier this year to halt the memoir’s release. 

According to the complaint, he believes he should be free to respond to what he describes as “disparaging” comments made over the years. 

He also says thousands of printed copies are currently being stored, costing him money while they remain withheld from the public. 

The lawsuit further claims that Axl Rose never signed the confidentiality agreement in the first place. Niven is suing to move forward with publishing.

Before working with Guns N’ Roses, Niven managed Great White throughout the 1980s and into the ’90s. 

In 2023, he sued the band’s label, Universal Music Group, saying he was owed nearly $1 million in royalties and fees. That case was dismissed and is now under appeal.

Niven also took legal action against Australian group The Brewster Brothers in 2010, claiming copyright infringement and requesting publishing royalties and the return of two guitars. 

The judge ultimately ruled in his favour on copyrights to 11 songs, ordered the guitars be returned and required the band to pay him $295.77, though the remaining claims were dismissed.

Now, Niven is focused on bringing his own story to the public, arguing that the attempts to silence him are inconsistent with the band’s history of speaking freely about their shared past.