Duff McKagan is 52 today. On February 5, 1964, Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan was born in Seattle, WA. Duff is clearly best known as the bassist for Guns N' Roses, but he had led an interesting adult life.
Despite being an honors student in school, Duff dropped out of school in the 10th grade. His first love was punk music. He played in numerous punk bands around Seattle, playing pretty much any instrument needed.
In 1980 at the age of 16, he joined the pop-punk band 'Fastbacks' as their drummer:
He joined other bands as well, and one of those bands became '10 Minute Warning,' for whom he played guitar:
In 1983 he moved to Los Angeles and worked in numerous restaurants. He answered an ad in the paper for a bassist, which is where he met Slash and Steven Adler. They started a band called "Road Crew," named after the Motorhead song "We Are The (Road Crew)." Later, Slash disbanded the group because Steven Adler didn't have the work ethic that he and Duff did.
Eventually Duff, Slash, and Steven Adler joined up with 'Hollywood Rose' band members Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin, and Guns N' Roses was born. Everyone kind of knows the story of GNR (huge success, drug use, band members fired, Axl last one standing, 2016 reunion, etc.). In concert, GNR would occasionally cover The Misfits song 'Attitude,' which Duff would sing:
As Guns N' Roses dissolved in the late 90s with band members quitting and being fired. In their final tour, the band would be ready to hit the stage, only to be forced to wait on Axl, who would show up hour(s) late. Duff and Slash touch on this in their biographies (which are both good reads), and how pissed it would make them to have to sit and wait and listen to their fans boo them. Slash wrote in his biography that one show, Axl refused to take the stage unless Slash and Duff would sign over their rights to GNR to him - which, they did. Duff was the last member of the original lineup to quit the band. Stating in an interview at the time "Guns had been paying rent on studios for three years now—from 1994 to 1997—and still did not have a single song. The whole operation was so erratic that it didn't seem to fit with my hopes for parenthood, for stability."
In the next few years, Duff moved back to Seattle, reunited '10 Minute Warning,' recorded a solo album, and started his side project Duff McKagan's Loaded.
In 1994, Duff was one of the last people to see Kurt Cobain alive. They flew on the same flight from LA to Seattle and talked when they landed in Seattle, then went their separate ways. Four days later, Kurt was dead. Duff has said that they were both dealing with their addictions and not in a good space, and he wished he had offered to hang out with Kurt.
In 2002, Duff and Slash struck gold a second time when they formed the band 'Velvet Revolver' with ex-GNR drummer Matt Sorum, ex-Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, and rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner.'
However by 2008, Scott was up to his old habits and he was fired as the singer. Other singers were auditioned, but nothing every really materialized.
Musically, Duff has continued work with his band Loaded, briefly joined Jane's Addiction, and done session work for other musicians.
In his later years as a member of GNR, on a personal level Duff was dealing with major addiction issues, mostly alcoholism. In 1994 he was checked into a hospital with alcohol-induced pancreatitis that caused his pancreas to leak enzymes into his body, causing 3rd degree burns. His doctors told him if he didn't stop drinking, he would be dead within months. To get sober, he started biking and doing martial arts.
Duff has been married for 16 years to model Susan Holmes and has two daughters. His daughter Grace has her own band, 'The Pink Slips.' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrV-x0dvkEs)
Duff went back to school at Seattle University's 'Albers School of Business and Economics' to pursue a degree in finance. He is a few credits short of graduating, after he left to go on tour with Velvet Revolver. His impetus to go to school was he couldn't understand the financial reports he would get about the status of GNR. He was a millionaire who couldn't read his own financial reports. Duff eventually founded the wealth management firm Meridian Rock, which caters to musicians.
In addition to music, school, and family, Duff is a writer, who has written columns for ESPN, Playboy, and Seattle Weekly. Being a huge Seattle Seahawks fan, two years ago he wrote some columns for NFL.com leading up to the Super Bowl, including a column calling the Seahawks the punk rockers of the NFL http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/story/0ap2000000319963/article/duff-mckagan-seahawks-are-the-punk-rockers-of-the-nfl
Duff has also released two books; his autobiography 'It's So Easy: and other lies" (edit: A great book) and his most recent book, a guide to life called "How To Be A Man."
Duff was the last original member (other than Axl) of GNR to quit the band, and I believe was also the first to make peace with Axl. One time Duff was in England and he was inadvertently put in a hotel room next to Axl, because the hotel manager assumed they were together. They made their peace and Duff has performed a few times with the Axl-led later version of GNR.
As most know, it's been announced that Guns N' Roses will reunite in 2016 with Axl, Slash, and Duff. The rest of the lineup remains to be seen.