Guns N’ Roses are returning with a humming new single “Hard Skool.” Beginning with a riveting bassline and diving into ringing school bells, Axl Rose’s vocals making their way in. “But you had to play it cool, had to do it your way/ Had to be a fool, had to throw it all away/ Too hard school and you thought you were here to stay/ If that were true, it wouldn't matter anyway,” Rose shouts during the track’s chorus, adding to the energetic feel of the track. Listen to the track on iHeartRadio here.
The track was first teased on Slash’s TikTok account, the guitar legend sharing a clip from the band’s soundcheck. While the track has been floating around since the early-2000s, with the initial intention to be released on their sixth studio album, Chinese Democracy, in 2008, “Hard Skool” didn’t make the original cut.
But as time has gone on, the band saw themselves returning to the track, with Slash and Duff McKagan reimagining “Hard Skool” along with their single “ABSURD” that had been released in August.
Excitement for the track began swirling once again when it was rumored that Axl Rose had played the song for a Guns N’ Roses fan at their show in Atlantic City, NJ. Rose had supposedly said the track would be released “soon,” his words setting Twitter ablaze. Containing all the gems that have made past Guns N’ Roses classics, “Hard Skool” is sure to please fans who have been waiting nearly 20 years for the track to finally be released.
While performing at Bottle Rock in Napa, California, Guns N’ Roses brought out Dave Grohl for a performance of “Paradise City.” However, the song was cut short due to the festival’s curfew in order to comply with the city’s noise ordinances. But that didn’t stop the rockers, who had the crowd sing out the rest of the track to them.