Former GUNS N’ ROSES Guitarist GILBY CLARKE Undergoes Carpal Tunnel Surgery

Former GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Gilby Clarke has undergone surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome, a repetitive stress condition that happens when a person does repeated movements with the hand and wrist.

The 61-year-old Clarke, who was a member of GUNS N’ ROSES three decades ago, underwent the procedure on Thursday (November 9) under the watchful eye of Dr. Stuart Kuschner, an orthopedist in Los Angeles, California who is affiliated with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

On Friday (November 10),Clarke took to his social media to share a post-surgery of his photo of his right hand, and he wrote in an accompanying message: “I had my Carpal Tunnel surgery yesterday & today I’m sore. saw my surgeon Dr. Stuart Kuschner today for my follow up & everything looks good.

“I was diagnosed with CP last year after many years of numbness in my fingers, hands & forearm. I thought it was from riding rigid motorcycles & general abuse, but no. it was Carpal Tunnel. I do have it in both hands, but my right was much worse.

“Im glad I got it done & hopefully Ill be back soon shredding & riding choppers soon,” he added.

“big thank you to Dr Kuschner at @cedarssinai & Dr Tekmyster at Keck/USC for all their consulting & shots that got me through the last year.”

Clarke replaced Izzy Stradlin in the GUNS lineup in 1991, during the “Use Your Illusion” tour, and stayed with the band for three years. After exiting GUNS N’ ROSES, Clarke continued as a producer and solo artist, while also playing in SLASH’S SNAKEPIT, ROCK STAR SUPERNOVA, HEART and other acts.

Clarke, along with fellow GUNS N’ ROSES members Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, played three “Appetite For Destruction” songs with Myles Kennedy at the band’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony in April 2012 in Cleveland, Ohio, although Gilby himself was not inducted as part of the group. Kennedy, who handles lead vocals in Slash‘s solo band and ALTER BRIDGE, sang “Mr. Brownstone”, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City”, with “Use Your Illusion”-era member Sorum sitting behind the drum kit on “Brownstone” and the man he replaced in GN’R, Adler, pounding the skins for the other two songs.

In 2021, Clarke addressed his non-participation in GUNS N’ ROSES‘ reunion tour, which features three-fifths of the group’s classic lineup — singer Axl Rose, Slash and McKagan — during an interview with “The SDR Show”. He said: “They didn’t ask me to join the band; they asked me to come out and do [a guest appearance] with the band. And it just happened to be the day that I was in Chicago with my daughter. Her band was playing Lollapalooza [in July 2016]. And I’m actually her roadie. I don’t think anybody would know how to tune the guitar if I wasn’t there. Just kidding. But, yeah, it was just bad timing. I just said, ‘Look, I think it’s a great idea. I’m up for it. I just can’t do it today.’ And they literally asked me that day. And I never heard back from them after I said that.”

Gilby also confirmed that he only had a week to learn the entire GUNS catalog when he first joined the band three decades ago. “That’s true,” he said. “They told me on a Monday, that ‘You have the gig,’ and the next week we were flying to Boston for our first show. And I literally had a week. And remember, this is before YouTube. I was glued to their records with the headphones on, trying to learn the catalog. And the last song I learned was a song called ‘Estranged’, which was a really long ballad piece. And if you listen to it, it’s kind of one-dimensional guitar-wise — it really just features Slash. So I was listening to it, and I really couldn’t figure out what I should do in that song. So I went to Dizzy [Reed, GUNS keyboardist]. I go, ‘Hey, man, can you sit down with me, and let’s work on ‘Estranged’.’ I go, ‘I just wanna kind of figure it out.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, well, here’s the music book.’ And he handed me the music book. And I went, ‘There’s a music book? I just spent a week learning every note by ear when I could have just grabbed the freakin’ music book…’ I mean, I read charts — it would have taken me an hour. I was a little pissed off that I didn’t ask. They could have offered it to me.”

Clarke‘s new solo album, “The Gospel Truth”, was released in April 2021 via Golden Robot Records.

Gilby released his solo debut, “Pawnshop Guitars”, in 1994.