Former GUNS N' ROSES and current SONS OF APOLLO guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal has released a new instrumental song called "Planetary Lockdown". You can now stream the track below. Thal said: "It was early March 2020, on tour with SONS OF APOLLO in Europe, as the COVID-19 coronavirus numbers were quickly escalating. We made it through four shows of our 20-show European tour before we had to pull the plug, leave half our gear in storage and urgently head for home. It was a race to get back as the door was slamming shut behind us. Europe was shut down. And within days, the world. This song was inspired by that feeling of urgency, that race... completed while in self-isolation, the song was fittingly titled 'Planetary Lockdown'. "This too shall pass. Wishing you all to be safe and healthy." He added: "No guitar parts were sped up or unnaturally edited — solos were played in real-time, using a Line6 Helix pitch-delay effect." Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006, replacing Buckethead. He played with the band for eight years and performed on "Chinese Democracy". He has also released nine full-length solo albums over the past 23 years, most recently 2015's "Little Brother Is Watching", which was reissued on CD and vinyl in August 2017 by MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson's EMP Label Group. Three years ago, Thal said that he agonized over his decision to leave GUNS N' ROSES, explaining that he "wanted it to be something that [he] knew it wasn't ever gonna be." Thal never officially announced his departure from the GN'R, but a source confirmed to Detroit music writer Gary Graff back in 2015 that the guitarist had been out since the end of the band's second Las Vegas residency in 2014. SONS OF APOLLO, which also features drummer Mike Portnoy, keyboardist Derek Sherinian and bassist Billy Sheehan), released its second studio album, "MMXX" (pronounced: 20/20), in January via InsideOut Music/Sony.
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