Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal says that he doesn't regret his time with the band despite the fact that he didn't get to write any new music with the Axl Rose-fronted outfit. 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. Thal later revealed that he was focusing on his solo career after spending eight years playing in GUNS. During an appearance earlier this week on "Trunk Nation", Eddie Trunk's show on SiriusXM channel Volume (106), Thal was asked if he had any regret about his nearly decade-long stint with GUNS. He responded: "You could look at anything and say, 'What if I took a different path?' 'What if I did different things?' 'What if I said no and did this instead?' 'What if I just focused on my solo stuff or producing or whatever else or film and TV music?' Ugh… nah. Your life is your life, and whatever decisions you made, they were based on who you were, who you are and what was supposed to happen and what's meant to be and who you are today and what you learned from it and all of that mumbo-jumbo crap. So, yeah. Do I regret it? No. Absolutely not. If you'd asked me three years ago, I would have [given a] different [answer]. But, no. Absolutely not. I got to be part of making millions of people cheer and enjoy themselves. It's wonderful." Asked what his personal highlight was from his time with GUNS N' ROSES, Thal said: "The first thing that always comes to mind is playing the Bridge School Benefit [organized by musicians Neil Young and Pegi Young], when we got to play a show… It was a benefit for [the Bridge School, which assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs]… And having the kids and their families right on stage with us on this big platform behind us. I remember just almost ignoring the audience in front of us and just going back to them and just taking a kid's hand and helping him strum the guitar. Things like that. That's always the first thing that comes to mind." Thal joined GUNS N' ROSES in 2006 and played on 2008's "Chinese Democracy", an album which contained music that had been written before he came into the group. He has also released a number of solo CDs. Thal is currently involved with ART OF ANARCHY alongside CREED singer Scott Stapp and DISTURBED bassist John Moyer. Thal didn't publicly address his exit until last year when he told Loudwire: "All I could say is you reach a time when you just know it's time to move on and you just know that what you've seen for your life, what you see the future of your life and what that is, it's not what you pictured for yourself." He continued: "When I started playing music, I was six years old, and when I thought about what I wanted and what my goals were, and what makes me alive inside making music, and I just… I was looking at what I was doing, and it didn't match up. And I just needed to… I needed to go."
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