Duff McKagan will revisit his long history in rock this October with the release of Lighthouse: Live From London, a 19-track live album and full-length concert film recorded last year at London’s Islington Assembly Hall during his sold-out Lighthouse Tour ’24.
The album arrives October 31 in multiple formats, including CD, Blu-ray, and vinyl, and captures McKagan revisiting tracks from his acclaimed solo career alongside a handful of classics from his musical past.
Recorded on October 5, 2024, Lighthouse: Live From London brings McKagan and his band — Tim DiJulio (guitar), Jeff Fielder (guitar/keys), Mike Squires (bass), and Michael Musburger (drums) — to one of London’s most historic stages. The performance was engineered and mixed by longtime collaborator Martin Feveyear, and the setlist draws on McKagan’s 2023 album Lighthouse, his 2019 Shooter Jennings-produced record Tenderness, and songs from throughout his decades-long career.
The show opens with originals like Forgiveness, Chip Away (a song Bob Dylan once singled out as a personal favourite), and I Saw God on 10th St. before stretching into covers of The Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog and The Crickets’ I Fought The Law. And, as a nod to his most famous band, McKagan drops a fiery You’re Crazy from Guns N’ Roses’ landmark 1987 album Appetite for Destruction.
Among the highlights is a moving live version of Longfeather, premiered today alongside an official performance video streaming now on McKagan’s YouTube channel.
Special guest Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols joins McKagan late in the set for a pair of once-in-a-lifetime collaborations: Johnny Thunders’ Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory and David Bowie’s Heroes. McKagan and Jones go back decades as bandmates in the short-lived but cult-loved Neurotic Outsiders (with Steve Stevens and Matt Sorum).
The live video of Heroes featuring Jones is also streaming now, offering a taste of the chemistry between the two punk icons.
For McKagan, the London performance is a snapshot of a career that has spanned over 40 years. Raised in Seattle, he was just 15 when he began playing in punk outfits like The Vains and The Fastbacks before forming The Living in 1982. By the mid-80s, McKagan moved south to Los Angeles and became a founding member of Guns N’ Roses.
As GN’R’s bassist, McKagan helped anchor one of the most successful hard rock bands of all time. Appetite for Destruction (1987) remains the best-selling debut album in history with over 30 million sales worldwide. His distinctive bass lines powered tracks like It’s So Easy and Mr. Brownstone, while his backing vocals featured heavily on songs like Sweet Child O’ Mine.
McKagan also took the spotlight himself on The Spaghetti Incident? (1993), singing lead vocals on the cover of The Misfits’ Attitude. He co-wrote some of Guns N’ Roses’ biggest songs, including You Could Be Mine, Civil War, and So Fine.
After GN’R’s original run ended, McKagan formed Velvet Revolver with Slash, Matt Sorum, and Scott Weiland, scoring hits like Slither and Fall to Pieces and winning a Grammy in 2005. He also launched his own projects, including Loaded, and contributed to countless collaborations across punk, rock, and metal.
McKagan’s solo career has shown his evolution beyond hard rock. His 2019 album Tenderness, produced by Shooter Jennings, surprised many with its Americana tones and political edge. 2023’s Lighthouse found McKagan stripping things back further, leaning on reflection and melody rather than bombast. Songs like Longfeather and I Saw God on 10th St. demonstrated the bassist’s ability to carve out his own identity outside of GN’R.
In addition to music, McKagan is a New York Times best-selling author with his memoir It’s So Easy: And Other Lies (2011) and his follow-up How to Be a Man: (And Other Illusions) (2015). He also co-hosts the global radio show Three Chords & The Truth with his wife Susan Holmes McKagan.
The forthcoming album is both a celebration of McKagan’s latest chapter and a reminder of the full sweep of his history. It closes with Don’t Look Behind You, a message that seems to underline McKagan’s own career trajectory: a nod to the past, but a clear eye on the present.
Lighthouse: Live From London will be released October 31, 2025, in multiple configurations including 2LP vinyl editions (one with an autographed ticket replica) and CD/Blu-ray packages.
Full Tracklist:
Forgiveness
Chip Away
This Is The Song
I Saw God on 10th St.
Tenderness
Feel
Holy Water / I Wanna Be Your Dog
I Just Don’t Know
Fallen Ones
Fallen
Wasted Heart
Longfeather
Just Another Shakedown
I Fought The Law
You’re Crazy
Lighthouse
Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory (feat. Steve Jones)
Heroes (feat. Steve Jones)
Don’t Look Behind You
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