Former Guns N’ Roses musician Chris Pitman is suing Axl Rose for $163,000 (£123,551) in unpaid wages. Chris was a member of the group from 1998 until he left the band in April this year (16) ahead of a tour featuring the return of revered bandmembers Slash and Duff MCKagan.
Now the keyboardist and bass player claims Axl owes him $163,000 (£123,551) in backpay for his work with the band in 2011.
Chris' suit claims that a then hard-up Axl wrote him a promissory note - a legal instrument in which one party promises in writing to pay a determinate sum of money to the other - for $125,000 (£94,748), stipulating the sum be paid by October 2012. He is demanding $163,000 in total due to interest payments.
The return of Guns N' Roses' classic line-up has reportedly seen the band net an estimated $100 million (£75.8 million) from their Not in This Lifetime… world tour.
Since April (16) Axl has also been filling in for AC DC frontman Brian Johnson, who has hearing problems, on the Australian rock group's Rock or Bust tour.
Despite being one of Guns N' Roses' longest serving members Chris was left out of the band's line-up in favour of Melissa Reese for the lucrative new tour. In the wake of his exclusion he took to social media to slam the group for embarking on a "nostalgia tour", calling the gigs "a money grab". He subsequently apologised, writing on Twitter, "I sincerely apologize to GNR (Guns N' Roses), especially the band and crew, for stupid comments about upcoming tour, ..remember kids, dont (sic) drink n text!"
