When they were in high school, Izzy Stradlin started a band with his friends, one of whom was William Bailey, later known as Axl Rose.

“We were long-haired guys in high school,” said Izzy. “You were either a jock or a stoner. We weren’t jocks, so we ended up hanging out together. We’d play covers in the garage. There were no clubs to play at, so we never made it out of the garage.”

Izzy Stradlin left G&R at the height of their fame in 1991, despite the fact that he wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on the Appetite For Destruction album, including “Sweet Child o’ Mine” and “Paradise City”. He also wrote the hit “Patience”.

So why wasn’t Izzy on the latest Guns ’N Roses tour?

“I don’t really know what to say about Izzy,” Axl said. “It’s like you could have a conversation and think it’s one way and the next day it’s another way. And I’m not trying to take any shots at Izzy. It’s just his thing is kind of his thing, whatever that is.”

Izzy on Twitter: “Bullshit. They didn’t want to split the loot equally. Simple as that. Moving right along…”

No worries. Patient Izzy still gets those big fat royalty checks every time Axl sings his songs.

Shed a tear ’cause I’m missing you? Not even.