Melissa Reese Exits Upcoming Concert Run

The band cited “unforeseen personal reasons” for her absence

The show will go on without Melissa Reese on the upcoming Guns N’ Roses tour. On the eve of their March 28 kick-off date, the band announced that their keyboardist would miss the tour “due to unforeseen personal reasons,” adding, “We hope our fans understand.”

The world tour will launch in Mexico on Saturday, March 28, and extend through Sept. 9, when the band will wrap with a final show in Atlanta. The band have yet to announce a replacement for Reese and representatives did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.

Reese first joined Guns N’ Roses on the road in 2016 during their reunion tour. She was first recruited by Chinese Democracy producer Caram Costanzo, who asked her, “What are you doing for the next few years?” The gig stuck. Costanzo was looking for someone “with a really unique set of skills that is excellent at those skills,” and Reese fit the description.

“All those experiences gave me this fire in my belly,” Reese told Rolling Stone in 2020. “It made me learn shit and how to do it better than everybody else, so I could be the chick that breaks the glass ceiling.” She’s now played hundreds of shows with the band.

“Guns is definitely still looked at as this dude’s thing, where it’s a male club and there’s no place for a chick,” Reese said. “But you could not ask for a better group of dudes. That’s the band itself and everyone we work with. They’re protective of me. It’s beyond just having my back. We’re like a family, and they’re like my big brothers.”

In announcing her absence from the tour, Guns N’ Roses shared a photo of the full band arm in arm on stage.

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