Guns N’ Roses Replace Longest-Serving Drummer Frank Ferrer After 19 Years

Guns N’ Roses quietly closed a long chapter in March 2025, announcing that drummer Frank Ferrer was out after 19 years. Isaac Carpenter was named as his replacement. The move ends the tenure of the longest-serving drummer the band has ever had — longer than Steven Adler and Matt Sorum combined.

Ferrer’s entry was famously provisional. In 2006, he was a last-minute sub for Brian “Brain” Mantia, hired to cover two weeks of tour dates while Mantia’s wife gave birth. Ferrer stayed for nearly two decades, playing on Chinese Democracy and anchoring the lineup through the reunion with Slash and Duff McKagan. Axl Rose kept him on board even as the band’s classic members returned.

Now, in his first post-Guns interview with Rolling Stone, Ferrer made a point of gratitude toward Rose. He is not idle: he’s currently playing in two groups. The Slax pairs him with Brett Smith-Daniels, Band of Skulls guitarist Russell Marsden, bassist Stefan Bielik, and singer Chris Payn; their sets mix originals with covers from Free, Aerosmith, and Joan Jett. One Night Only, another live outfit, draws from Hanoi Rocks guitarist Conny Bloom, Slash’s Snakepit bassist Johnny Griparic, and Swedish vocalist Matti Alfonzetti.

Neither band appears to be a direct counterpunch to his departure. Ferrer described the projects as loose collaborations with friends, built around the downtime between larger commitments. After nearly two decades inside one of rock’s most volatile institutions, the shift feels less like a firing and more like an exit into lower-stakes, higher-freedom territory.