2018.04.15 - Angra facebook page - Video message from Bumblefoot

Angra is a Brazilian progressive metal band, Marcelo Barbosa has been their lead guitar player since 2015 (after being in other bands previously) and his first studio recording with them was in 2018.



Bumblefoot: So Mr. Barbosa has been an old friend of mine. He's such an amazing guitar player. We've actually done a couple of things together. He brought me down and had me play at his GTR schools, in Florianopolis and Brasilia, we've jammed… Two years ago wee played a real nice concert together, a lot of his solo songs. And he is the guy - when I was leaving Guns N' Roses in 2014, he was the one and only guy that I recommended to replace me. I said to them, I was like, “He'd be perfect, he'd be the guy. I'll work with him, I'll make sure he's ready.” Obviously, they had other plans, but he was my pick for Guns N' Roses to continue on after me. Yeah.

Marcelo Barbosa himself talked about it on his facebook page on April 7, 2016 and also shared a screenshot of an email, dated May 2, 2014, he received from Bumblefoot:



Auto-translation from Portuguese:

Guns'n Roses...

Hey guys! What's up?

Today is my birthday and I chose this date to share with you something that happened in 2014 and that only my family and a few very close friends know about.

In 2010, Khallice (one of the bands I was playing in at the time) opened for Guns'n Roses in Brasília. Because of that event, I met and became friends with Bumblefoot, the guitarist who was part of the mega band's second formation for over a decade. We always kept in touch and met up a few times, sometimes in the USA and sometimes in Brazil. In 2014, Guns played again in Brazil and Brasilia and I attended the shows in Brasilia (where he spontaneously gave me the honor of wearing a GTR t-shirt) and in Floripa, where, after the show and still in the dressing room, he told me about his decision to leave the band. I was stunned by the news, but he really had made up his mind.

Well... To cut a long story short, a few months later Bumblefoot sent me an email saying he was looking for someone to replace him in Guns and asking if I'd be interested in him recommending me to Axl. If I accepted, he would give me all the support I needed to take on the shows that were scheduled for September in Las Vegas. Obviously I agreed, and sent all the material they asked for (photos, release in English, videos of me playing live and videos of me playing some solos from the band's songs). I knew that at some point I would have to go to the USA to audition and play a bit with the rest of the band. Everything seemed to be going well until I was informed that the rest of the tour had been canceled with no further details and because of the delay in talking about any activity, I began to suspect a reunion with the original line-up. I kept this story a secret because I didn't know what would really happen until the new tour was announced, and I thought it was reasonable to ask Bumblefoot himself if it would be a problem to make it public before doing so (obviously he didn't see any problem...).

I was very happy with the offer, even if it didn't materialize. Among so many talented people in the world... I'm an extremely down-to-earth person and although I secretly prepared myself for the possibility of getting in, I kept my mind calm, because I knew that there was also the possibility that it wouldn't happen and that life is good and beautiful anyway.

By the way, I'm very happy that the original line-up is back and I hope to be able to see the band live at least once. I'm also happy to finally be able to share this story with my friends and fans, which I find inspiring and wonderful no matter what.

Hugs to everyone and all the best to you all!

Marcelo Barbosa

The email from Bumblefoot: