Duff McKagan Missed Out On The Simpsons

Duff McKagan says he missed out on millions by giving “The Simpsons” free reign to name their famous Duff Beer after him.

In a new interview, he revealed how Fox TV contacted him in 1988 to say they planned to name a beer after him, before the show went mainstream.

“I knew nothing about branding yourself then or the royalties off it,” he told the Independent. “I just thought cool, they wanna use my name and boom, The Simpsons was born. Yeah, if I had a nickel for every time… but it’s fine.”

Today, Duff runs a fund-management company which helps young rockstars come to terms with their new-found riches and learn about money management. But how did a rockstar like Duff end up with such business skills?

In the same interview, Duff remembers the turning point. In 1994, the years of living to excess caught up with him and he was hospitalised. “My mom had Parkinson’s and I saw her come in crying, seeing her youngest son on tubes. That turned me around,” he said.

When he came out, he developed an unusual interest in accountancy.

“I didn’t have any work to do and I had files of my personal and Guns N’Roses financial statements for the previous eight years. I wanted to learn how to read these but I didn’t trust anybody. I just got a light bulb in my head and said ‘I want to go to school’. That began my journey, taking accountancy and business classes at Seattle.”