Adler was briefly fired from the band, but was reinstated after signing a contract promising to stop using drugs.
[13] In April 7, 1990, he performed with Guns N' Roses at
Farm Aid IV in Indiana. It would be his last appearance with the band. When problems in the studio continued, he was formally fired on July 11, 1990,
[14][15] during the recording of the
Use Your Illusion I &
Use Your Illusion II albums, and replaced with
Matt Sorum. The official reason for his departure, according to various members of the band, was his heavy substance abuse which impeded his ability to work. Geffen A&R rep Tom Zutaut, who worked with Guns N' Roses, corroborated this claim, stating in a 1999 interview, "Steven Adler would show up at the recording studio completely high. Recording sessions would abort for several days when he couldn't put it together."
[16]
In October 1991, he filed a lawsuit against his former Guns N' Roses bandmates, claiming that they were responsible for his drug addiction and that the contracts he had signed actually took away his financial interest in the band.
[17] In a 2005 interview he stated, "Doug Goldstein called me into the office about two weeks later. He wanted me to sign some contracts. I was told that every time I did heroin, the band would fine me $2,000. There was a whole stack of papers, with colored paper clips everywhere for my signatures. What these contracts actually said was that the band were paying me $2,000 to leave. They were taking my royalties, all my writing credits. They didn't like me anymore and just wanted me gone. That's why I filed the lawsuit - to get all those things back."
[8][15]
