Rose: 'Slash is a cancer better removed'

Axl Rose has reportedly described his former bandmate Slash as a "cancer that's better removed".

The Guns N' Roses singer ruled out a return to the group's original lineup, backing up his statement earlier this month that he would die before reuniting with the top-hatted guitarist.

Slash, who appeared on Gun N' Roses's Appetite For Destruction and Use Your Illusion albums, left the band in 1996.

"I suppose [former bass player] Duff [McKagan] could play guitar on something somewhere but there's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty," Spinner.com quotes Rose as saying.

"In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided - and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters the better."

Rose added that he is not a fan of Slash's guitar playing, branding him a "whore for the limelight".