Drummer Begs Axl Rose to Return Song Master That Could Raise $2M

Former Who drummer Zak Starkey has made a public plea to Axl Rose to return the master recording of a song that he claims could raise $2 million for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The song in question is a star-studded cover of T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution,” which features contributions from Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Elton John and Starkey’s father, Ringo Starr.

The cover dates back to 2017, when Guns N’ Roses and the Who both played Rock in Rio. It was recorded for a charity album that’s yet to receive a proper announcement. According to Starkey, Rose got hold of the track in 2024 and his procrastination could be costing the collective $2 million in charity money.

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See Zak Starkey’s Message to Axl Rose About Master Recording

“Dear Axl Rose, please give me my master of this track back,” Starkey writes in a new Instagram post. “Me and Sshh [Liguz, Starkey’s wife] spent three years making this Bolan tribute for teen cancer.”

The drummer says he’s at an impasse without the master of “Children of the Revolution,” “which my dad, Sshh and I arranged to include a modulating section for Slash’s guitar, another for Duff’s bass solo and plenty of room for Elton before you asked Sshh if you could sing it.”

He added: “It’s a drag that the record is on the shelf, as Christie’s [auction house] have advised it could generate $2M for teen cancer. C’mon bro.”

Zak Starkey Previously Leaked ‘Children of the Revolution’ Cover

After revealing the existence of the “Children of the Revolution” cover in 2024, Starkey leaked the track on social media earlier this year.

“Ringo/Elton/Axl/Duff/Slash. C’mon amazing people — let’s get this record out and [help] these teenagers who, as musicians, we rely on so much,” Starkey wrote back in April. “If we wait much longer some of the these brave young people may not have enough time to hear it.”

He added: “This is the first half, then it gets wild!!! Everything generated by this record … goes to teenage cancer – if it gets released, which depends totally on the amazing participants giving us the green light.”

Listen to a Leak of Star-Studded  ‘Children of the Revolution’ Cover

Starkey said the rest of the Teenage Cancer Trust benefit album features “more than one Beatle, a Smith, a Pretender, an Ashcroft, an Iggy and many more.” He also hoped the album could be released “without greedy bean counting majors wanting 75 percent (I won’t say which label, but fuck me, this is for sick kids).”

If released, “Children of the Revolution” would mark the first recording to feature new contributions from Rose, Slash and McKagan since they reunited in 2016.