That was exactly the first thing that came to my mind too when I saw the thread.

Yeah i remember when the Rolling Stones licensed Start Me Up to Microsoft for Windows 95, it was a big thing. Nowadays if you aren't doing that sort of thing you're really not making a buck with your music.

Call the tiger Mr Bubbles, he fits with everything else in the MJ analogy.

There have been plenty of rumors about it through the years.

Obviously Weiland said the pens were ready to sign.  I also remember when things went shit with VR at one point and there were reports that Slash moved all his gear out of the studio etc.

I also recall murmurs that there was agreement on a reunion of sorts at one point but when the paperwork was finally done Axl had slipped in an additional clause where the they would have signed away all remaining rights to the back catalogue (or something to that effect).

Remember also when Madison (plus some others) had hinted that Slash could be at the Hammerstein shows in2006? I think this was also around the time of Slash supposedly moving his gear. She was hammered for that, but I always thought she wouldn't have said that if there wasn't some basis to it.  I mean hell she got hammered for the Slash t-shirt thing too and that turned out to be true, people were being told to take them off sometimes.

Nothing surprises me with this band anymore, including the possibility of Axl trying to construct some fucked up (for everyone else) reunion on crazy terms.