Paul, like Izzy, was not into the whole big touring thing that comes with GN'R, and realized it was time to let Axl find a touring guitarist - Richard Fortus.

Buckethead left because Buckethead doesn't work long term in GN'R, or any major band act for that matter. Bucket is too underground, too widely unpredictable, and frankly I think is a bit 'too Axl' for Axl. I don't think Axl ran him off, I think Bucket is the type of guy that needs to keep busy, and frankly the GN'R fans hated him then. HATED him. All of this 'Bucket love' has only manifested itself in recent years, as fans have discovered, they didn't realize the band they truely had in 2001/02. I think then, if Axl had seen more support from the fanbase for Bucket, he'd of tried even more than he did to keep him. They also tried to get Izzy to return in 2001 & Bucket in 2006, both of which turned it down. I don't think it's Axl, I think it's GN'R, and the spotlight that comes with that brand name. They just don't dig it.

Robin is opting for NIN, because Robin just doesn't work on Axl's timetable. Most musicians want to keep busy, and Robin ain't Axl. Axl's got a pile of money he sits on, and can do the whole "take my time" thing, which drives most musicians crazy. Robin is no different. Bottom line, he'd rather be with an active-NIN than an inactive-GN'R. I don't think it's an artistic or personal statement towards Axl.

Richard is a touring musician. Always has been, always will be. He brings nothing to the table, he's simply a guy that gets the band by, and personally I feel that 'in-studio' Axl still sees GNR's rhythm guitarist as Paul and maybe Izzy someday again. Richard is Gilby Clarke 2000.

Brain simply took off, because of his child. I think this is obvious by the fact Brain WANTS to comeback. If you have issues with a band or it's frontman, you don't WANT to comeback. Brain does. That shows you there's still a friendship there, and they respect him as an artist.

Absolutely. People are WAY to easy and way to quick to assume that people leave because they have a thing against Axl. They can have a million thing against anything in the machinery on top of personal decisions as well. Paul didn't leave because he hated Axl. He just helped Axl out to begin with. Bucket left because he's Bucket. Robin left after 10 years (if we are to belive so) and I think it's fair to any musician to move on after 10 years in a band. Brain is like you say, he had a baby, Axl gave him plenty of room to manouver. He wants to come back. May or may not.

So before you dig into a body count list, dig a little further into each and every personality and see there's more to it than "Axl's a dick so he left".

Slash left because Slash thinks Axl is a dick to him. That's fair.
Duff left because he felt there was no point in going on. That's fair too.
Matt got fired because he's a dork
Izzy left because he got sober and had no interest in going the way Axl did. That doesn't mean they can't see eye to eye. They had a thing for years but they're friends again. We don't know half of it.

he said checkmate was a bogus title...then he said the working title is Jackie Chan....someone here noticed somewhere (wiki...?) that one of Jackie Chan's nicknames is "The General"