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Are Guns N' Roses Reuniting Next Year?

They redesigned their website and stashed promos in select showings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. What gives?

Word came back from he folks over at Ultimate Classic Rock this weekend that select Christmas weekend showings of Star Wars: The Force Awakens came with a weird perk: a short Guns N' Roses promo featuring a bit of enigmatic video soundtracked by a GNR classic. On Christmas Day the band's Facebook profile picture was updated to a black-and-white shot of an audience not that dissimilar from what was shown in the Star Wars previews. The image also directs to the official GNR website, which suddenly, dramatically touts the classic era band logo. What are they plotting?

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This summer, Guns confirmed the departure of guitarists DJ Ashba and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal; any plan to move forward with the band would require a lineup change. The use of the image that now graces the official GNR website (and new merchandise in the official online store) could only have been achieved through a truce in the longstanding spat between singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash, and bassist Duff McKagan over the band name, logo, and publishing. What's more, 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of GNR's 1991 double album Use Your Illusion and the 30th anniversary of the Geffen Records deal that facilitated the release of the LA rascals' 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction.

The abrupt rebrand, alongside promos in tethered to showings of Star Wars, already the biggest movie of the year, seem to suggest something big. Whispers of a partial reunion and a festival tour abound, but time will tell. Let's all keep an eye on next month's Coachella lineup announcement for any surprises, eh? Watch the short promo clip that played to select Star Wars audiences below.