Guns N’ Roses have “set the record straight” on their late appearance at the Rock in Rio festival.

The ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ group – notorious for breaking curfews and making fans wait hours before taking to the stage – were two hours late appearing at the show in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, earlier this month, with a statement from their publicist claiming this was because of heavy rain and the previous band, System of a Down, finishing late.

The statement read: “Guns N’ Roses would like to set the record straight on Rock in Rio. The festival’s inadequate production and the downpour of rain delayed the event.

“Anyone who was there knows that System of a Down did not leave the stage until close to 1:15 in the morning.

“The inadequate cover of the Rock in Rio stage caused a further delay when the soundboard went down due to water damage and was replaced as quick as possible.

“GN’R walked onstage at 2:40 a.m. and played for two-and-a-half hours in the pouring rain. GN’R would never seek to intentionally disrespect anyone, especially their fans (sic).”

The band’s performance had been criticised by the festival organiser, Roberto Medina, who reportedly claimed he felt singer Axl Rose’s behaviour at the event had displayed a “lack of commitment” and “respect for the public.”

The band also appears to be going back on an earlier statement about the show made on their Facebook page.

That post read: “Love it. Hate it. Accept it. Debate it. You want 8 o’clock shows go find friends or hit a cinema somewhere. Or if you want to be informed go catch the 10 O’clock news. This is Rock N’Roll!

“Treat yourself, don’t cheat yourself thinking you’re going to go to school or work or whatever you normally do the next day.

“This is Guns N’ Roses and when the time is right the stage will ignite. Looking forward to sharing that with rockers.”

Guns N’ Roses late stage times have previously led to riots in the US and Canada, and at last year’s Reading festival in England they had the power pulled from them before the end of their show because they started playing so late.