It’s being widely reported that the band – with frontman Axl Rose, the only original member remaining – will appear January 14 at the Rock in Rio III festival in Rio de Janeiro, bringing to an end one of the longest stage hiatuses in rock history.

The band’s management didn’t return a call from Pollstar to confirm the story, and a rep from their record label, Interscope, said, “we can’t confirm it or deny it.” Given past surprises from the volatile band and the mercurial Rose, that’s understandable.

However, published reports have Axl taking the stage for the closing set on the massive festival’s third day with former Replacements bassist Tommy Stinson; guitarists Paul Tobias, Robin Finck and Buckethead; keyboardist Dizzy Reed; and former Primus drummer Brain.

Rumors of a GNR resurrection have been rampant over the last couple of years, especially since the band regrouped long enough to record a track for the 1999 Arnold Schwarzenegger flick “End of Days.”

An unfinished album, reportedly titled Chinese Democracy, has been the subject of rumor for five years. The Interscope rep told Pollstar that it is still a “work in progress” and there is no projected release date.

Guns N’ Roses has now been away from the stage almost as long as it was on it. The last GNR studio album was a 1993 collection of punk covers, The Spaghetti Incident?. The band’s major-label debut, Appetite For Destruction, was released in 1987 and kicked off five tumultuous years for Rose and original bandmates Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler.

Over the years, personnel – including Rose – were fired or quit, with Rose returning only to fire the rest of the band and take control of the Guns N’ Roses trademark.