Reclusive rocker Axl Rose poked fun at his penchant for tardiness during a rare late-night TV interview with comedian Jimmy Kimmel on Wednesday, insisting it's a "miracle" he made it to the studio on time.

The Guns N' Roses frontman sat down with the talk show host on Wednesday night to promote his band's upcoming residency in Las Vegas, and Kimmel started the chat by making light of the singer's punctuality issues.

The funnyman told his guest, "You're right on time, it's unbelievable, you're very punctual!," to which Rose laughed and replied, "It's a miracle!"

Guns N' Roses have become notorious for late starts to concerts and caused frequent headaches for venue bosses earlier this year by ignoring venue curfews and hitting the stage up to three hours after the advertised show time.

But the "Sweet Child O' Mine" hitmaker insists devotees attending their 12-night residency at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino next week won't have to wait quite as long as the band has been working on being more punctual.

He said, "We'll probably really go on about the time we're supposed to really go on, as soon as I find out what that time is! Or as soon as it's negotiated! (But) we've been doing a lot better lately."

His timekeeping is clearly much better these days - the band arrived punctually for its show at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit in California at the weekend.

Rose also joked about his past drug troubles after admitting he had been struck down with strep throat in the days leading up to the interview.

He told Kimmel, "I'm doing better now... I'm on a bunch of different things (medication), legal, illegal! No... I'm a lot better today."

The chat was Rose's first major TV appearance since he agreed to an interview on VH1 Classic's "That Metal Show" last year