Axl Rose
Encyclopedia
W. Axl Rose is an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is the lead vocalist and only remaining original member of the hard rock
band Guns N' Roses
, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years. In 2001, he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses at Rock in Rio 3, and subsequently played periodic concert tours, before releasing the long-delayed album Chinese Democracy
in 2008. Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone
and NME
.
, Indiana
, the oldest child of Sharon E. ( Lintner), then 16 years old, and William Bruce Rose, then 20 years old. When Rose was two years old, his father abandoned the family. His mother remarried to Stephen L. Bailey, and his name was changed to William Bruce Bailey. He has two younger siblings—a sister, Amy, and a half-brother, Stuart. Until the age of 17, Rose believed that Bailey was his real father. He never met his biological father as an adult; William Rose, Sr. was found murdered in Illinois
in 1984.
The Bailey household was very religious; Rose and his family attended a Pentecostal church, where he was required to attend services three to eight times per week and even taught Sunday school
. Rose later described his upbringing as oppressive, stating, "We'd have televisions one week, then my stepdad would throw them out because they were satanic. I wasn't allowed to listen to music. Women were evil. Everything was evil." In 1992, after undergoing past life regression therapy
, Rose claimed he had uncovered memories of being sexually abused by his biological father at the age of two. He also stated that his stepfather had physically abused him and his siblings, as well as sexually abused his sister. Rose found solace in music from an early age. He sang in the church choir from the age of five, and performed at services with his brother and sister under the name the Bailey Trio. At Jefferson High School
, he participated in the school chorus and studied piano. A second baritone, Rose began developing "different voices" during chorus practice to confuse his teacher. He eventually formed a band with his friends, one of whom was Jeff Isbell, later known as Izzy Stradlin
.
At the age of 17, while going through papers in his parents' home, Rose learned of his biological father's existence, and he unofficially readopted his birth name. However, he referred to himself only as W. Rose, because he did not want to share a name with his biological father. He became so engrossed in one of his bands, Axl, that his friends suggested he call himself Axl Rose. (Several years later, just before he signed his contract with Geffen Records
in March 1986, he legally changed his name to W. Axl Rose.) Following the discovery of his true family origins, Rose became the local juvenile delinquent in Lafayette; he was arrested over 20 times on charges such as public intoxication and battery, and served as long as three months in jail. A psychiatrist, who noted Rose's high IQ, concluded that his behavior was evidence of psychosis
. After Lafayette authorities threatened to charge him as a habitual criminal, Rose moved to Los Angeles, California in December 1982.
, with whom he recorded a four-song demo in May 1983. After the group's disbandment, he joined the first line-up of L.A. Guns
, before forming the band Hollywood Rose
with his childhood friend Izzy Stradlin
, who had moved to Los Angeles in 1980. In January 1984, the band recorded a five-song demo featuring the tracks "Anything Goes", "Rocker", "Shadow of Your Love", and "Reckless Life", which were released in 2004 as The Roots of Guns N' Roses
. While struggling to make an impact on the Hollywood music scene, Rose held down a variety of jobs, including the position of night manager at the Tower Records
location on Sunset Boulevard
. Rose and Stradlin even smoked cigarettes for a scientific study at UCLA for the reported wages of $8 per hour.
In March 1985, Rose and his former band mate Tracii Guns
formed Guns N' Roses
by merging their respective bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. By June, after several line-up changes, the band consisted of Rose, lead guitarist Slash
, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan
, and drummer Steven Adler
. The line-up debuted at The Troubadour in Hollywood and proceeded to play the L.A. club circuit, eventually building a devoted fan following. The band attracted the attention of several major record labels, before signing with Geffen Records
in March 1986. The following December, they released the four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide on the Geffen imprint UZI Suicide
.
. Although the record received critical acclaim, it experienced a slow commercial start, selling only 500,000 copies in its first year of release. However, fueled by the band's relentless touring and the mainstream success of the single "Sweet Child o' Mine
"—Rose's tribute to his then-girlfriend Erin Everly—the album rose to the No. 1 position on the U.S. chart
in August 1988, and again in February 1989. To date, Appetite for Destruction has sold over 28 million copies worldwide, 18 million of which in the United States, making it the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S.
During the band's performance at the Monsters of Rock
festival in Castle Donington
, England in August 1988, two fans were crushed to death when many in the crowd of 107,000 began slam-dancing to "It's So Easy
". Rose had halted the show several times to calm the audience. From then on, he became known for personally addressing disruptive fans and giving instructions to security personnel from the stage, at times stopping concerts to deal with issues in the crowd. In 1992, Rose stated, "Most performers would go to a security person in their organization, and it would just be done very quietly. I'll confront the person, stop the song: 'Guess what: You wasted your money, you get to leave.'" As a result of the deaths at Monsters of Rock, the festival was canceled the following year.
In November 1988, Guns N' Roses released the stopgap album G N' R Lies
, which sold over five million copies in the U.S. alone. The band—and Rose in particular—were accused of promoting racist and homophobic attitudes with the song "One in a Million", in which Rose warns "nigger
s" to "get out of my way" and complains about "faggots" who "spread some fucking disease." During the controversy, Rose defended his use of the racial slur by claiming that "it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word nigger doesn't necessarily mean black." In 1992, however, he conceded that he had used the word as an insult towards black people, stating, "I was pissed off about some black people that were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people. I didn't want to support racism." In response to the allegations of homophobia, Rose stated that he considered himself "pro-heterosexual" and blamed this attitude on "bad experiences" with gay men, citing an attempted rape in his late teens and the alleged molestation by his biological father. The controversy led to Guns N' Roses being dropped from the roster of an AIDS benefit show in New York organized by the Gay Men's Health Crisis
.
With the success of Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies, Rose found himself lauded as one of rock's most prominent frontmen. By the time he appeared solo on the cover of Rolling Stone
in August 1989, his celebrity was such that the influential music magazine agreed to his absolute requirement that the interview and accompanying photographs would be provided by two of his friends, writer Del James
and photographer Robert John
. MTV
anchorman Kurt Loder
described Rose as "maybe the finest hard rock singer currently on the scene, and certainly the most charismatic."
In early 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording the full-length follow-up to Appetite for Destruction. Recording sessions initially proved unproductive due to Steven Adler's struggle with drug addiction, which made him unable to perform and caused sessions to abort for several days at a time. Adler was fired the following July and replaced by Matt Sorum
of The Cult
. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed
also joined the band that year at Rose's insistence. Sorum and Reed played their first show with Guns N' Roses at Rock in Rio 2 in January 1991. The group fired its long-time manager, Alan Niven, in May of that year; Rose reportedly forced the dismissal of Niven against the wishes of his band mates by refusing to complete the new album until Niven was gone. He was replaced by roadie Doug Goldstein, whom Izzy Stradlin described as "the guy who gets to go over to Axl's at six in the morning after he's smashed his $60,000 grand piano out of the picture window."
In May 1991, still without an album to promote, the band embarked on the two-and-a-half-year Use Your Illusion Tour
, which became known for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred during shows, including late starts, on-stage rantings, and even riots. Rose received much criticism for his late appearances at concerts, sometimes taking the stage hours after the band was scheduled to go on. In July 1991, ninety minutes into a concert at the Riverport Amphitheater near St. Louis
, Rose dove into the crowd to confiscate a banned video camera. After being pulled back on stage, he announced, "Thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!" and left, following which some 2500 fans staged a riot, resulting in an estimated $200,000 in damages.
In September 1991, with enough material completed for two albums, Guns N' Roses released Use Your Illusion I
and Use Your Illusion II
, which debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 respectively on the U.S. chart, a feat not achieved by any other group. By the albums' release, however, Rose's relationships with his band mates had become increasingly strained. His childhood friend Izzy Stradlin abruptly left the group in November 1991; he was replaced by Gilby Clarke
of Kill For Thrills. Of his reasons for leaving, Stradlin said, "I didn't like the complications that became such a part of daily life in Guns N' Roses," citing the riot and Rose's chronic lateness as examples. In addition, Guns N' Roses was banned from St. Louis for life.
Guns N' Roses played its final show of the Use Your Illusion Tour on July 17, 1993 at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires; it proved to be Rose's last live performance with the band for seven-and-a-half years. The following August, Rose testified in court against Steven Adler, who had filed a lawsuit contending that he had been illegitimately fired. When the judge ruled against Rose, he agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $2,500,000 and 15% of the royalties for everything Adler recorded prior to his departure. In November of that year, Guns N' Roses released "The Spaghetti Incident?"
, a cover album of mostly punk songs, which proved less successful than its predecessors. Unbeknownst to his band mates, Rose had included the hidden track "Look at Your Game, Girl
", a song written by convicted murderer Charles Manson
, which he intended as a personal message to his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour
. Controversy ensued, and the band subsequently pledged to donate any royalties to the son of one of Manson's victims.
as Clarke's replacement. Slash finally left Guns N' Roses in October 1996, followed by Matt Sorum's firing in June 1997. Duff McKagan departed the band in August of that year, leaving Rose and Dizzy Reed as the only remaining band members of the Use Your Illusion era.
As the stability of Guns N' Roses collapsed, Rose withdrew from public view. The band never officially broke up, although it did not tour or perform for several years and no new material was released. Rose continued to recruit new musicians to replace band members who either left or were fired. By the late 1990s, he was considered to be a recluse, rarely making public appearances and spending most of his time holed up in his mansion in Malibu. In various media reports, he was referred to as the "Howard Hughes
of rock" and "rock's greatest recluse". Rose was said to spend his nights rehearsing and writing with the various new lineups of Guns N' Roses, working on the band's next album, Chinese Democracy.
In January 2001, Rose resurfaced at Rock in Rio 3 with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses, featuring lead guitarists Buckethead
and Robin Finck
, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson
, drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia
, and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman
. The following year, the band—with Tobias replaced by Richard Fortus
—embarked on a tour of Europe, Asia, and North America, and made a critically panned surprise appearance at the MTV Awards. In November, a riot erupted at Vancouver's General Motors Place
after Rose failed to show up for a scheduled concert. When venue staff announced the cancellation, a riot broke out, resulting in an estimated $100,000 in damages.
Rose then withdrew from the public view for a second time. In 2004, he joined his former band mates Slash and Duff McKagan in a lawsuit against Geffen Records in an unsuccessful attempt to block the release of the Greatest Hits
compilation album. That same year, Rose lent his voice to the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
, in which he adopted the persona of Tommy "The Nightmare" Smith, the radio DJ of classic rock station K-DST The Dust.
In a rare interview in January 2006, Rose stated that "people will hear music this year." With Buckethead and Bryan Mantia replaced by Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal
and Frank Ferrer
, Guns N' Roses toured Europe and North America throughout 2006. Former band member Izzy Stradlin made several guest appearances during the tour. In December of that year, Rose issued an open letter to his fans, in which he discussed, among other things, the reasons why Chinese Democracy had still not been released, and named March 6, 2007 as a tentative release date. However, the album again failed to materialize. In 2007, Guns N' Roses played a summer tour of Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Rose collaborated with his longtime friend Sebastian Bach
on his album Angel Down
; he duetted with Bach on a cover of Aerosmith
's "Back in the Saddle
" and performed backing vocals on "(Love is) a Bitchslap" and "Stuck Inside", for which he was credited as a co-writer.
On November 23, 2008, 15 years after its last album, Guns N' Roses released Chinese Democracy exclusively via the electronics retailer Best Buy
. Rose did not contribute to the album's promotion; by December, he had reportedly been missing for at least two months and had not returned phone calls or other requests from his record label. On December 11, Rose finally broke his silence by answering questions on two online Guns N' Roses discussion boards. In a subsequent interview, Rose stated that he did not receive the necessary support from Interscope Records
with regards to the album's release.
In December 2009, Guns N' Roses—with Robin Finck replaced by DJ Ashba
—played a tour of Asia. The band then toured the Americas, Europe, and Australia throughout 2010. Former band member Duff McKagan made a surprise appearance during the group's show at London's The O2 Arena
in October 2010. In October 2011, Guns N' Roses headlined Rock in Rio 4, before beginning a tour of the Americas, including their first U.S. tour in five years.
, Indiana
native Gina Siler, with whom he moved to Los Angeles, California in December of that year. According to Siler, the couple was engaged to be married "about nine times," before separating in late 1985. In 1991, Siler described their former relationship as volatile, comparing the years they lived together to "putting a nuclear warhead in your living room and hitting it with a hammer and just waiting."
In early 1986, Rose began a relationship with model Erin Everly, the daughter of singer Don Everly of the Everly Brothers. He wrote the song "Sweet Child o' Mine
" for her, and Everly appeared in the accompanying music video. Rose and Everly were married on April 28, 1990 in Las Vegas. According to Everly, Rose had shown up at her home the previous day with a gun in his car and told her that he would kill himself if she did not marry him. Less than a month later, Rose first filed for divorce. The couple later reconciled, during which Everly became pregnant. She suffered a miscarriage in October 1990, which deeply affected Rose, who had wanted to start a family. Everly left Rose the following November; the marriage was annulled in January 1991. After the break-up, Rose allegedly tried to contact Everly for more than a year, sending her flowers, letters, and even caged birds.
In mid 1991, Rose became involved in a high-profile relationship with supermodel Stephanie Seymour
. During their relationship, Seymour appeared in the music videos for "Don't Cry
" and "November Rain
". Rose became deeply attached to Seymour's young son, Dylan, and tried to be a good father figure for the child, as there had been none in his own life. Seymour and Rose became engaged in February 1993, but separated three weeks later.
After being subpoenaed to testify during Seymour's case, Everly filed her own lawsuit in March 1994, accusing Rose of physical and emotional assault and sexual battery. Everly testified that throughout their four-and-a-half-year relationship she suffered regular beatings that at times left her hospitalized. In her sworn deposition, she stated that Rose—who was an adherent of past life regression therapy
—believed that she and Seymour had been sisters in a past life and were now trying to kill him. Rose had allegedly also told her that he and Everly had been Native Americans in another past life and that Everly had killed their children, and that's why he treated her poorly in this life.
During the cases, Siler also came forward in the media with claims of abuse, describing Rose as alternately "kind and loving" and "violent and irrational." Rose instructed his lawyers to settle Everly's case out of court, reportedly agreeing to a settlement of more than $1,000,000. Seymour's case continued considerably longer. At one point, Rose applied for a restraining order against Seymour, after alleging that she had taken cocaine in his house in the presence of her two-year-old son. Eventually the case was settled out of court, with Rose agreeing to pay Seymour a reported $400,000.
, a condition that causes people to swing from impulsive, reckless, and argumentative fits to catatonic and suicidal periods. Although Rose was prescribed lithium to combat the disorder, he stated it was ineffective and claimed to be in control of his moods. In a subsequent interview, Rose questioned the diagnosis altogether, stating, "I went to a clinic, thinking it would help my moods. The only thing I did was take one 500-question test—ya know, filling in the little black dots. All of sudden I'm diagnosed manic-depressive. 'Let's put Axl on medication.' Well, the medication doesn't help me deal with stress. The only thing it does is help keep people off my back because they figure I'm on medication."
In contrast to the debauched image Guns N' Roses
projected in its heyday, Rose had stopped using drugs of any kind after the band became successful. However, he did not disavow the use of illicit substances entirely, stating, "I have a different physical constitution and different mindset about drugs than anybody I've known in Hollywood, because I don't abstain from doing drugs, but I won't allow myself to have a fuckin' habit. I won't allow it." In the early 1990s, Rose became a staunch believer in homeopathic medicine and began regularly undergoing past life regression therapy. He shared his uncovered memories of being sexually abused by his biological father, which he said had stopped his emotional growth at two years old, saying, "When they talk about Axl Rose being a screaming two-year-old, they're right."
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
band Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
, with whom he enjoyed great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s, before disappearing from the public eye for several years. In 2001, he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses at Rock in Rio 3, and subsequently played periodic concert tours, before releasing the long-delayed album Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy
Chinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released in November 2008 on Geffen Records. It is the band's first studio album since "The Spaghetti Incident?" , released exactly 15 years before Chinese Democracy, and their first album of original studio...
in 2008. Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
and NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
.
Early life
Rose was born William Bruce Rose, Jr. in LafayetteLafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, the oldest child of Sharon E. ( Lintner), then 16 years old, and William Bruce Rose, then 20 years old. When Rose was two years old, his father abandoned the family. His mother remarried to Stephen L. Bailey, and his name was changed to William Bruce Bailey. He has two younger siblings—a sister, Amy, and a half-brother, Stuart. Until the age of 17, Rose believed that Bailey was his real father. He never met his biological father as an adult; William Rose, Sr. was found murdered in Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
in 1984.
The Bailey household was very religious; Rose and his family attended a Pentecostal church, where he was required to attend services three to eight times per week and even taught Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
. Rose later described his upbringing as oppressive, stating, "We'd have televisions one week, then my stepdad would throw them out because they were satanic. I wasn't allowed to listen to music. Women were evil. Everything was evil." In 1992, after undergoing past life regression therapy
Past life regression
Past life regression is a technique that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations, though others regard them as fantasies or delusions. Past life regression is typically undertaken either in pursuit of a spiritual experience, or in a...
, Rose claimed he had uncovered memories of being sexually abused by his biological father at the age of two. He also stated that his stepfather had physically abused him and his siblings, as well as sexually abused his sister. Rose found solace in music from an early age. He sang in the church choir from the age of five, and performed at services with his brother and sister under the name the Bailey Trio. At Jefferson High School
Jefferson High School (Indiana)
For schools with a similar name, see Jefferson High School.Jefferson High School is a high school located in Lafayette, Indiana, and administered by the Lafayette School Corporation...
, he participated in the school chorus and studied piano. A second baritone, Rose began developing "different voices" during chorus practice to confuse his teacher. He eventually formed a band with his friends, one of whom was Jeff Isbell, later known as Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
.
At the age of 17, while going through papers in his parents' home, Rose learned of his biological father's existence, and he unofficially readopted his birth name. However, he referred to himself only as W. Rose, because he did not want to share a name with his biological father. He became so engrossed in one of his bands, Axl, that his friends suggested he call himself Axl Rose. (Several years later, just before he signed his contract with Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
in March 1986, he legally changed his name to W. Axl Rose.) Following the discovery of his true family origins, Rose became the local juvenile delinquent in Lafayette; he was arrested over 20 times on charges such as public intoxication and battery, and served as long as three months in jail. A psychiatrist, who noted Rose's high IQ, concluded that his behavior was evidence of psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
. After Lafayette authorities threatened to charge him as a habitual criminal, Rose moved to Los Angeles, California in December 1982.
1983–1986: Early years
Shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, Rose joined the band RapidfireRapidfire
Rapidfire was a Los Angeles based band that featured Guns N' Roses singer Axl Rose in his first ever studio recording just before he joined Hollywood Rose.-Members:* Axl Rose - lead vocals* Kevin Lawrence - guitar* Mike Hammernik - bass...
, with whom he recorded a four-song demo in May 1983. After the group's disbandment, he joined the first line-up of L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles...
, before forming the band Hollywood Rose
Hollywood Rose
Hollywood Rose was an American hard rock group formed in 1983 and is best known as the precursor group for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber while they were aided during live shows by Rick Mars, Johnny Kreis, Steve Darrow...
with his childhood friend Izzy Stradlin
Izzy Stradlin
Jeffrey Dean Isbell , known by his stage name Izzy Stradlin, is an American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of its fame in 1991. Following his departure, he led his own band Izzy...
, who had moved to Los Angeles in 1980. In January 1984, the band recorded a five-song demo featuring the tracks "Anything Goes", "Rocker", "Shadow of Your Love", and "Reckless Life", which were released in 2004 as The Roots of Guns N' Roses
The Roots of Guns N' Roses
The Roots of Guns N' Roses is a compilation album containing old songs of Hollywood Rose, released on June 22, 2004 by Deadline Music .-The Album:...
. While struggling to make an impact on the Hollywood music scene, Rose held down a variety of jobs, including the position of night manager at the Tower Records
Tower Records
Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....
location on Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard
Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades...
. Rose and Stradlin even smoked cigarettes for a scientific study at UCLA for the reported wages of $8 per hour.
In March 1985, Rose and his former band mate Tracii Guns
Tracii Guns
Tracii Guns is an American guitarist best known as the founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns as well as the supergroups Brides of Destruction and Contraband. He was also involved in the formation of the first lineup of Guns N' Roses but eventually left the group and was replaced by guitarist...
formed Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
by merging their respective bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. By June, after several line-up changes, the band consisted of Rose, lead guitarist Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...
, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan
Duff McKagan
Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan is an American musician and writer. He is best known for his twelve-year tenure as the bassist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s...
, and drummer Steven Adler
Steven Adler
Steven Adler is an American musician. He is best known as the former drummer of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s...
. The line-up debuted at The Troubadour in Hollywood and proceeded to play the L.A. club circuit, eventually building a devoted fan following. The band attracted the attention of several major record labels, before signing with Geffen Records
Geffen Records
Geffen Records is an American record label, owned by Universal Music Group, and operated as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-Beginnings:...
in March 1986. The following December, they released the four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide on the Geffen imprint UZI Suicide
UZI Suicide
UZI Suicide was a vanity label that was created by Guns N' Roses to release their first record, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide. While seemingly an independent label, it was actually created by Geffen Records. Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite for Destruction, was officially released through Geffen...
.
1987–1993: International success
In July 1987, Guns N' Roses released its debut album Appetite for DestructionAppetite for Destruction
Appetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
. Although the record received critical acclaim, it experienced a slow commercial start, selling only 500,000 copies in its first year of release. However, fueled by the band's relentless touring and the mainstream success of the single "Sweet Child o' Mine
Sweet Child O' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S...
"—Rose's tribute to his then-girlfriend Erin Everly—the album rose to the No. 1 position on the U.S. chart
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
in August 1988, and again in February 1989. To date, Appetite for Destruction has sold over 28 million copies worldwide, 18 million of which in the United States, making it the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S.
During the band's performance at the Monsters of Rock
Monsters of Rock
Monsters of Rock was an annual music festival held in England, then moved in other locations like The Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Chile.The Last show was in 2008....
festival in Castle Donington
Castle Donington
Castle Donington is a village, with a population of around 7000 in the North West of Leicestershire, part of the Derby postcode area and on the edge of the National Forest. It is the closest town to East Midlands Airport.-Transport and housing:...
, England in August 1988, two fans were crushed to death when many in the crowd of 107,000 began slam-dancing to "It's So Easy
It's So Easy
-Personnel:* Axl Rose - lead vocals* Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, backing vocals* Slash - lead guitar* Duff McKagan - bass, backing vocals* Steven Adler - drums-Cover versions:...
". Rose had halted the show several times to calm the audience. From then on, he became known for personally addressing disruptive fans and giving instructions to security personnel from the stage, at times stopping concerts to deal with issues in the crowd. In 1992, Rose stated, "Most performers would go to a security person in their organization, and it would just be done very quietly. I'll confront the person, stop the song: 'Guess what: You wasted your money, you get to leave.'" As a result of the deaths at Monsters of Rock, the festival was canceled the following year.
In November 1988, Guns N' Roses released the stopgap album G N' R Lies
G N' R Lies
-Personnel:*W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, whistle on "Patience"*Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, rhythm acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8, backing vocals*Slash - lead guitar, lead acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8...
, which sold over five million copies in the U.S. alone. The band—and Rose in particular—were accused of promoting racist and homophobic attitudes with the song "One in a Million", in which Rose warns "nigger
Nigger
Nigger is a noun in the English language, most notable for its usage in a pejorative context to refer to black people , and also as an informal slang term, among other contexts. It is a common ethnic slur...
s" to "get out of my way" and complains about "faggots" who "spread some fucking disease." During the controversy, Rose defended his use of the racial slur by claiming that "it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word nigger doesn't necessarily mean black." In 1992, however, he conceded that he had used the word as an insult towards black people, stating, "I was pissed off about some black people that were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people. I didn't want to support racism." In response to the allegations of homophobia, Rose stated that he considered himself "pro-heterosexual" and blamed this attitude on "bad experiences" with gay men, citing an attempted rape in his late teens and the alleged molestation by his biological father. The controversy led to Guns N' Roses being dropped from the roster of an AIDS benefit show in New York organized by the Gay Men's Health Crisis
Gay Men's Health Crisis
The Gay Men's Health Crisis is a New York City-based non-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based AIDS service organization that has led the United States in the fight against AIDS.-1980s:...
.
With the success of Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies, Rose found himself lauded as one of rock's most prominent frontmen. By the time he appeared solo on the cover of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
in August 1989, his celebrity was such that the influential music magazine agreed to his absolute requirement that the interview and accompanying photographs would be provided by two of his friends, writer Del James
Del James
Del James, is an American musician, writer, journalist and artist best known for writing the short story that reportedly inspired the "November Rain" video by hard rock band Guns N' Roses...
and photographer Robert John
Robert John (photographer)
Robert John is an accomplished American music photographer.-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Alabama on November 10, 1961, John moved to California with his parents when he was three years old...
. MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
anchorman Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder
Kurt Loder is an American film critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on...
described Rose as "maybe the finest hard rock singer currently on the scene, and certainly the most charismatic."
In early 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording the full-length follow-up to Appetite for Destruction. Recording sessions initially proved unproductive due to Steven Adler's struggle with drug addiction, which made him unable to perform and caused sessions to abort for several days at a time. Adler was fired the following July and replaced by Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum
Matthew William Sorum is an American rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum is most famous for his 7-year stint in Guns N' Roses and supergroup Velvet Revolver , which is comprised in part of former Guns N' Roses members Duff McKagan and Slash .-Early career :Matt Sorum was born Matthew William...
of The Cult
The Cult
The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love...
. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed
Dizzy Reed
Dizzy Reed is a contemporary rock musician, and occasional actor. He is best known for his tenure as the keyboardist & pianist for the rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has played, toured and recorded since 1990...
also joined the band that year at Rose's insistence. Sorum and Reed played their first show with Guns N' Roses at Rock in Rio 2 in January 1991. The group fired its long-time manager, Alan Niven, in May of that year; Rose reportedly forced the dismissal of Niven against the wishes of his band mates by refusing to complete the new album until Niven was gone. He was replaced by roadie Doug Goldstein, whom Izzy Stradlin described as "the guy who gets to go over to Axl's at six in the morning after he's smashed his $60,000 grand piano out of the picture window."
In May 1991, still without an album to promote, the band embarked on the two-and-a-half-year Use Your Illusion Tour
Use Your Illusion Tour
The Use Your Illusion Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Guns N' Roses which ran from January 20, 1991 to July 17, 1993. It was not only the band's longest tour, but one of the longest concert tours in rock history, consisting of 194 shows in 27 countries...
, which became known for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred during shows, including late starts, on-stage rantings, and even riots. Rose received much criticism for his late appearances at concerts, sometimes taking the stage hours after the band was scheduled to go on. In July 1991, ninety minutes into a concert at the Riverport Amphitheater near St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, Rose dove into the crowd to confiscate a banned video camera. After being pulled back on stage, he announced, "Thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!" and left, following which some 2500 fans staged a riot, resulting in an estimated $200,000 in damages.
In September 1991, with enough material completed for two albums, Guns N' Roses released Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I
Use Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, the other being Use Your Illusion II. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album. In fact, in the original vinyl...
and Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II
Use Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...
, which debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 respectively on the U.S. chart, a feat not achieved by any other group. By the albums' release, however, Rose's relationships with his band mates had become increasingly strained. His childhood friend Izzy Stradlin abruptly left the group in November 1991; he was replaced by Gilby Clarke
Gilby Clarke
Gilbert "Gilby" Clarke is an American guitarist and record producer best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your Illusion Tour...
of Kill For Thrills. Of his reasons for leaving, Stradlin said, "I didn't like the complications that became such a part of daily life in Guns N' Roses," citing the riot and Rose's chronic lateness as examples. In addition, Guns N' Roses was banned from St. Louis for life.
Guns N' Roses played its final show of the Use Your Illusion Tour on July 17, 1993 at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires; it proved to be Rose's last live performance with the band for seven-and-a-half years. The following August, Rose testified in court against Steven Adler, who had filed a lawsuit contending that he had been illegitimately fired. When the judge ruled against Rose, he agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $2,500,000 and 15% of the royalties for everything Adler recorded prior to his departure. In November of that year, Guns N' Roses released "The Spaghetti Incident?"
"The Spaghetti Incident?"
"The Spaghetti Incident?" is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is unique for the band, consisting entirely of cover versions, mostly of punk and glam rock songs of the late 1970s and early 1980s....
, a cover album of mostly punk songs, which proved less successful than its predecessors. Unbeknownst to his band mates, Rose had included the hidden track "Look at Your Game, Girl
Look at Your Game, Girl
"Look at Your Game, Girl" is a song written by Charles Manson and recorded in September 1967. It appeared on his album Lie: The Love and Terror Cult which was released in 1970 to help pay for his defense during the murder trial...
", a song written by convicted murderer Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
, which he intended as a personal message to his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour
Stephanie Seymour
Stephanie Michelle Seymour is an American model and actress. Seymour has modeled for many notable fashion magazines and designers, and has been photographed by several well-known photographers including Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Gilles Bensimon, and Mario Testino.-Career:Born in San Diego,...
. Controversy ensued, and the band subsequently pledged to donate any royalties to the son of one of Manson's victims.
1994–present: Hiatus, touring, and Chinese Democracy
Without explanation or consultation from his band mates, Rose fired Gilby Clarke in June 1994. Tension between Rose and Slash reached a breaking point after the latter discovered that Rose had single-handedly hired his childhood friend Paul "Huge" TobiasPaul Tobias
Paul Tobias is an American guitarist best known for his involvement with hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has collaborated since 1994.-Guns N' Roses:...
as Clarke's replacement. Slash finally left Guns N' Roses in October 1996, followed by Matt Sorum's firing in June 1997. Duff McKagan departed the band in August of that year, leaving Rose and Dizzy Reed as the only remaining band members of the Use Your Illusion era.
As the stability of Guns N' Roses collapsed, Rose withdrew from public view. The band never officially broke up, although it did not tour or perform for several years and no new material was released. Rose continued to recruit new musicians to replace band members who either left or were fired. By the late 1990s, he was considered to be a recluse, rarely making public appearances and spending most of his time holed up in his mansion in Malibu. In various media reports, he was referred to as the "Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
of rock" and "rock's greatest recluse". Rose was said to spend his nights rehearsing and writing with the various new lineups of Guns N' Roses, working on the band's next album, Chinese Democracy.
In January 2001, Rose resurfaced at Rock in Rio 3 with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses, featuring lead guitarists Buckethead
Buckethead
Brian Carroll , better known by his stage name Buckethead, is a guitarist and multi instrumentalist who has worked within several genres of music. He has released 34 studio albums, four special releases and one EP. He has performed on over 50 more albums by other artists...
and Robin Finck
Robin Finck
Robin Finck is an American guitarist of Nine Inch Nails and former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses. He is one of only a few artists who has played in two different bands listed on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock"; Nine Inch Nails and Guns N' Roses .-Career:Finck grew up in Marietta,...
, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson
Tommy Stinson
Thomas "Tommy" Eugene Stinson is an American musician best known for his work as the bassist for The Replacements and Guns N' Roses as well as the post-Replacements groups Bash & Pop, where he performed guitar duties, and Perfect...
, drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia
Bryan Mantia
Bryan "Brain" Mantia is a contemporary rock drummer. He has played with bands like Primus, Guns N' Roses, Praxis and Godflesh, and with other popular performers such as Tom Waits, Bill Laswell, Bootsy Collins and Buckethead...
, and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman
Chris Pitman
Chris Pitman is an American musician best known for his involvement with hard rock band Guns N' Roses. A multi-instrumentalist, Pitman is known to play keyboards, guitar and drums, in addition to his role as a lead or backing vocalist...
. The following year, the band—with Tobias replaced by Richard Fortus
Richard Fortus
Richard Fortus is a professional guitarist who is most famous for being rhythm guitarist in Guns N' Roses.Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Fortus cut his teeth throughout the Midwest with his band, The Eyes. The four-piece alternative band independently released "Freedom in a Cage", which was...
—embarked on a tour of Europe, Asia, and North America, and made a critically panned surprise appearance at the MTV Awards. In November, a riot erupted at Vancouver's General Motors Place
General Motors Place
Rogers Arena Rogers Arena Rogers Arena (nicknamed "The Phone Booth" and "The Cable Box" and also "The Garage" (when it was called GM Place) is an indoor sports arena located at 800 Griffiths Way in the downtown area of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada...
after Rose failed to show up for a scheduled concert. When venue staff announced the cancellation, a riot broke out, resulting in an estimated $100,000 in damages.
Rose then withdrew from the public view for a second time. In 2004, he joined his former band mates Slash and Duff McKagan in a lawsuit against Geffen Records in an unsuccessful attempt to block the release of the Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (Guns N' Roses album)
-Notes:*"Ain't It Fun" was censored for the compilation: "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a cunt" became "Ain't it fun when you tell her she's just a–", with guitar notes at 3:36 instead of the final word in the line. This version had never been officially released before, but had...
compilation album. That same year, Rose lent his voice to the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is a 2004 open world action video game developed by British games developer Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the third 3D game in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise, the fifth original console release and eighth game overall...
, in which he adopted the persona of Tommy "The Nightmare" Smith, the radio DJ of classic rock station K-DST The Dust.
In a rare interview in January 2006, Rose stated that "people will hear music this year." With Buckethead and Bryan Mantia replaced by Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal
Ronald Jay Blumenthal , better known by his stage name Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, is a Jewish-American guitarist, songwriter, recording artist and producer. Thal adopted the name Bumblefoot from the bacterial infection of the same name, which he learned about while helping his wife review for her...
and Frank Ferrer
Frank Ferrer
Frank Ferrer is an American rock drummer and session musician. In October 2006, Ferrer became an official member of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses after serving as the band's emergency substitute drummer for Bryan Mantia on several occasions during the band's summer 2006 European tour...
, Guns N' Roses toured Europe and North America throughout 2006. Former band member Izzy Stradlin made several guest appearances during the tour. In December of that year, Rose issued an open letter to his fans, in which he discussed, among other things, the reasons why Chinese Democracy had still not been released, and named March 6, 2007 as a tentative release date. However, the album again failed to materialize. In 2007, Guns N' Roses played a summer tour of Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Rose collaborated with his longtime friend Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach
Sebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
on his album Angel Down
Angel Down
- DVD :The Angel Down DVD features a documentary titled "Roadrage" which was made by Sebastian Bach himself and features a close look at the making of the album and also includes backstage vision with The Trailer Park Boys....
; he duetted with Bach on a cover of Aerosmith
Aerosmith
Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...
's "Back in the Saddle
Back in the Saddle
"Back in the Saddle" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. It is the first song on Aerosmith's pinnacle hard rock album Rocks released in 1976. The song was released as the third single from the album in 1977...
" and performed backing vocals on "(Love is) a Bitchslap" and "Stuck Inside", for which he was credited as a co-writer.
On November 23, 2008, 15 years after its last album, Guns N' Roses released Chinese Democracy exclusively via the electronics retailer Best Buy
Best Buy
Best Buy Co., Inc. is an American specialty retailer of consumer electronics in the United States, accounting for 19% of the market. It also operates in Mexico, Canada & China. The company's subsidiaries include Geek Squad, CinemaNow, Magnolia Audio Video, Pacific Sales, and, in Canada operates...
. Rose did not contribute to the album's promotion; by December, he had reportedly been missing for at least two months and had not returned phone calls or other requests from his record label. On December 11, Rose finally broke his silence by answering questions on two online Guns N' Roses discussion boards. In a subsequent interview, Rose stated that he did not receive the necessary support from Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
with regards to the album's release.
In December 2009, Guns N' Roses—with Robin Finck replaced by DJ Ashba
DJ Ashba
Daren Jay "DJ" Ashba is an American musician, producer, songwriter and CEO of Ashba Media. He is the lead guitarist in Guns N' Roses and Sixx:A.M. He is also known for his work with hard rock bands BulletBoys and Beautiful Creatures...
—played a tour of Asia. The band then toured the Americas, Europe, and Australia throughout 2010. Former band member Duff McKagan made a surprise appearance during the group's show at London's The O2 Arena
The O2 arena (London)
The O2 Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in London, England.With a capacity of up to 20,000 depending on the event, it is second largest...
in October 2010. In October 2011, Guns N' Roses headlined Rock in Rio 4, before beginning a tour of the Americas, including their first U.S. tour in five years.
Relationships
In mid 1982, Rose began dating fellow LafayetteLafayette, Indiana
Lafayette is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, northwest of Indianapolis. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 67,140. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, which has a large impact on...
, Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
native Gina Siler, with whom he moved to Los Angeles, California in December of that year. According to Siler, the couple was engaged to be married "about nine times," before separating in late 1985. In 1991, Siler described their former relationship as volatile, comparing the years they lived together to "putting a nuclear warhead in your living room and hitting it with a hammer and just waiting."
In early 1986, Rose began a relationship with model Erin Everly, the daughter of singer Don Everly of the Everly Brothers. He wrote the song "Sweet Child o' Mine
Sweet Child O' Mine
"Sweet Child o' Mine" is the third single by American rock band Guns N' Roses, and the third from their 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. Released on August 17, 1988, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first and only number-one single in the U.S...
" for her, and Everly appeared in the accompanying music video. Rose and Everly were married on April 28, 1990 in Las Vegas. According to Everly, Rose had shown up at her home the previous day with a gun in his car and told her that he would kill himself if she did not marry him. Less than a month later, Rose first filed for divorce. The couple later reconciled, during which Everly became pregnant. She suffered a miscarriage in October 1990, which deeply affected Rose, who had wanted to start a family. Everly left Rose the following November; the marriage was annulled in January 1991. After the break-up, Rose allegedly tried to contact Everly for more than a year, sending her flowers, letters, and even caged birds.
In mid 1991, Rose became involved in a high-profile relationship with supermodel Stephanie Seymour
Stephanie Seymour
Stephanie Michelle Seymour is an American model and actress. Seymour has modeled for many notable fashion magazines and designers, and has been photographed by several well-known photographers including Herb Ritts, Richard Avedon, Gilles Bensimon, and Mario Testino.-Career:Born in San Diego,...
. During their relationship, Seymour appeared in the music videos for "Don't Cry
Don't Cry
"Don't Cry" is a song by rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on Use Your Illusion I, while the version with the alternate lyrics is the 13th track on Use Your Illusion II...
" and "November Rain
November Rain
"November Rain" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, written by lead singer Axl Rose and released as a single in June 1992. It appears on the album Use Your Illusion I. The music video for this song was also released in 1992, and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography...
". Rose became deeply attached to Seymour's young son, Dylan, and tried to be a good father figure for the child, as there had been none in his own life. Seymour and Rose became engaged in February 1993, but separated three weeks later.
Domestic abuse cases
In August 1993, Rose filed a lawsuit against Seymour, claiming that she had "kicked and grabbed" him during a 1992 Christmas party at their Malibu home, and that she refused to return more than $100,000 worth of jewelry he had given her as gifts. Seymour counter-sued in October, contending that Rose—angry because she had held the party after he had wanted to cancel it—had slapped and punched her and kicked her down a flight of stairs. She admitted to grabbing his testicles as a defensive measure.After being subpoenaed to testify during Seymour's case, Everly filed her own lawsuit in March 1994, accusing Rose of physical and emotional assault and sexual battery. Everly testified that throughout their four-and-a-half-year relationship she suffered regular beatings that at times left her hospitalized. In her sworn deposition, she stated that Rose—who was an adherent of past life regression therapy
Past life regression
Past life regression is a technique that uses hypnosis to recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations, though others regard them as fantasies or delusions. Past life regression is typically undertaken either in pursuit of a spiritual experience, or in a...
—believed that she and Seymour had been sisters in a past life and were now trying to kill him. Rose had allegedly also told her that he and Everly had been Native Americans in another past life and that Everly had killed their children, and that's why he treated her poorly in this life.
During the cases, Siler also came forward in the media with claims of abuse, describing Rose as alternately "kind and loving" and "violent and irrational." Rose instructed his lawyers to settle Everly's case out of court, reportedly agreeing to a settlement of more than $1,000,000. Seymour's case continued considerably longer. At one point, Rose applied for a restraining order against Seymour, after alleging that she had taken cocaine in his house in the presence of her two-year-old son. Eventually the case was settled out of court, with Rose agreeing to pay Seymour a reported $400,000.
Health issues
By the age of 26, Rose had been diagnosed with manic–depressive disorderBipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
, a condition that causes people to swing from impulsive, reckless, and argumentative fits to catatonic and suicidal periods. Although Rose was prescribed lithium to combat the disorder, he stated it was ineffective and claimed to be in control of his moods. In a subsequent interview, Rose questioned the diagnosis altogether, stating, "I went to a clinic, thinking it would help my moods. The only thing I did was take one 500-question test—ya know, filling in the little black dots. All of sudden I'm diagnosed manic-depressive. 'Let's put Axl on medication.' Well, the medication doesn't help me deal with stress. The only thing it does is help keep people off my back because they figure I'm on medication."
In contrast to the debauched image Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
projected in its heyday, Rose had stopped using drugs of any kind after the band became successful. However, he did not disavow the use of illicit substances entirely, stating, "I have a different physical constitution and different mindset about drugs than anybody I've known in Hollywood, because I don't abstain from doing drugs, but I won't allow myself to have a fuckin' habit. I won't allow it." In the early 1990s, Rose became a staunch believer in homeopathic medicine and began regularly undergoing past life regression therapy. He shared his uncovered memories of being sexually abused by his biological father, which he said had stopped his emotional growth at two years old, saying, "When they talk about Axl Rose being a screaming two-year-old, they're right."
With Guns N' Roses
- Appetite for DestructionAppetite for DestructionAppetite for Destruction is the debut studio album by American rock band Guns N' Roses, released in July 1987 on Geffen Records. It was well-received by critics and topped the American Billboard 200 chart...
(1987) - G N' R LiesG N' R Lies-Personnel:*W. Axl Rose - lead vocals, whistle on "Patience"*Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar, rhythm acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8, backing vocals*Slash - lead guitar, lead acoustic guitar on tracks 5-8...
(1988) - Use Your Illusion IUse Your Illusion IUse Your Illusion I is the third studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was the first of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, the other being Use Your Illusion II. The two are thus sometimes considered a double album. In fact, in the original vinyl...
(1991) - Use Your Illusion IIUse Your Illusion IIUse Your Illusion II is the fourth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. It was one of two albums released in conjunction with the Use Your Illusion Tour, and as a result the two albums are sometimes considered a double album...
(1991) - "The Spaghetti Incident?""The Spaghetti Incident?""The Spaghetti Incident?" is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Guns N' Roses. The album is unique for the band, consisting entirely of cover versions, mostly of punk and glam rock songs of the late 1970s and early 1980s....
(1993) - Chinese DemocracyChinese DemocracyChinese Democracy is the sixth studio album by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, released in November 2008 on Geffen Records. It is the band's first studio album since "The Spaghetti Incident?" , released exactly 15 years before Chinese Democracy, and their first album of original studio...
(2008)
Guest appearances
- The Decline of Western Civilization Part II: The Metal Years by various artists (1988)
- The End of the InnocenceThe End of the InnocenceReleased in 1989, The End of the Innocence is the third album by Don Henley. It is his best selling album, selling over 6 million copies in the United States, peaking at #8. The album released three Top 40 singles "The End of the Innocence", "The Heart of the Matter", and "The Last Worthless...
by Don HenleyDon HenleyDonald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...
(1989) - Fire and GasolineFire and GasolineFire and Gasoline is a heavy metal album released in 1989 by British musician Steve Jones, formerly of the Sex Pistols. The album featured Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses on the song I Did U No Wrong and Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe on We're No Saints....
by Steve JonesSteve Jones (musician)Stephen Philip "Steve" Jones is an English rock guitarist, singer and actor, best known as guitarist and founding member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols.-Childhood:...
(1989) - Pawnshop GuitarsPawnshop GuitarsPawnshop Guitars is the debut solo album by the former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, released in 1994 via Virgin Records. Along with all the then current members of Guns N' Roses the album also features contributions from Pixies vocalist Frank Black and guitarist Ryan Roxie among others.-...
by Gilby ClarkeGilby ClarkeGilbert "Gilby" Clarke is an American guitarist and record producer best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, replacing Izzy Stradlin in 1991 during the Use Your Illusion Tour...
(1994) - Anxious DiseaseAnxious DiseaseAnxious Disease is the first and only album by the rock band The Outpatience, released in 1996.-Tracklist:# "Inbred" – 3:03# "Wound Up in a Vega" – 4:21# "Dragon In The Flames" – 4:29# "Cold Luck" – 5:02# "Heart Again" – 3:50...
by The OutpatienceThe OutpatienceThe Outpatience were an American hard rock group formed in California by guitarist West Arkeen, who is best-known for co-writing several Guns N' Roses songs, in 1995...
(1996) - Angel DownAngel Down- DVD :The Angel Down DVD features a documentary titled "Roadrage" which was made by Sebastian Bach himself and features a close look at the making of the album and also includes backstage vision with The Trailer Park Boys....
by Sebastian BachSebastian BachSebastian Bach is a Canadian heavy metal singer who achieved mainstream success as frontman of Skid Row from 1987 to 1996. Since his departure from Skid Row, he has had many television roles, acted within Broadway plays, and leads a successful solo career.-Early life:Bach was born Sebastian...
(2007)