W. Axl Rose, geboren als William Bruce Rose, (Lafayette (Indiana), 6 februari 1962) is de zanger en oprichter van de Amerikaanse hardrockband Guns N' Roses.
Op zestienjarige leeftijd ontdekte Rose de waarheid over zijn biologische vader. Vanaf dat moment ging hij door het leven als Bill Rose. Hij begon zich af te zetten tegen zijn ouders en de autoriteiten en werd veelvuldig gearresteerd voor openbare dronkenschap en het verstoren van de openbare orde. Begin jaren '80 zwierf Rose wat rond en liftte meerdere malen naar Chicago, Los Angeles en New York. Toen de autoriteiten in Lafayette dreigden Rose tot een recidiverend crimineel te verklaren, adviseerde zijn advocaat hem de stad zo snel mogelijk te verlaten. In december 1982 vertrok Rose met zijn jeugdvriendin voorgoed naar Los Angeles.De naam Axl Rose heeft hij aangenomen op 17-jarige leeftijd toen hij ontdekte dat Rose de naam was van zijn echte vader. AXL heeft hij van zijn band waar hij destijds in zat. Velen denken dat hij Axl Rose gekozen heeft omdat het een anagram is voor oral sex, maar het is onduidelijk of dit de reden van de naam is. Ook zijn de eerste drie letters van zijn naam: W. Axl Rose, die respectievelijk WAR vormen, waarschijnlijk een toevalligheidje.
Axl begon zich steeds meer te interesseren voor rock&roll-muziek en ontmoette tijdens een rijvaardigheidsopleiding ene Jeffrey Isbell, artiestennaam: Izzy Stradlin, met wie hij een passie voor rock&roll deelde. Izzy verhuisde rond 1981 voorgoed naar Los Angeles.
In 1985 richtten Axl en Izzy samen met Tracii Guns de band Guns N' Roses op. In de periode tot 1993 vierde hij grote successen met Guns N' Roses. In de periode van 1991 tot 1993 werd hij ook bekend vanwege enige excessen. In St. Louis in 1991 sprong hij van het podium af om een beroepsfotograaf aan te vallen. Hierbij werd een oproer veroorzaakt. Een volgend oproer heeft hij veroorzaakt doordat hij na een laat begin van de band, slechts enkele songs heeft gespeeld. In 1992 heeft hij bij de MTV Video Awards Vince Neil van Motley Crue uitgedaagd voor een gevecht. Na 1996 hebben bijna alle leden van Guns N' Roses of de groep verlaten of zijn door Axl ontslagen.
Tot 1999 bleef het stil rondom Axl Rose, die zich als een kluizenaar in zijn villa in Malibu, Californië opsloot om aan nieuwe nummers te werken. Guns N' Roses probeerde met een nieuwe bezetting in 2001 een comeback te maken en plande een wereld-tournee. Deze tour werd geannuleerd doordat gitarist Buckethead met interne bloedingen kampte. Een tweede comeback in 2002 werd een redelijk succes, de nieuwe bandleden van Guns N' Roses vielen muzikaal goed in de smaak. De kritiek op Axl Rose bleef echter bestaan. Zijn uiterlijk (en kleding) was veranderd, en ook zijn stem leek een stuk hoger te zijn geworden.
Het aangekondigde album Chinese Democracy heeft meer dan 13 jaar op zich laten wachten. Op 21 November 2008 kwam het album eindelijk uit. Nummers die op dit album staan, zijn onder meer 'Chinese Democracy', 'Madagascar', 'The Blues' (Op het album 'Street Of Dreams' genaamd), 'Rhiad And The Bedouins', 'There Was A Time' en 'IRS'.
Inmiddels heeft Guns N' Roses met een volledig nieuwe line-up met onder andere drie gitaristen een tour ondernomen, waarop positieve reacties kwamen. Axl is samen met Dizzy Reed overgebleven van de oude formatie.
Guns N' Roses trad op 2 juli 2006 in Goffertpark te Nijmegen. Bij dit concert was Izzy Stradlin ook aanwezig om een gastoptreden te verzorgen.
EnglishW. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose; February 6, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana)[1] is an American musician, and the lead vocalist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses.
As the lead singer for Guns N' Roses, Rose enjoyed tremendous success, recognition, and record and concert ticket sales in the late 1980s and early 1990s before dropping out of the public eye for several years. In 2001, he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses in the third edition of Rock In Rio festival, and has since played periodic concert tours, finally releasing the long delayed album Chinese Democracy in 2008. This album was recorded over many years before finally being released.
He was ranked #11 in the Hit Parader's Top Metal Vocalists of All Time [2] and #64 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and also #4 in Roadrunner's 50 Best Frontmen in Metal History.[3][4]
Rose and his L.A. Guns bandmate Tracii Guns formed Guns N' Roses in March 1985. The band was a merger of L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, and featured musicians who had played for one or both groups. The band debuted at the Troubadour in Hollywood and proceeded to play the L.A. circuit, eventually building a fan following and attracting the attention of several record companies.[22][23] Following a dispute with Tracii Guns, and his departure from the band, Axl then called Slash (having met him from the time Slash spent in Hollywood Rose). So with Rose on vocals, Slash on lead guitar, Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, Duff McKagan on bass and Steven Adler on drums, Guns N' Roses signed to Geffen Records in 1986 and released a four-song EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, on their own label, UZI Suicide, in December of that year.
The band's major label debut album, entitled Appetite for Destruction, was released in the United States on July 21, 1987. The record had a slow start, selling only 500,000 copies in the first year of its release.[24] However, fueled by relentless touring, constant MTV video rotation of "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Welcome to the Jungle", and the mainstream success of "Sweet Child o' Mine", after about a year of not charting, rose to the #1 position on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States in the fall of 1988, and again in February 1989. To date, Appetite for Destruction ranks as the best-selling debut album in the United States, has been certified 18x platinum by the RIAA, and has sold over 28 million copies worldwide.[25][26] With the success of Appetite for Destruction and its follow-up EP, GN'R Lies, Rose found himself lauded as one of rock's most prominent frontmen. Rolling Stone featured him multiple times during the time-period, including cover-stories.[1][9] The August 1989 cover-story especially was unprecedented. At this point Rose's notoriety was such that the magazine agreed to his absolute requirement that two friends, Del James and Robert John, would write the "only story and pictures the magazine would be allowed to use".[27] Rose gave his friends' article one of his most iconic quotes:
"I was looked down on for being a poor kid that doesn't know shit, and now I'm like, a rich, successful asshole."
Journalist Kurt Loder told MTV in 1990 that Rose was "maybe the finest hard rock singer currently on the scene, and certainly the most charismatic."[28]
In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording the full-length follow-up to Appetite for Destruction. Recording sessions were temporarily scuttled when Steven Adler, battling drug and alcohol addiction, was fired in July 1990 and replaced by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum.[23] The band fired their manager, Alan Niven, in May 1991, replacing him with Doug Goldstein. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone magazine, Rose forced the dismissal of Niven, against the wishes of some of his bandmates, by refusing to complete the albums until he was replaced. It is said that the reason for it was an attempt by Niven to pick-up on his then-girlfirend, future wife, and eventual divorcee, Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly, of the Everly Brothers.[29]
With enough music for two albums, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on September 17, 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at #2 and #1 respectively on the Billboard chart, setting a record as Guns N' Roses became the only group to date to achieve this feat. The albums spent 108 weeks on the chart.[19]
As the lead singer for Guns N' Roses, Rose enjoyed tremendous success, recognition, and record and concert ticket sales in the late 1980s and early 1990s before dropping out of the public eye for several years. In 2001, he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses in the third edition of Rock In Rio festival, and has since played periodic concert tours, finally releasing the long delayed album Chinese Democracy in 2008. This album was recorded over many years before finally being released.
He was ranked #11 in the Hit Parader's Top Metal Vocalists of All Time [2] and #64 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and also #4 in Roadrunner's 50 Best Frontmen in Metal History.[3][4]
Rose and his L.A. Guns bandmate Tracii Guns formed Guns N' Roses in March 1985. The band was a merger of L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, and featured musicians who had played for one or both groups. The band debuted at the Troubadour in Hollywood and proceeded to play the L.A. circuit, eventually building a fan following and attracting the attention of several record companies.[22][23] Following a dispute with Tracii Guns, and his departure from the band, Axl then called Slash (having met him from the time Slash spent in Hollywood Rose). So with Rose on vocals, Slash on lead guitar, Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, Duff McKagan on bass and Steven Adler on drums, Guns N' Roses signed to Geffen Records in 1986 and released a four-song EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, on their own label, UZI Suicide, in December of that year.
The band's major label debut album, entitled Appetite for Destruction, was released in the United States on July 21, 1987. The record had a slow start, selling only 500,000 copies in the first year of its release.[24] However, fueled by relentless touring, constant MTV video rotation of "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Welcome to the Jungle", and the mainstream success of "Sweet Child o' Mine", after about a year of not charting, rose to the #1 position on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States in the fall of 1988, and again in February 1989. To date, Appetite for Destruction ranks as the best-selling debut album in the United States, has been certified 18x platinum by the RIAA, and has sold over 28 million copies worldwide.[25][26] With the success of Appetite for Destruction and its follow-up EP, GN'R Lies, Rose found himself lauded as one of rock's most prominent frontmen. Rolling Stone featured him multiple times during the time-period, including cover-stories.[1][9] The August 1989 cover-story especially was unprecedented. At this point Rose's notoriety was such that the magazine agreed to his absolute requirement that two friends, Del James and Robert John, would write the "only story and pictures the magazine would be allowed to use".[27] Rose gave his friends' article one of his most iconic quotes:
"I was looked down on for being a poor kid that doesn't know shit, and now I'm like, a rich, successful asshole."
Journalist Kurt Loder told MTV in 1990 that Rose was "maybe the finest hard rock singer currently on the scene, and certainly the most charismatic."[28]
In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording the full-length follow-up to Appetite for Destruction. Recording sessions were temporarily scuttled when Steven Adler, battling drug and alcohol addiction, was fired in July 1990 and replaced by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum.[23] The band fired their manager, Alan Niven, in May 1991, replacing him with Doug Goldstein. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone magazine, Rose forced the dismissal of Niven, against the wishes of some of his bandmates, by refusing to complete the albums until he was replaced. It is said that the reason for it was an attempt by Niven to pick-up on his then-girlfirend, future wife, and eventual divorcee, Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly, of the Everly Brothers.[29]
With enough music for two albums, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on September 17, 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at #2 and #1 respectively on the Billboard chart, setting a record as Guns N' Roses became the only group to date to achieve this feat. The albums spent 108 weeks on the chart.[19]
In the late spring of 1991, before the Illusion albums were released, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month-long Use Your Illusion World Tour. It became famous for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows.
During the tour it was alleged, and long accepted, that Rose demanded and received sole ownership of the Guns N' Roses name from bandmates Slash and McKagan.[30] However, this story was recently disputed by Rose, who claimed it would have been legally impossible for him to do such a thing.[31] His relationships with his bandmates became increasingly strained: Izzy Stradlin left the group voluntarily on November 7, 1991, and was replaced by former Kill For Thrills guitarist Gilby Clarke for the remainder of the two-year tour.[6][23] Clarke himself left in 1994, and was replaced by Rose's childhood friend Paul Tobias. When Rose replaced Slash's guitar parts with those of Tobias on the band's cover version of the Rolling Stones' song "Sympathy for the Devil" for the soundtrack of the film Interview with the Vampire, tension increased further. Slash, McKagan, and Sorum all left Guns N' Roses at various points between 1996 and 1997, leaving Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed as the only remaining Illusion-era members of the band.[30]
While the Guns N' Roses name is owned solely by Rose, the band's back catalog is controlled jointly by Rose, Slash, and McKagan. In 2004, the three presented a united front in a joint lawsuit against Universal and Geffen, in which they unsuccessfully attempted to block the release of the Greatest Hits compilation album.[32]
Slash and McKagan have also filed several lawsuits against Rose for matters related to control and administration of the songs in the Guns N' Roses catalog. One of the cases, in which McKagan and Slash stated that they had been denied royalty checks for Guns N' Roses's sales in 2005, was determined to be the result of a clerical error by ASCAP and was resolved.[33][34][35]
[edit] Hiatus, touring, and Chinese Democracy (1995–present)
As the stability of Guns N' Roses collapsed, Rose withdrew from public view. The band never actually 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 the charter members as they gradually defected. The last charter member of the band to go (aside from Rose himself) was Duff McKagan.
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 reports in the press, he was referred to as the "Howard Hughes of rock" and "rock's greatest recluse".[23][36] 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.[30]
In a rare interview with Rolling Stone in 2006, Rose shed more light on his long awaited Chinese Democracy album. "We're working on 32 songs, and 26 are nearly done", he said in the interview. "People will hear music this year", he said. "It's a very complex record, I'm trying to do something different. Some of the arrangements are kind of like Queen. Some people are going to say, 'It doesn't sound like Axl Rose, it doesn't sound like Guns N' Roses.' But you'll like at least a few songs on there
Guns N' Roses resurfaced with concert tours in 2002 and again in 2006. The band, now consisting of Rose, Dizzy Reed, Robin Finck, Tommy Stinson, Chris Pitman, Richard Fortus, Frank Ferrer, and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (replacing Buckethead), performed their first live concerts in the United States in over three years on May 12, May 14, May 15, and May 17, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.[38] They also performed in Madrid on May 25 and in Lisbon (Rock in Rio) on May 27 to an audience of over 50,000.
On May 6, 2006, Rose appeared on the Eddie Trunk radio show and promised that the album would be released sometime in the fall or late fall 2006.[39]
On April 5, 2006, Rose presented The Killers at the MTV Video Music Awards by coming out onto the stage and screaming his trademark, "Do you know where the fuck you are?!" In an interview backstage, Rose revealed that the official Chinese Democracy tour would begin "around October 24th", and that the album would be out that year.[40]
On December 15, 2006, Rose issued an open letter to Guns N' Roses fans, discussing, among other things, the reasons why Chinese Democracy had not been released yet. In it, Axl stated that he hoped the album would appear in 2007, and named March 6 as a tentative release date.[41] However, the album's release date was pushed back once again.
In 2007, Rose collaborated with longtime friend Sebastian Bach on his solo album Angel Down, doing a duet with Bach on a cover of the Aerosmith song "Back in the Saddle". Rose also performed backing vocals on "(Love is) a Bitchslap" and "Stuck Inside", for which he was credited as a co-writer.
On October 22, 2008, a new release date was officially announced for Chinese Democracy: November 23, 2008 (the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day). The album was exclusively released via Best Buy.[42]
On December 11, 2009, Guns N' Roses kicked off their 2009/2010 Chinese Democracy tour in Taipei, Taiwan.
Guns N' Roses announced they will be playing their only 2010 show in the USA at the world famous Bikers Rally at Sturgis, South Dakota on August 13, 2010.
GNR 2010 November Rain!
The new Guns N' Roses group photo!
