Axl Rose

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Axl was born William Bruce Rose, on February 6, 1962 in the small-town Lafayette, Indiana. His mother, Sharon E. Bailey, married Axl's father, William Rose, while she was still in highschool. They got Axl while both were still young. When Axl was two years old, William left them. Sharon later married L. Stephen Bailey, and they had two more children - Stuart and Amy. After the marriage, Axl's surname was changed to William Bailey. Axl's mother never told Axl about his real father - or that his name wasn't his real name. Axl grew up thinking that Stephen was his real father, and he didn't discover the truth until he was 17. "I found some insurance papers, then I found my mom's diploma with the last name Rose," Axl said. "I was never born Bill Bailey. I was born William Rose." After this, Axl decided to change his surname back to Rose, and he became William Rose. Axl had a very difficult childhood - both when his mother was with his real father, and with his stepfather. His father sexually abused him, and his stepfather believed in raising children violently. He gave Axl a very strict, religious childhood, and Axl had to go to Sunday School in church, as well as visiting the church several times per week: "I had to go to church anywhere from three to eight times a week. I even taught Bible school while I was beaten and my sister was being molested." The children also lived under very strict rules. Several things were right, while other things were wrong; Axl couldn't listen to music and he was not allowed to even look at women. "I remember the first time I got smacked for looking at a woman. I didn't kow what I was looking at, and I don't remember how old I was, but it was a cigarette advertisement (on TV) with two girls coming out of the water in bikinis. I was just staring at the TV - not thinking, just watching - and my dad smacked me in the mouth and I went flying across the floor." The more positive things he could do was singing in the church. Axl sang with his brother and sister in the so called Bailey trio. Axl went to Oakland Elementary School and later Jefferson High School. Axl was a loner in class, being very sensitive and emotional. Billy Johnson, Axl's fifth grade teacher, remembered him as "very intelligent, very personable, always had a smile. He was always a step or two ahead of you in class. If you weren't careful, he'd take the class away from you." Phil Hurt, his eighth grade cross-country coach said Axl talked constantly, often proclaiming that someday he would be a success. In response, his teammates once taped his mouth shut and, another time, stuffed him in a locker. "All of us sat back and laughed about (his boasts) and said, 'Sure, Bill, we've heard this before'. He said, 'No, you watch. I'm gonna make it.'" Jefferson High School art teacher Sue Ristau recalls Rose making a ring that was displayed in an art show. "I would say he was active," she said. "I remember he had the class after lunch. I remember him bouncing into class. He liked art and was good in it. He could miss a lot of school and come back and still pick up and do better than the kids who had been there all the time." Bill Lane, his ninth grade science teacher said: "He was one of those kids, as they say, has ants in his pants. He was constantly up-down-up-down around the room, like a little ant." Dennis Blind, principal at Jefferson High School, doesn't even remember Axl at all. He said Rose must have been an average student - not too bad, or too good. Like other kids, Axl liked playing baseball and doing sports, but his main interests were music and poetry. He learnt playing piano in his pre-teens, and in high school he formed his first band, with his friend Jeffrey Isbell - later known as Izzy Stradlin. They had first met when they were 14, when Axl was in trouble with teachers at the school: "I remember the first day of class in 8th or 9th grade," Izzy said. "I heard this noise going on in the front, then I see him, it's Axl, and a teacher bouncing off a door jam. Then, Axl was gone down the hall with all these teachers running after him!". Axl was the band's singer and Izzy played drums. He had made his parents buy him a drum kit, and the band practised in Izzy's garage: Izzy recalls Axl as being "really shy about singing back then". The band played covers only and din't write original songs. During the high school years, Axl also met Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon, who later appeared on the Guns N' Roses songs "Don't Cry and "You Ain't The First" among others), Dave Lank (friend of Axl who co-wrote "Don't Damn Me" with Axl and Slash), and Paul Tobias (rhythm guitar player in Guns N' Roses for several years). Axl and his parents shared a home in Lafayette with his grandmother, Anna Lintner. Around the time when Axl attended high school, Axl's parents moved. Rose followed his parents and lived with them for a short time, but he returned to live with his grandmother. "I enjoyed the years he spent with me," she said." I have just good thoughts. I suppose we had arguments, but a person forgets those after a while. I love him. I always have and I always will-just as I do all of my grandchildren." Axl soon became tired of school, and he started dropping out. He returned a few times, but he permanently quit sometime during his junior year at Jefferson High School. In 1980, Axl went to California for the first time. At this time, Axl didn't want to leave Lafayette permanently, so he decided to go back after some time. Between 1980 and 1982, Axl moved back between California and Lafayette, before he eventually was forced to move because of his criminal records. The reason was that the court in Indiana was going to charge him as a habitual criminal, which could result in life time in jail. Axl had been arrested five times between June 1980 and March 1981, and it's said that he was arrested over 50 times totally throughout his time in Lafayette. His lawyer adviced him to leave Indiana permanently, something Axl did. He soon moved permanently to LA with his girlfriend Gina Siler. When Axl first came to LA, he didn't know anyone in the city except his old friend Izzy, who had left Lafayette some time before him. Axl tried finding Izzy with little success, and he soon gave up. Some time later he eventually ran into Izzy, and they started hanging out. In LA, Axl tried singing for various bands, including a punk band, which didn't work out too good. "When I was in Indiana I was labeled a punk... a punk rocker. When I moved to L.A., the punks called me a hippie and didn't want anything to do with me. I tried out for a punk band and I didn't make it because they said I sounded too much like Robert Plant." After Axl and Gina broke up, Izzy moved into the apartment Axl and Gina had shared. Izzy, who had changed instrument to guitar, was searching for musicians to form a band. One night, he met the young guitarst Chris Weber, and soon Axl, Izzy and Chris agreed to form a band. They called it Rose, which later changed name to Hollywood Rose. Johnny Kreis joined as the dummer, with Rick Mars and Andre Troxx sharing duties as the band's bassist. Songs like "Reckless Life", "Think About You", "Shadow Of Your Love" and "Anything Goes" were written while Hollywood Rose were together. After a concert in Santa Monica in the fall of 1984, Axl decided to leave Hollywood Rose. Izzy had introduced him to Chris' friend Tracii Guns, and Axl wanted to play with Tracii in his band, L.A Guns. The band also featured Ole Beich on bass. LA Guns eventually split up since "the drummer and bass player freaked out" right after Axl joined. Instead of trying to find a new band, Axl decided to try to reform Hollywood Rose for a new years gig. Izzy was into it, and they recrouted Rob Gardner (drums) and Steve Darrow (bass). Chris Weber, who was originally not supposed to continue, agreed to do the concert since they couldn't find anyone else. After the concert, Axl, Izzy and Rob Gardner wanted to continue with the band, while Darrow left. They started searching for guitar players, and they tried Slash among several others. The choice eventually fell on Tracii Guns, and with Guns in, the name was set to be a mix of Axl's and Tracii's name - Guns N' Roses. The band was officially formed in March 1985, with the line-up finalized some weeks later, with Izzy's friend and neighbour Duff McKagan, joining. Ole Beich had played at least a show with the band, before they recruited Duff. In early June, 1985, Duff booked a tour in Seattle, but a few days before the tour, Tracii and Rob left the band. With few alternatives, Duff's friends, Slash and Steven, joined the band. This line up was finalized on June 6th, 1985. After rehearsing for four days the band went to Seatlle, where they found out that most of their gigs had been cancelled, and they didn't get paid more than $50 of the $250 they had been promised. After the failed tour, GnR went back to LA, playing gigs, rehearsing and writing. They had a place called the Hell House, which basically was a studio with beds where they lived. "It didn't even have a shower," Axl said. The situation as a whole was relatively bad as the band also didn't have much money. "We tried to live on $3.75 a day, which was enough to buy biscuits and gravy at Denny's for a buck and a quarter. ... That's it. We survived." Axl tried several jobs to make a few bucks; he did telephone sales, was a night manager at a Tower Video, and smoked cigarettes with Izzy for $8 an hour for a UCLA medical test. But no matter how the situation of the band was, they survived. They worked hard on their music, they played concerts, they wrote and they rehearsed. And they partied. "Every weekend, the biggest party in L.A. was down at our place," Axl said. "We'd have 500 people packed in an alley and our old roadie was selling beers for a buck out of his trunk. It was like a bar and everyone had their whiskey. We could get away with whatever we wanted, except when the cops came... If there was a problem we'd escort them out. By 'escort' I mean we'd drag 'em out by their hair down the alley, naked." By playing live regulary, the band also buildt up a good reputation in the LA music-scene. They impressed both the crowd and the record companies, and one of the most impressed was the Geffen representative Tom Zutaut. He had seen the band a few times, and he wanted to sign them. Guns N' Roses also got offers from several other record companies, but the band signed with Geffen Records March 25, 1986. The reason for accepting Geffen's offer was that they felt the company had good plans for them. The band immediately started working on their debut album at Rumbo Studios. The album, titled "Appetite For Destruction", was released on July 31, 1987. Axl co-wrote several songs - "My Michelle", "Paradise City", "Welcome To The Jungle", "Nightrain", "Out Ta Get Me", "You're Crazy", "Rocket Queen", "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Anything Goes". After the release the band went on tour, supporting bands and artists like the Cult, Mötley Crüe, Alice Cooper, Aerosmith and others. GnR also did some headlining shows. Trouble followed Axl and the band throughout the next years. On August 20, 1988, the band played at the Monsters of Rock festival in Donnington, England. The crowd was wild and out of control, and the band stopped the gig several times to calm down the audience. Sadly, two fans died at the concert, during the band's performance of "It's So Easy". Axl didn't hear the tragic news until he was on the plane back to Los Angeles after the concert. The press later blamed Axl to some extent. With the follow up to "Appetite For Destruction" - "G N' R Lies" (released in December, 1988) - Axl again got in trouble - this time for the song "One In A Million", in which Axl used the words "niggers" and "faggots" generalizing about whole groups of people. Axl tried explaining his words both in the song and on the cover of the album, but his explainations did not help calm the situation. The controversy did however gain the band media attention, which helped to boost the band's popularity enough to make them one of the few band's that had had two album's in the Billboard top 5 at the same time. More trouble followed with the shooting of the unreleased "It's So Easy" video in October, 1989, David Bowie made a hit on Axl's girlfriend, Erin Everly, making Axl punch him and threw him out of the set. Bowie later apologised - something Axl appreciated a lot. Axl had nicer encounters with other older musicians like George Harrison and Tom Petty. George Harrison and Axl never got to work on music together, but stayed in touch over the next years. This connection also led to "Civil War" being released on a benefit album. Axl and Petty developed a friendship in 1989, and Axl joined him on stage once for "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and Petty's "Free Fallin'". Axl and Izzy also joined Petty at the MTV Music Awards the same year, this time for "Free Fallin'", and the Elvis classic "Heartbreak Hotel". After the performance, Mötley Crüe's Vince Neil hit Izzy, because Neil's wife said Izzy had made a pass on him. Izzy said she tried to hit on him, and he denied her. The incident led to Vince Neil and Axl challenging each other for fighting several times. The fight never took place. In October the same year, Guns N' Roses opened four shows for The Rolling Stones in Los Angeles. At the first show, Axl said he would leave the band if certain people didn't stop "dancin' with Mr. Brownstone." Slash, who knew the speach was directed at him, said he hated Axl for doing that, but he also realised that he had to clean up. Mick Jagger later dedicated the song "Mixed Emotions" to Axl - a song they'd bring Axl out to sing backin' vocals on a few months later when Axl and Izzy joined the band on three dates for the song "Salt Of The Earth". On April 28, 1990, Axl married Erin Everly - daughter of the Everly Brothers' Don Everly - in Las Vegas. They had been together for 5 years in what at times was a very difficult relationship. After the marriage, it didn't improve, and the couple fought a lot. The fighting resulted in a divorse only nine months after they got married. Axl illustrated the hard times of Erin and Axl saying they sometimes treated each other great "because the children in us were best friends". "Then there were other times when we just fucked up each other's lives completely," Axl said. In the summer of 1990, Steven was fired from Guns N' Roses. Axl, who had worked hard to keep Steven in the band, had to sign in to the other's wishes, realising that the drummer's drug problems delayed the recording. Steven was fired, brought back and fired once again - this time permanently replaced by Matt Sorum from The Cult. Axl also hired his old friend, Dizzy Reed, after Dizzy had been thrown out from his apartment. Axl had always been fascinated by Dizzy's way of playing, so he called his manager and made him offer him a contract. Dizzy accepted, and joined the band. The band, who had already written several songs, went in studio to rehearse and write more, to finish the real follow up to "Appetite For Destruction". Axl who found inspiration for several of his songs in his difficult daily life, wrote one of the songs after something that happened on October 20, 1990, when a neighbour of Axl claimed he had hit her with a wine bottle when she told him to turn down the music. Axl was arrested, and he had to spend the night in jail. He was released due to the neighbour lack of evidence. The song title? "Right Next Door To Hell". In May, 1991, Guns N' Roses went back on tour. Axl, not being pleased to tour without the album yet out, started taking steps to fire the manager, Alan Niven. Niven was eventually replaced by the band's touring manager, Doug Goldstein, according to Axl's wish. The band did however continue to tour for a few months with no album out. For one of the band's first shows, in Indianapolis, Indiana, Axl invited his family to the show, and they attempted a family reunion after the concert. The reunion didn't go too well and later that night, Axl trashed his hotel suite. On July 2, 1991, GN’R played in St. Louis. Among the crowd was the leader of a local biker gang, who several times throughout the show tried getting Axl's attention. Axl, who asked the security crew to remove this person many times, finally lost his patience when the biker took a picture of him in the middle of "Rocket Queen". After failed requests to have the camera taken, Axl dived into the crowd and took the camera himself, before giving the biker a right punch. The band left the stage, and a the crowd started a riot. Axl was blamed for the riot because he handled the situation badly. Axl later defended himself saying he wasn't the only one who handled the situation bad. He eventually had to øeave the US after the concert to avoid being arrested. During the video shoot of "Don't Cry" in 1991, Axl started dating the Victoria’s Secret model Stephanie Seymour. Axl had seen Stephanie, and he wanted her in the video. They got along well, and started dating. Axl and Stephanie were later engaged, but their relationship ended in February 1993. According to Axl's halt sister, Amy, Axl treated Stephanie "like a queen". Stephanie's assistant Beta Labeis and Axl eventually developed a friendship while Axl and Stephanie were together, and after the break up, she decided to work with Axl, because she thought Axl was a better person. The video of "Don't Cry" also featured the sign saying "Where's Izzy?" because he failed to show up at the shooting. Weeks later, in November, 1991, the sign got a second meaning when Izzy left the band. November 1991. Axl tried talking to Izzy several times to try to make him stay, before he realised that it was impossible to make Izzy change his mind. Gilby Clarke was hired as the replacement. Along with adding Gilby, a back up band was put together by Axl and Slash. With the new line-up completed the band went back out on the road from December, 1991. More controversy happened with the band when Guns N' Roses were asked to appear at the Freddie Mercury tribute for AIDS awareness,. The word "faggot" that had appeared four years earlier in the song "One In A Million" was hard to swallow for several people. Several protests were held, but as Queen defended GnR, the protests led nowhere. The concert took place on April 20, 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. Guns N' Roses performed "Knockin' On Heavens Door" and "Paradise City". Axl also joined the remaining members of Queen for a version of "We Will Rock You", and he shared stage with Elton John and Queen "Bohemian Rhapsody". Both Elton John and Queen had influenced Axl a lot, and Axl was honoured by them asking him to do the songs. A month later, Axl was invited to join another favourite band, U2, at a concert in Vienna, Austra. GnR had performed in Vienna the day before. Axl and U2 performed "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door". The band continued playing various cities in Europe, until they returned to USA in July. Axl was arrested at the JFK Airport on the St. Louis riot charges when he arrived. The case was closed with Axl paying a $50,000 fine. Elton John, who appareantly had not gotten enough of Axl at the Freddie Mercury tribute, joined the band once again on September 9, 1992 at the MTV Video Music Awards. GnR performed "November Rain" with a full orchestra and Axl and Elton playing piano. Nirvana made fun of Axl during their performance later that night, and Axl got into an altercation with Kurt Cobain after the show ended. The feud that later kept on between the two band's was partly the result of Axl asking Nirvana to open for GnR and Metallica at their tour in the fall of 1992. The Metallica/GnR tour itself was not just one of the biggest tours ever, as it later was labelled. The tour was also scandalous, first and foremost because of a riot in Montreal on August 8, 1992. James Hetfield had been injured during the Metallica set, and Guns N' Roses had to go on earlier than originally scheduled. The sound was bad, and GnR eventually decided to leave the stage, with the words "thank you, your money will be refunded. We're outta here". With the tour ending in July, 1993, Axl went in studio to finish the recording of "The Spaghetti Incident", released in November, 1993. On January 20, 1994, Axl did his last public appereance until 2000, at the induction of Elton John into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. At the show, Axl also joined Bruce Springsteen to perform the Beatles classic "Come Together". After the release of "The Spaghetti Incident", Slash wanted to do a club tour with the band. Axl refused, wanting to take time off touring. He eventually compromised with Slash to record the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy For The Devil" for the "Interview With The Vampire" soundtrack. The recording in itself did not help boost the band's closeness as Slash had hoped, and heavy disagreement between Axl and Slash also took place about the direction of the band and at what time the recordings should take place. Axl, who was in full control of the band due to Slash and Duff signing over all the rights to him during the "Use Your Illusion" tour, refused to resign Gilby Clarke, something that displeased Slash. Slash, Gilby and Matt had been working on what they wanted to be the next Guns N' Roses album, but eventually turned into Slash's Snakepit's first album, due to Axl's refusal of the material. Slash again was displeased at Axl hiring his old friend, Paul Tobias, to replace Gilby. Axl also tried Zakk Wylde alongside Slash, but according to both Axl and Slash, that didn't work out good. In 1996, the band did however spend two weeks working in studio. Slash eventually left the band, and Matt was soon fired. Duff, who was the last to leave, left on his own terms in 1997. During the next years, Axl tried working with several people, including guitarist Robin Finck (Nine Inch Nails), drummers Chris Vrenna (Nine Inch Nails) Dave Abbruzese (Pearl Jam) and bassist Krys Baratto and producers Moby and Youth. Eventually the line-up that was going to bring the world a new Guns N' Roses album was completed, featured Dizzy Reed, Robin Finck, Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson (The Replacements), drummer Josh Freese (The Vandals and keyboardist Chris Pitman (Lusk, Replicants). The band started writing a follow up (to be titled "Chinese Democracy") to the band's last album "The Spaghetti Incident", released in 1993. On February 11, 1998, Axl was arrested at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport because he threatened security workers for mishandling his baggage. The first picture of Axl since 1994 surfaced because of this. It would take more than two years before Axl would again show up in public. On June 22, 2000, Axl had seen Roger Waters live, and he heard Gilby was performing with The Starfuckers at The Cat Club of Los Angeles' Sunset Boulevard. Axl went down to the club to see his old friend perform. The bartender told the Starfucker's drummer Slim Jim Phantom that Axl Rose was leaning on the bar. "I wasn't sure," Phantom says. "So I took Gilby over and tapped the guy on the shoulder. He turns round and Gilby says, 'That's not him!' But Axl grins and says, 'Hey, Gilby, how're you doin?'" Inspired by Roger Waters, Axl went on stage with the band, and performed The Rolling Stones' classics "Wild Horses" and "Dead Flowers". After the concert Axl and Gilby talked for some hours. "I left at 3:30 a.m., and they were still talking up a storm," Phantom said. Clarke said that he and Axl mostly discussed Rose's new band and album. "He was really excited about it," Gilby said. "He was explaining it to me. We didn't rehash anything. We had a good time." "I never really had any problems with Axl". In the spring, 2000, Josh Freese left Guns N' Roses. The replacement was found in Brain (Primus), who would only join if guitarist Buckethead followed him. Axl agreed, and the line-up was once again complete. This line up did their comeback at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas, on New Years Eve, 2000. The band performed many of the old songs as well as five new songs. 1500 Guns N' Roses fans saw the show, which Axl said was like an "open rehearsal". About two weeks later, on January 15, GnR headlined the Rock In Rio 3 festival in Brazil. Axl told the audience that his former friends worked hard to do everything they could so that he couldn't play live that day. He also said he was hurt and disappointed that he couldn't find a way to get along with his former bandmates. During the next weeks, Axl went to Argentina and Chile on a vacation. Later the same year, several tour dates were announced in Europe, only to be rescheduled and cancelled - first due to Buckethead's illness, then due to change of plans. The band once again returns to the live scene the summer and fall of 2002, with shows in Asia, USA and Europe. The band also performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, with a 9 minute medley of "Welcome To The Jungle", "Madagascar" and "Paradise City". The North American tour scheduled between November, 2002 and January, 2003 was cancelled when the tour was halfway. by the promotor, Clear Channel, after Axl refused to lower the payments for the tour. The tour in itself was labelled a scandal, with two smaller riots and half-empty venues in several cities. The band went back in studio in 2003 to work more on "Chinese Democracy". Though several release dates were rumoured, the band stayed quiet throughout 2003. In 2004, the activity level around the band seemed to increase, especially with the Guns N' Roses compilation "Greatest Hits" being released. Axl tried preventing the release of the album because he wasn't satisfied with the tracklist, and the work done on the album. Buckethead also left the band in 2004. This prevented the band from performing at the Rock In Rio 4 concert, held in Lisbon, Portugal. 2004 and 2005 passed with little news and many rumors, and most importantly no album out. (Updated January 21, 2006)	Artist Name: W. Axl Rose Real Name: William Bruce Rose Born: February 6th, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana Other Bands: A.X.L., Rose, Hollywood Rose, L.A. Guns, Rapidfire Worked with: Steve Jones, Micheal Monroe, Alice Cooper, Don Henley, Gilby Clarke Parents: William Rose and Sharon E. Rose (later Bailey) Stepfather: Stephen E. Bailey Siblings: Stuart and Amy Bailey (step sister and step brother)
	Influences Aerosmith: "Aerosmith are a tradition that I grew up with. They were the only band that people who lived in my city in Indiana would accept wearing make-up and dressed cool." Nazareth: "It was 'Love Hurts', the Nazareth version that got me singing in my high voice..." Nirvana: "Nirvana has helped me do my job." Thin Lizzy: The Black Rose album highly influenced Axl, and he did tattoo it on his right shoulder! Hanoi Rocks: "The only reason I put my hair up is because Izzy had these pictures of Hanoi Rocks and they were cool, and because we hung out with this guy who studied Vogue magazine hair styles and he was really into doing my hair." U2: "They're my favorite band right now [1992]. I wanted to write Bono a letter just saying, 'Your record's done a lot for me'. I think "One" is one of the greatest songs that has ever been written. I put the song on and just broke down crying. It was such a release. One of my favorite bands is U2. They used to not be, but they are now. I used not to get it. I didn't see the world they were singing about. Love and pain and caring? Only in a few instances, like "With or Without You," could I relate or understand. That was the song I saw right before I OD'd because my relationship [with his ex-wife] was so f?!ked up. I could barely see the things they were singing about in a few of my friends, and I could believe it in theory, but my true expression didn't see it at all. I can see a different thing in U2's music now, and it has nothing to do with how it's performed or what the people are wearing. There's just a different feel in the music. I think their song "One" is one of the greatest songs ever written. Now I can see and understand why people were into U2 years ago." Elton John: "When we did 'Bohemian Rhapsody' that was totally unrehearsed. Brian asked me to do it that day, and it felt right. I spoke to Elton before the show and he was kind of uneasy about meeting me - you know, I'm supposed to be the most homophobic guy on earth. When we talked, I was excited but serious, telling him how much his music meant to me. By the end he was like 'Whoa'!" Electric Light Orchestra: "I'm an ELO fanatic! Like old ELO, ‘Out of the blue’, that period. I went to see them play when they came to town when I was a kid and shit like that. I respect Jeff Lynne for being Jeff Lynne. I mean, ‘Out of the blue’ is an awesome album. So, one: he’s got stamina, and two: he’s used to working with a lot of different material. Three: he’s used to working with all kinds of instrumentation for all kinds of different styles of music. Four: he wrote all his own material. Five: he produced it! That’s a lot of concentration, and a lot of energy needed." Cheap Trick: "I love Cheap trick. It’s kinda funny now, cos I listen to it and just laugh at him." Others: Pearl Jam, Pink Floyd, 10CC, Nine Inch Nails, Led Zeppelin, Beck, Rolling Stones
	Quotes "We wanted to be the coolest, sexiest, meanest, nastiest, loudest, funnest band. There was a group of consiousness of rape, pillage, search and destroy!" "Guns N' Roses is basically Slash, Duff, Doug Goldstein and myself, but there's a lot of other people involved that are a part of our lives and a part of our family." "I'm very sensitive and emotional, and things upset me and make me feel like not functioning or not dealing with people, the band or anything." "Well, as you can see, being a fucking psycho basket-case as me has it's advantages." "How the fuck did I get so fucking important?" "A lot of things about my mood swings are, like, I have a temper, and I take things out on myself. Not physically, but I'll smash my TV knowing I have to pay for it, rather go down the hallway and smash the person I'm pissed at. With all the pressure, it's like I'll explode. And so where other people would go, 'Oh well, we just got fucked,' 'God damn it!' and breaking everything around him. That's how I release my frustration. It's why I'm, like, pounding and kicking all over the stage." "In a world he did not create, he will go through it as if it were his own. Making: half man, half beast, I don't know what it is but it's weird and it's pissed off and calls itself Slash." "Slash and I are very much a team. I love the guy. We're like opposite poles of energy, and we balance each other out. We push each other to work harder and complement each other that way." "When Izzy recorded tracks on a four track he thought they were finished, I mean, I like tapes like that but we'd get destroyed if we came out with these garage tape." "I can understand Izzy leaving the band and be fine with that, but that's not to say he didn't go about it like an asshole" "Reality is what I want to read about the band." "Most of what's in the press is negative. Some magazines you can't trust at all. They just put some corny little words in that you would never say and you feel really dorky when you read it." "My favourite cartoon characters are Metallica and Slash." "[my job] is a really weird job. I'm not saying that it's a bad job. But you know it's just the work that goes into being that athletic. I like the release of energy that comes from being on stage and being able to express myself as I choose." "It is important to make it as Guns N' Roses. Guns N' Roses takes a very important place in the hearts of many fans and personally I wanted to be able to revive that for them. Fortunately, I had people that helped me with that." "How do you make a whole bunch of guys that are something else into something that already was?" "At the beginning they didn't want to play them. They didn't want to play the old songs that much, because they are musicians in themselves. They had a punk attitude like the old Guns N' Roses. But later it became fun for them, they began to appreciate the songs and enjoy playing them. The bassist, Tommy Stinson, worked very well taking the band through the rehearsals for Las Vegas and Rock In Rio." "Every time that we thought that we had the correct songs, then somebody thought that we could make it better." "It was not originally planned to have three guitarists" "When we tried writing songs in the old style of Guns N' Roses, they sounded too old, they didn't sound so alive. We could not make that. And I think that that also passed with the old Guns N' Roses. The songs composed by the boys for another album many years ago, everything sounded old."