Happy Birthday Axl Rose
W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr.; raised as William Bruce Bailey; February 6, 1962) 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. Due to his powerful wide vocal range and energetic live performances, Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone and NME.
Rose was born William Bruce Rose, Jr. in Lafayette, Indiana, the oldest child of Sharon E. , 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.
Without explanation or consultation from his band mates, Rose fired Gilby Clarke in June 1994.[8] Tension between Rose and Slash reached a breaking point after the latter discovered that Rose had single-handedly hired his childhood friend Paul “Huge” Tobias as Clarke’s replacement.[8] 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 in his mansion in Malibu. In various media reports, he was referred to as the “Howard Hughes of rock” and “rock’s greatest recluse”.[24][42] 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.[41] 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.[43]
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.[44] 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.[45]
Rose performing at the Download Festival in 2006
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. The following December, it was announced that the classic lineup of Guns N’ Roses would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, their first year of eligibility. Rose thanked the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and his fans via his Twitter, saying, “This is your victory.” However, he did not attend the ceremony on April 14, as he had announced in an open letter three days prior. Rose, who has been on bad terms with several of his former band mates, wrote that the ceremony “doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected.”
