Best Guns N' Roses Song

[The NZA]

Axl Rose declines his 'Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame' induction

 

"When the nominations for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame were first announced, I had mixed emotions, but, in an effort to be positive, wanting to make the most of things for the fans and with their enthusiasm, I was honored, excited and hoped that somehow this would be a good thing. Of course I realized as things stood, if GUNS N' ROSES were to be inducted, it'd be somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation.

 

"Since then we've listened to fans, talked with members of the board of the Hall Of Fame, communicated with and read various public comments and jabs from former members of GUNS N' ROSES, had discussions with the president of the Hall Of Fame, read various press (some legit, some contrived) and read other artists' comments weighing in publicly on GUNS and the Hall with their thoughts.

 

"Under the circumstances, I feel we've been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out. Taking into consideration the history of GUNS N' ROSES, those who plan to attend along with those the Hall for reasons of their own, have chosen to include in 'our' induction (that, for the record, are decisions I don't agree with, support or feel the Hall has any right to make), and how (albeit no easy task) those involved with the Hall have handled things... no offense meant to anyone but the Hall Of Fame induction ceremony doesn't appear to be somewhere I'm actually wanted or respected.

 

"For the record, I would not begrudge anyone from GUNS their accomplishments or recognition for such. Neither I or anyone in my camp has made any requests or demands of the Hall Of Fame. It's their show not mine.

 

"That said, I won't be attending the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction 2012 ceremony and I respectfully decline my induction as a member of GUNS N' ROSES to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

 

"I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of 'GUNS N' ROSES.'

 

"This decision is personal. This letter is to help clarify things from my and my camp's perspective. Neither is meant to offend, attack or condemn. Though unfortunately I'm sure there will be those who take offense (God knows how long I'll have to contend with the fallout), I certainly don't intend to disappoint anyone, especially the fans, with this decision. Since the announcement of the nomination we've actively sought out a solution to what, with all things considered, appears to be a no win, at least for me, 'damned if I do, damned if I don't' scenario all the way around.

 

"In regard to a reunion of any kind of either the 'Appetite' or 'Illusion' lineups, I've publicly made myself more than clear. Nothing's changed.

 

"The only reason, at this point, under the circumstances, in my opinion whether under the guise of 'for the fans' or whatever justification of the moment, for anyone to continue to ask, suggest or demand a reunion are misguided attempts to distract from our efforts with our current lineup of myself, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Chris Pitman, Ron 'Bumblefoot' Thal and DJ Ashba.

 

"Izzy came out with us a few times back in '06 and I invited him to join us at our LA Forum show last year. Steven was at our show at the Hard Rock, later in '06 in Las Vegas, where I invited him to our after-party and was rewarded with his subsequent interviews filled with reunion lies. Lesson learned. Duff joined us in 2010 and again in '11 along with his band, LOADED, opening in Seattle and Vancouver. For me, with the exception of Izzy or Duff joining us on stage if they were so inclined somewhere in the future for a song or two, that's enough.

 

"There's a seemingly endless amount of revisionism and fantasies out there for the sake of self-promotion and business opportunities masking the actual realities. Until every single one of those generating from or originating with the earlier lineups has been brought out in the light, there isn't room to consider a conversation let alone a reunion.

 

"Maybe if it were you it'd be different. Maybe you'd do it for this reason or that. Peace, whatever. I love our band now. We're there for each other when the going get's rough. We love our fans and work to give them every ounce of energy and heart we can.

 

"So let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn't owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another's, or in this case several others', expense.

 

"But hey if ya gotta then maybe we can get the 'no show, grandstanding, publicity stunt, disrespectful, he doesn't care about the fans' crap out of the way as quickly as we can and let's move on. No one's taking the ball and going home. Don't get it twisted. For more than a decade and a half we've endured the double standards, the greed of this industry and the ever present seemingly limitless supply of wannabes and unscrupulous, irresponsible media types. Not to imply anything in this particular circumstance, but from my perspective in regard to both the Hall and a reunion, the ball's never been in our court.

 

"In closing, regardless of this decision and as hard to believe or as ironic as it may seem, I'd like to sincerely thank the board for their nomination and their votes for GUNS' induction. More importantly I'd like to thank the fans for being there over the years, making any success we've had possible and for enjoying and supporting GUNS N' ROSES music.

 

"I wish the Hall a great show, congratulations to all the other artists being inducted and to our fans we look forward to seeing you on tour!!

 

"Sincerely,

 

"Axl Rose

 

"P.S. RIP Armand, Long Live ABC III"

[Thelogan]

Huh. I respect that, and it's pretty well written.

 

What's he upset about again though?

 

As in, what's the beef with the old band members, or is it something else?

[Master Star]

Had a really hard time choosing as well, went with November Rain...love the video and the song.

 

Patience was a close second and then I was torn between Welcome to the Jungle and Paradise City for 3rd. I remember wearing a Guns and Roses t-shirt I stole from my brother to school in the 3rd grade and the other kids were like WTF?

[HypnotizinChikns]

god. he's such a bitch. he needs to get over it. He's pissed that the rest of the band members did not respect his decision to throw a fucking hissy fit right before a huge concert demanding that they sign over ALL RIGHTS to the band Guns n roses to him or else he was going to refuse to perform. so they signed EVERYTHING over to him just to get him on stage. After that he decided to take the band in a new direction which ultimately meant he had all creative control, and of course that caused a huge rift between him and the rest of the band.

 

So no, Axel, no one in (the original) GnR likes your whiny ass. No one likes GnR without Slash or Duff and whoever that other guy was.

 

He took his ball and went home years ago and now expects everyone else to just get over it?? Puh-leze. What a psychopath. i honestly don't care for a reunion but reading this guy pine because GnR is better now and every single fan of the "old" gnr needs to get over it and love his band now as much as he does is ludicrous. he should man the fuck up, get onstage and take the induction based on it's the original line ups music...not just his.

Edited April 12, 2012 by HypnotizinChikns

[Thelogan]

Maybe it's just because I have no investment in the band and thought very little of the man previously, but this seems like a pretty legit "ROCK" thing to do. It's a big middle finger to the establishment type thing. Or at least that's how it's framed.

 

I can also see how it would be insulting to his current band. The market is going to dictate if those guys matter or not, and as far as I can tell they don't, but when the world wants this old lineup and can't even name the current guys you work with...well. He also probably doesn't live in the same world we do. For most people, GnR disappeared a long time ago. For Axel, it's been going right along for years.

 

It seems like he's trying to do something like Nine Inch Nails, where GnR IS Axel Rose and he can just have a rotating band of trained monkeys. The difference is that Trent Reznor really is NIN, he writes everything and you can't tell when he has a new band. You can very much tell with GnR, and for awhile those guys were contributing pretty substantially. In the years they were successful...

[HypnotizinChikns]

Your point of GnR and NiN is completely on target. nothing GnR did after 2000 (beside live albums of previous stuff) has been relevant enough to induct GnR into the hall of fame. To say that no one who was capable of making them inducted in the first place has no idea who his new band mates are is absurd. He's just doing that to throw a big hissy fit over nothing. I think, the biggest reason he is not accepting it isn't because of any of that, but because it would be admitting that without the input of his original band members, he's a has- been like the rest of them, and he has no one to blame for that other than himself. GnR was a solid band, (not the greatest...but solid) they could have easily trucked along like AC/DC does and Metallica does and still would have been just as good as they were (maybe not that great, but that's the business). He uprooted the whole band due to his own insecurities and when it wasn't embraced he played the "it's all their (the old band) fault". His new band is great, they play great music, but they didn't write and play Appetite for Destruction, Lies, Lies Lies, or any of the other bands biggest successes (which is why they are being inducted). He's just a big fucking baby.

Edited April 13, 2012 by HypnotizinChikns

[Thelogan]

I think, the biggest reason he is not accepting it isn't because of any of that, but because it would be admitting that without the input of his original band members, he's a has- been like the rest of them, and he has no one to blame for that other than himself.

 

I bet you're on to something there. I'm sure pride is playing a pretty big role.

[Mr. Hakujin]

Chinese Democracy was really the only G-N-R release sans Slash. And honestly, when you think of that band you think of Slash and Axl. Like Aerosmith is Tyler & Perry. Stones are Jaggar & Richards. So my guess is the "reunion" hold up lies there with whatever bad blood is between those two. And Logan is right, that was a well written statement on Axl's part. I'm sure a few lawyers and publicists went over it before it was released. And I do see the guy's point of view. Besides if the "original" band was ever to reunite, why let the RRHoF cash in on it? I'm sure they'd do it in a more lucrative manner.

 

Chikins, yeah, Axl is a whiny, bitchy, diva. But damnit, he's OUR bitchy, whiny, diva. Know what I mean? He's kinda of like the last rock star from when rock was dominant. Sure, it's mostly nostalgia talkin', but the guy will almost always get a pass in my book.

 

That being said, I'd totally see the other original band play live. What's that band that got an Asian guy to replace their lead singer? Journey? If Izzy, Slash, Duff, and Steven got a guy that could do a spot-on Axl voice I'd be there.

[The NZA]

Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose and Slash are back on good terms

 

 

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash has confirmed that he has rekindled his friendship with the band's lead singer Axl Rose — six years after the frontman called him "a cancer."

 

Speaking to Aftonbladet TV in Sweden, where Slash was making a special appearance on Friday (August 21) for a launch event for the Marshall London phone, the guitarist said of his restored relationship with Axl (see video below): "It was probably way overdue, you know. But it's…. you know, it's very cool at this point. You know, let some of that, sort of, negative… dispel some of that negative stuff that was going on for so long."

 

Slash was asked about the possibility of a reunion of the classic GUNS N' ROSES lineup on the May 7 edition of "CBS This Morning" and gave a somewhat surprising answer. He replied: "I've got to be careful what I say there. I mean, if everybody wanted to do it and do it for the right reasons, I think the fans would love it. I think it might be fun at some point to try and do that."

[alive she cried]

While not a huge GNR fan, I still think Appetite is a good album, but besides being happy for them that they're not acting like children anymore, I have absolutely no interest in hearing anything new from a reformed original lineup. Axl sounds like a terrible Axl impersonator, and Slash hasn't done anything of worth since the late 80's.

[Mr. Hakujin]

A new GnR album with the original lineup could be potentially very cool. I've seen GnR live twice, so a tour is less exciting to me--mostly for the likely crazy high cost of tickets. The MILF factor would be off the charts on such a tour though.