The lead singer of the rock bands Guns N' Roses and AC/DC and one of the greatest vocalists of all time, Axl Rose, has a rather interesting biography. Bold and uninhibited on stage, capable of explosive antics when in a rage, he is a very modest and even shy person in ordinary life. What was the creative path of this talented, albeit controversial personality?
Early years
William Bruce Bailey Jr., who later took on the more sonorous pseudonym Axl Rose, was born on February 6, 1962 in Lafayette (USA, Indiana). He was the eldest of three children and grew up in a dysfunctional family: his own father left the family when William was still very young, and his stepfather disliked and constantly beat the boy. This greatly affected the character of William - he grew up a secretive, withdrawn and very shy child. Below is a childhood photo of the future musician.
As a teenager, the young man became interested in rock music. In manyin the texts, he found similarities with his difficult childhood, and this was an outlet for him. Soon, William noticed that he himself could sing well - in connection with this, he finally decided to leave his hometown and went to Los Angeles in the hope of becoming the lead singer of some rock band. He immediately changed the surname of the hated stepfather to the surname of his own father - Rose, and simply invented the name Axel.
In Los Angeles, the young man's talent was appreciated, and, after briefly participating in several not-so-famous bands, he finally organized his own, from which soon, after changing several line-ups, the cult Guns N' Roses was formed.
Guns N' Roses
In its classic line-up, hard rock band Guns N' Roses was formed in 1985 when Axel was 23 years old. Permanent members from that time to this day are Axl Rose - as a soloist, lead guitarist Slash and bass guitarist Duff McKagan. The rest of the musicians changed periodically. The photo below shows the line-up of Guns N’ Roses in 1992.
For all the time of existence, the group has released six studio albums, sold worldwide in excess of 100 million copies, making the group one of the most popular in history. Below you can see the video for one of the band's most famous and successful songs - Welcome to the Jungle.
Hard road to fame
Despite the fact that Axl Rose was aware of his vocal power and was confident in his talent, he was still very insecure. During a performance in little-knownbands that played in small clubs, he could still handle himself, but as the popularity of Guns N' Roses began to grow and the audience grew larger, he became more and more uncomfortable on stage. There were several cases when Axel, who was already ready to go on stage, suddenly turned around and ran out of the building. Concerts had to be interrupted or severely delayed, and the organizers literally ran around the city looking for a shy rocker. As a result, the only way out of this situation was the decision to lock absolutely all entrances and exits for the duration of the concert. Even having changed his mind about performing, Axel could not run away anywhere, and therefore, with the help of praise and persuasion, he was returned to the stage.
However, the more famous the band became, the more withdrawn and unhappy Axl Rose became. The growth in popularity caused more and more disagreements between him and the rest of the group, and, in the end, this led to a temporary breakup in 1994. After that, Axel simply disappeared from view for several years. He did not speak and was not heard from in the media.
Heartbreak
One of the reasons for the deterioration of the singer's mental state was a difficult parting with the famous American top model Stephanie Seymour. In 1991, she was invited as an actress in two Guns N' Roses videos, in one of which (for the song Don't Cry) she saved Axel, and in the other (for the song November Rain) she was his bride. The video of the latter can be seen below.
After the firstOn the same day of shooting, Axel called the girl and offered to meet. Bandmates recalled that he was head over heels in love. In January 1993, Stephanie Seymour and Axl Rose announced their engagement, but broke up three weeks later due to Stephanie's infidelity. The situation was aggravated by the fact that just three years earlier, Axel had already experienced a difficult relationship: he was married, but his wife had a miscarriage, which literally drove the musician crazy for a while. Pictured below is Axel and Stephanie.
Clashes with Kurt Cobain
Another popular rocker of the time, Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain, struggled to draw a clear line between Nirvana and Guns N' Roses (both groups were often compared in the media). In 1991, with the release of his cult album Nevermind, Kurt stated: "We are not some Guns N' Roses who have absolutely nothing to say," and also: "We rebel against people like Guns N' Roses."
Despite how Kurt Cobain spoke out, Axl Rose dreamed of doing a joint tour with Nirvana, but the group gave a decisive refusal. As a result, Axel could not stand it either - during one of the concerts, right from the stage, announcing that Cobain and his wife Courtney Love were drug addicts, not musicians. Negative remarks on both sides continued until the death of Kurt Cobain in 1994. However, until now, fans of each of the groups are waging a cold war among themselves, agreeing that it is impossible to love both groups at the same time. For comparison, Axel Rose and Kurt Cobain are pictured below.
AC/DC
In March 2016, founding member and lead guitarist of cult Australian band AC/DC Angus Young approached Axl Rose to support the band on a world tour when frontman Brian Johnson was suddenly hospitalized with a risk of permanent hearing loss. Axel agreed and joined the band as a temporary vocalist.
However, already in September of the same year, after Brian Johnson finally left the group due to a threat to his he alth, Axel Rose became the permanent soloist of the famous group, while remaining the frontman of Guns N' Roses. Pictured below is Axel and Angus Young during an AC/DC concert.
A new AC/DC album is coming out in 2018, featuring Axl Rose on vocals.
