Biographic - Sunday February 21, 2016 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Axl Rose was born William Bruce Rose Jr. in Lafayette, Indiana, on February 6, 1962, but was raised by his mother and stepfather as William Bailey. A wild teen, he began to play in local bands before following his friend Izzy Stradlin in Los Angeles, he played a number of bands before co-forming Guns N' Roses in 1985. He changed his name to W. Axl Rose in 1986. The group's 1987 debut album "Appetite for Destruction," topped the charts worldwide, eventually selling more than 30 million copies. In 1991, Guns N' Roses simultaneously released two albums- "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II" and secured the top two slots on the U.S. charts. Fueled by the band's hard-living antics, Guns N' Roses was the biggest, baddest band on the planet by the early 1990s. The band undertook a two-year world tour, but all was not well within the ranks. Drummer Steven Adler had been jettisoned in 1990, and Stradlin quit in late 1991. By 1997, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan had bailed out, leaving Axl as the only member of the original lineup. Axl took new lineups of Guns N' Roses out on tour, but no new material was forthcoming. Work on a new album had apparently begun soon after 1993's. "The Spaghetti Incident," but a new release was persistently delayed and postponed, until it took on an almost mythical status in rock circles. Finally, in late 2008, Axl unveiled the "Chinese Democracy" album, taking Guns N' Roses back onto the charts. The album had reportedly cost over $13 million to produce, making it the most expensive album in rock history! Although McKagan and Stadlin have occasionally guested on Guns N' Roses concert dates, relations between Rose and his former bandmates have remained distant. When the original lineup was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 2012, the singer declined to attend. It seemed that the rift would remain- but as 2016 dawned, it was announced that a reunited Guns N' Roses roster would headline the Coachella festival!

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