‘Axl Rose Is Not Guns N’ Roses,’ Snarls Spurned Guitarist
Axl Rose has been slammed by a spurned heavy metal guitarist who has suggested that the reclusive rocker needs to “grow the f**k up and let Guns N’ Roses play.”
Jessie Hughes from the hard-rocking Eagles of Death Metal has accused Axl Rose of buying into the myth that he is he living incarnation of Guns N’ Roses.
“Axl Rose unfairly – and incorrectly – is identified as ‘Guns N’ Roses.’ And I take umbrage to that. To me, Guns N’ Roses is Duff McKagan, Izzy f**kin’ Stradlin, Slash, and Steve Adler, and then Axl. When Axl was alone in the band, it was just ‘G n’ R.’ The ‘uns’ and the ‘oses’ became Velvet Revolver.”
Notorious for having an ego the size of a small country, Axl Rose might just well disagree. After all, the singer bleeds Guns N’ Roses from every orifice, and as captain of the ship, he never deserted one of rock’s biggest juggernauts like a long-haired rat, even when it went freewheeling into a dense bog of obscurity, ridicule, and patchy albums.
Jesse Hughes, who some regard as the big bird of death metal, has also insinuated that instead off touring the world with a posse of hired hands in a travelling act akin to the Barnum and Bailey Circus, Axl should reunite the original line-up and give the fans what they really want.
“I think if Guns N’ Roses really wants to play again, then Axl should grow the f**k up, and let THE Guns N’ Roses play. And that ain’t gonna happen unless it’s the actual members. Unless you want to turn Guns N’ Roses into a band like Menudo, or if it’s trying to turn it into Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I mean, the Ringling brothers are dead, but you can still go to their circus, I guess.”
Accusing Axl Rose of being nothing more than a jaded rocker living off the back of former glories like some two-dollar whore who’s over the hill and been put out to pasture seems a bit harsh, but Jesse and Axl have history.
The Eagles of Death Metal were all set to warm up the crowds and open some shows for Guns n’ Roses in 2006, but they only managed one performance before it all went pear-shaped.
Axl didn’t dig the sound of Jesse and his feathered friends all that much, and so Axl being Axl decided to fire the winged axe men of death metal and asked them to kindly fly the nest. He also called them “The Pigeons of Sh*t Metal” from the stage, a label which in some circles has stuck, because it has to be said, it’s kind of funny.
Obviously deeply wounded at being called a failed musician by one of his idols, Jesse took great umbrage at Axl’s flighty little jest and it has obviously opened a wound which runs deep, because Jesse bashfully revealed he attempts to get in touch with Axl every Christmas in an attempt to build some bridge over the troubled water which has passed between the rock star and the pretender.
“You know what man, every year, since Axl Rose fired us from the tour, I have sent him a very sincere request – around Christmas time – inviting him to come in the studio and record two Christmas songs, and be released as ‘The Pigeons Of Sh*t Metal.’ And I always close it with a very judgmental, ‘Because I want you to know Axl, I’m willing to forgive you, and I feel like the rest of the world is, too.'”
The winged wonder of power balladry is not the only celebrity fan of Axl Rose to crave a Guns N’ Roses reunion. Slipknot singer Corey Taylor also revealed in gushing tones that he would rather give up the road then complete with Guns N’ Roses original lineup, according to Ultimate Classic Rock.
“Nobody gets more excited about the thought of the Appetite for Destruction lineup coming back together than me. I would retire from touring because I wouldn’t want to go up against that. You know what I’m saying? And then I would follow them like I was a Deadhead. Like I would just go to every show.”
Who knows Corey and Jesse the flying budgie may just get their wish, but the ball, as always, is in the court of Mr. Guns N’ f***ing Roses dude.
[Image Credit: Ethan Miller, Mark Metcalfe | Getty Images]
