Axl Rose

Axl Rose biography

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. Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets, including Rolling Stone and NME.

Early life

Rose was born William Bruce Rose, Jr. in Lafayette, Indiana, the oldest child of Sharon E. ( Lintner), 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.

The Bailey household was very religious; Rose and his family attended a Pentecostal church, where he was required to attend services three to eight times per week and even taught Sunday school. Rose later described his upbringing as oppressive, stating, "We'd have televisions one week, then my stepdad would throw them out because they were satanic. I wasn't allowed to listen to music. Women were evil. Everything was evil." He also stated that his stepfather had physically abused him and his siblings, as well as sexually abused his sister. At Jefferson High School, he participated in the school chorus and studied piano. A second baritone, Rose began developing "different voices" during chorus practice to confuse his teacher. He eventually formed a band with his friends, one of whom was Jeff Isbell, later known as Izzy Stradlin.

At the age of 17, while going through insurance papers in his parents' home, Rose learned of his biological father's existence, and he unofficially readopted his birth name. he legally changed his name to W. Axl Rose prior to signing his contract with Geffen Records in March 1986. After Lafayette authorities threatened to charge him as a habitual criminal, Rose moved to Los Angeles, California in December 1982.

Career

1983-1986: Early years

Shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, Rose joined the band Rapidfire, with whom he recorded a four-song demo in May 1983. After the group's disbandment, he joined the first line-up of L.A. Guns, before forming the band Hollywood Rose with his childhood friend Izzy Stradlin, who had moved to Los Angeles in 1980. While struggling to make an impact on the Hollywood music scene, Rose held down a variety of jobs, including the position of night manager at the Tower Records location on Sunset Boulevard. Rose and Stradlin even smoked cigarettes for a scientific study at UCLA for the reported wages of $8 per hour.

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