Five musicians who hated Axl Rose with a passion: “The guy is a sexist, racist and a homophobe”
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has always been one of rock music’s more controversial figures.
Although he has reportedly calmed down in recent times, when the Los Angeles hard rock outfit were at their peak, and in the ensuing years when he was the only original member left in the fold, Rose was known for being a touch hard to get on with, and prone to outbursts of immense and somewhat comical fury.
A complex character, Rose’s personality would see him clash not only with his revolving cast of bandmates but also with a host of other prominent musicians. There are many notorious moments where the ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ vocalist has become embroiled in spats with world-famous peers or has otherwise denigrated other artists supporting his outfit. While in some instances, he would claim the fault of the feud wasn’t his own but that of the other party, doubt is cast on his accounts when looking at the generally spurious, often alcohol-drenched facts.
Whether it be Living Color’s Vernon Reid, members of Faith No More or even former Jon Bon Jovi, many high-profile musicians have made their negative thoughts on Axl Rose clear. One of the most outspoken entities, it was only fitting that someone so unapologetically nestled deep in the myth of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll should regularly rub counterparts up the wrong way.
Find five artists who have voiced their issues with Axl Rose below.
Five musicians who hate Axl Rose:
Kurt Cobain
Axl Rose and the late Nirvana leader, Kurt Cobain, were opposing characters. In Guns N’ Roses’ heyday, Rose appeared like a relic of the classic rock period when excess was the aim of the game. Cobain, meanwhile, was the refreshing new breed of musician, in it solely for the love of the craft, underpinned by a righteous punk philosophy that despised everything Rose and his band were about.
Despite Axl Rose openly being a fan of Nirvana, his offensive lyrics and general attitude would often anger Kurt Cobain. Cobain once expressed frustration, stating, “We’re not your typical Guns N’ Roses type of band that has absolutely nothing to say.” Naturally, this irked the quick-to-temper frontman, who repeatedly showed his admiration for Nirvana.
Furthermore, it is also reported that Rose would repeatedly call Cobain, asking Nirvana to support Guns N’ Roses on tour, but unsurprisingly, he was rejected. Cobain was adamant that Nirvana wouldn’t turn into the ‘Paradise City’ band, so he started trash-talking Rose and his outfit during numerous interviews, which meant the gloves were off. A petulant feud emerged. Rose would later dub Cobain and his wife Courtney Love “junkies” onstage following a news report claiming the Hole vocalist had used heroin while pregnant. Rose told an audience in Orlando: “If the baby is born deformed, I think they both ought to go to prison.”
Things then boiled over at the 1992 MTV Awards. Allegedly, Love taunted Rose by offering to make him the godfather of her baby, Frances Bean Cobain, which led to Rose threatening Cobain, telling him to keep “his woman in line”, before Rose’s then-partner Stephanie Seymour traded vicious words with Love. Later that evening, in retaliation, Cobain would spit all over what he thought was Rose’s keyboard, but it actually turned out to be Elton John’s. For their response, members of Guns N’ Roses and their entourage attempted to tip over Nirvana’s trailer, but they weren’t inside; it was only Frances Bean and her nanny. Thankfully, they stopped upon realisation of the situation.
Later, speaking to the LGBTQ+ publication The Advocate in 1993, Cobain discussed an instance where a fan pleaded with him to patch things up with Rose and his outfit, as they were their two favourite bands. “No, kid, you’re really wrong,” the Nirvana man recalled saying, “Those people are total sexist jerks, and the reason we’re playing this show is to fight homophobia in a [really] small way. The guy is a fucking sexist and a racist and a homophobe, and you can’t be on his side and be on our side.”
Vince Neil
One bitter feud would be too much for most of us, but not Axl Rose. One man who absolutely hates him is Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil. You’d be forgiven for thinking he would be good friends with the Guns N’ Roses vocalist, given their Los Angeles background and similar musical styles, but things could not be more different.
A strange spat commenced in 1989, with Rose finding himself firmly in Neil’s crosshairs. After the Crüe presented ‘Best Group and Best Metal Video’ to Guns N’ Roses at the 1989 MTV Awards, they all left the Universal Amphitheatre, but Neil stayed behind, waiting for Izzy Stradlin, who was claimed to have struck his wife, Sharise, at an earlier date. Waiting for the alleged abuser backstage, Neil sucker-punched Stradlin just as they got off stage from performing with Tom Petty. In response, the red-faced, flame-haired Rose screamed at the top of his lungs and threatened to kill Neil for the attack. No assassination materialised, though.
This eruption made the headlines, and tensions reached fever pitch. In 1990, Rose appeared on MTV and maintained that he was ready to physically sort out Neil once and for all. He got no response, though, and a year passed without a whisper from the other side. Then, all of a sudden, Neil responded, and fans watched with bated breath. Was the veteran rocker about to give the petulant Rose the hiding he’d always deserved?
Neil said: “He said a lot of bad things about me last few years and a lot of threats. Even on one of your guys’ shows before the MTV Awards. He said, ‘Well, any time any place.’ And right now, I wanna put an end to this, and what I want is, Axl, if you are watching this, I want to challenge you to a fight. I’m gonna give you time, and I’m gonna give you the place. There’s no backing out now, buddy. It’s time to put up or shut up.”
He continued: “I’d like to do it at an arena where people can come and see. I’d like to have it televised. I want the whole world to see this fight. I think it’s gonna be great. I’m really psyched for it because I need to put an end to this. It’ll end it once and for all the bad blood between us. So let’s do it. Men should do it”.
Of course, another media frenzy ensued, but perhaps in the greatest distillation of how much of a fallacy the macho hair metal and hard rock of the era was, nothing ever happened. Thankfully, a year later, Kurt Cobain was to change rock music forever and blow away these outdated spectres.
Eagles of Death Metal
In 2006, Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme‘s band the Eagles of Death Metal supported Guns N’ Roses, but this stint was a one-time-only experience. Given their differing styles, the Palm Desert outfit were jeered by the legions of hard rock demons impatiently waiting for Rose and the band to take the stage. Rose then exacerbated the situation by referring to his support act as “pigeons of shit metal” during his set after not even watching them and turning up 30 minutes after they left the stage.
Of course, Hughes, Homme and the rest of the group immediately withdrew from the run. In a statement explaining why they ditched Rose and the band, Hughes said: “At first, the audience refused to welcome us to the jungle, but by the time we took our final bow, it had become paradise city. Although Axl tried to November rain on our parade, no sweet child o’ mine can derail the EODM night train. We say live and let die”.
Despite effectively throwing his band off the tour, Hughes claimed to the NME that later in the evening, they pulled out, and Rose’s management called his manager and apologised. They asked them to return for the remaining dates of the three-week tour, explaining that Rose thought the Eagles of Death Metal were just another group forcibly placed on the tour by the label and sent his apologies.
Hughes recalled: “When my manager told me that, I just said, ‘You can tell that motherfucker to go and fuck himself because I will never go through that again’.”
Scott Weiland
While Duff McKagan, Slash and Matt Sorum all left Guns N’ Roses at different points during the same period of acrimony, it didn’t take long before they reunited to form the supergroup Velvet Revolver in 2002. Enlisting Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner, their best-known track is ‘Slither’ from 2004’s Contraband.
Of course, during this period, Slash and Rose’s relationship was at rock bottom, and it wouldn’t take long before Rose pulled Weiland into the mire. It is reported that in 2005, Rose released a press statement that claimed Slash had visited his house to attempt to make up and that the Les Paul-toting wizard had called Weiland a “fraud” behind his back. Brilliantly, Weiland told Rose where to go and had some choice words for the washed-up rocker.
“Get in the ring. Go to the gym, motherfucker, or if you prefer, get a new wig, motherfucker… Don’t think for a second we don’t know where those words came from. Your unoriginal, uncreative little mind — the same mind that had to rely on its bandmates to write melodies and lyrics. Who’s the fraud now, bitch?” Weiland wrote in a letter to Rose that he posted online.
He pointedly continued: “What we’re talking about here is a frightened little man who once thought he was king, but unfortunately, this king without his court is nothing but a memory of the asshole he once was.”
Interestingly, after the late grunge star left Velvet Revolver in 2008, he would tell Classic Rock that he had changed his opinion on Rose and that he understood that Slash and McKagan had done to him what they had to the Guns N’ Roses lead.
Chris Cornell
In 1991, grunge newcomers Soundgarden opened for Guns N’ Roses, and unsurprisingly, as an antithetical act, frontman Chris Cornell’s recollection nearly 20 years later was not a pleasant one. While he openly refused to comment negatively on Rose, he proceeded to not-so-subtly dig at the divisive hard rock singer.
Speaking to Vulture in 2012, Cornell said: “Without saying anything negative about Axl, what I remember the most was Duff and Slash and everyone else being regular, sweet, warm guys in a rock band that just wanted to play rock music. And then, like, there was this Wizard of Oz character behind the curtain that seemed to complicate what was the most ideal situation they could ever have been in: They were the most successful and famous rock band on the planet.”
People just wanted to hear Guns N’ Roses’ songs, but sadly, to Cornell, there was a significant “obstacle” in the way. We all know who that is.