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Axl Rose is the lead singer of the rock band Guns N’ Roses. With over 16 million records sold, Axl Rose is listed as one of the best-selling music artists in American popular culture by the RIAA. Considered a perfectionist, Axl’s main influences are Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and Iggy Pop. He is known for his strong voice and energetic stage presence with piercing eyes. The singer has been known to insult spectators who throw things at him on stage or assault them for blocking his view spontaneously. To help you know about your favorite rock star, here are 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Axl Rose:
# 1 – Axl Rose was Removed from School for Playing Piano
Growing up in Lafayette, Indiana, Axl had dreams of being a professional basketball player until he heard the Rolling Stones‘ song “Angie” while watching T.V. one day when he was only 14 or 15 years old. The very next day, he took some money that he’d saved up and bought a piano at a nearby junk shop. Axl’s father was not happy about this purchase. At the time, he believed that rock musicians were drug addicts and wife-beaters. He wanted his son to do something more sensible with his life. So he pulled him out of school and got him a job working for his company in Garden City, Michigan, just outside of Detroit.
# 2 – Axl was once a fisherman
Axl Rose is known by many as the frontman for Guns N’ Roses, but back in the early 80s, he earned his money as a fisherman working at Lake Eerie in Ohio for $4 an hour, not much considering he was pulling in $20 million a year by 1993. It’s said that one of Guns N’ Roses‘ early songs, ” Out To Get Me,” was written about Axl and how he felt he had been cheated out of his wages on the fishing boat. He later quit joining Hollywood Rose before forming one of the most successful rock bands ever.
# 3 – Axl Rose Caught his Sobriety after Being Arrested for Bringing Loaded Firearm into Airport
Axl was arrested for carrying an unloaded forty-five caliber pistol onto a commercial airplane in July of 2006. After being arrested, Axl went through treatment and documented the process in the “S.O.B.” on his album Chinese Democracy.
# 4 – Axl Rose became homeless for sometime after “Welcome to the Jungle” Tour ended
After spending many years touring worldwide with Guns N’ Roses nearly three hundred shows between 1987-89 on their “Welcome to the Jungle” tour, Axl no longer felt at home with himself or his bandmates. As a result, he went into seclusion for nearly a year while the other band members continued working with the group’s keyboard player Dizzy Reed. After his time in seclusion, Axl started work on what would be called “The Civil War Album” by Guns N’ Roses. He worked with different musicians during this time, but none of it turned out to sound right. So he decided to scrap the entire project and go back to work on his songs.
# 5 – Axl Rose was involved in a hit-and-tun incident while Driving Singer from Ex-Girlfriend
Axl was driving one night when he took an illegal left turn across several traffic lanes into a car waiting for a red light. When confronted, Axl and his passenger (rumored to be another singer from an ex-girlfriend) got out of the car and fled the scene on foot. The impact sent her car spinning three times before it crashed into a nearby building
# 6 – Axl Rose was Replaced by Cybernetics after His Injury at St Louis Concert in 1986
Axl’s injury during a concert performance is often cited as the cause of his problems with former bandmate Slash. During this particularly intense performance, an object thrown from the audience hit him in the face, breaking his foot and nearly tearing off his lower leg. After the injury, Axl Rose was unable to walk for two years. Axl had reconstructive surgery performed on his foot and lower leg, during which time he was confined to a wheelchair. To make matters worse, doctors inserted screws into his bones that made walking extremely painful. These factors forced Axl to use mechanical limbs via metal rods to get around.
# 7 – Axl Rose was Put on Probation for Three Years after Breaking Nose of Fan Who Rushed Stage at Indiana Concert.
While performing at a concert in April 1991 in Lafayette, Indiana, Axl reached out to shake a fan’s hand when the latter tried rushing the stage and “went berserk,” according to a police report. Security guards beat him up and pushed him through a side exit, where he fled into the night. When Axl went back inside, he demanded that his manager, Doug Goldstein, go out and search for him because Axl wanted to give him another beating. Eventually, someone found the guy who ran onto the stage and took him to meet with Axl backstage. Axl reportedly gave him his guitar pick and told security guards to escort the guy out of the building, not to harm him.
# 8 – Axl Rose is an enthusiastic chess player.
Axl is no stranger to the boardroom either, as he was recently named Vice President of Strategic Planning and Research for Peerless Products. He doesn’t just pop in occasionally; Axl runs most of the company’s affairs from his own home and has done for some time now.
# 9 – Axl Rose’s “One in a Million” lyrics were Inspired by Racist People his Family would come in contact with.
Axl has always been outspoken about social issues, including racism. When he was just 13-years old, he got into an argument with a couple of men who made racist comments to his mother. Feeling sorry for her son, she asked him, “Honey, what do you want me to do? I can’t fight your battles.” To which Axl replied, “No, but you could make them wish they never even opened their mouths.” This inspired the lyrics to the song “One in a Million.”
# 10 – Axl Rose became interested in guns after seeing Quentin Tarantino’s film Reservoir Dogs.
Axl Rose has an extensive collection of firearms (far more than the legal limit), and his interest in them was sparked when he saw Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 debut Reservoir Dogs. Axl had previously been a pacifist but decided to arm himself after watching a news story about a woman who used an Uzi to shoot dead her common-law husband. He has since claimed that he sleeps easier having guns by his bedside.
