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W.Axl Rose (born February 6, 1962) is an American hard rock singer and songwriter, born in Lafayette, Indiana. He has claimed many times in interviews that through repressive therapy, he has found that he was raped by his biological father when he was 2 years of age. As a teenager, he was a delinquent and has been arrested over twenty times, for charges such as assault and public drunkness. He has claimed that he was disliked by police officers and that only five of those twnety times was he guilty. He was going to be charged as a habitual criminal (a charge that merits life in prison) in Indiana, but on the advice of his lawyer he left the state and evaded police. He was born William Bruce Rose, and later his name was changed to William Bailey after his mother remarried, before adopting the name he is now most commonly known by. He moved to Los Angeles, California in 1981, at the age of nineteen. In LA, he claims he sold drugs for a time just to make money. Around that time, he was diagnosed with a psychotic form of Bipolar Disorder and was prescribed to take liberal doses of Lithium for treatment. He, being previously in a Pentocoastal church choir as a child, had an interest in music. he had also been classically trained in piano. He formed a band, Hollywood Rose, with childhood friend Izzy Stradlin (Born Jeff Isabelle). After that fell apart, he and Stradlin formed a band called Guns N' Roses, which had Rose on vocals, Stradlin on guitar, Rob Gardner on Drums, Duff McKagan on Bass guitar, and Tracii Guns on Lead guitar. Just before the first tour was to begin, Tracii and Gardener "pussied out" of the gigs and left the band. Quickly, Slash (Born Saul Hudson), and Steven Adler, two friends of Mckagans were brought in as replacements. The tour was known as the Hell Tour.Guns N' Roses released Appetite for Destruction in 1987, which made the group one of the most popular acts of the 1980s. Then the next album, called "GNR Lies", was released the following year. It caused strong controversy for Rose's use of the word nigger and faggot descibing African Americans and Homosexuals. He apologized, but on the cover of Lies stated reasons for his wording. In 1992, he was arrested for starting a riot, the famous ST. Louis Riot that occured in July of 1991 when he jumped off stage and physically attacked a fan for having a camera. He then left the stage and a riot ensued. Throughout 1992, he was constantly attacked by Kurt Cobain in print. Cobain, who was a super star with his band Nirvana, constantly made harsh remarks about the band and especially Rose for his homophobia and his fame. Cobain was always a fierce rival of Rose, but eventually Nirvana and Cobain won over and became the Most Popular Band in The World, a title Guns N' Roses had held since their debut. Nirvana and Grunge were the new thing and GNR and Heavy Metal were irate dinosaurs which no place in the 1990s. It was this, the poor sales of "The Spaghetti Incident" and law suits which drove Rose into reclusion. In 1990, He had married his longtime love Erin Everly, the daughter of famous star Don Everly. Their married only lasted 48 hours with Everly calling for a divorce. They reconcilled but three weeks later their marrige was officially annulled. In 1993, He got engaged to Stephanie Seymour, a famous model. Their relationship only lasted months. In 1994, Seymour brought lawsuits against Rose claiming throughout their relationship, he beat her many times and once left her in the hospital, and she brought Everly in as a witness. The rest of the case was never known about. Rose made one last appearence in 1994, then went into seclusion. In 1999, he gave an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine. In 2001, he came out with a totally new lineup of Guns N' Roses and in 2002 embarked on a massive North American Tour after appearing at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards. The tour was cancelled after a month following two concerts which Rose did not show at and which turned in riots. No word was heard from Rose in Months, but in 2003 a new song, called IRS was leaked by Mike Piazza on the radio. No new news. It appears that Rose is back into seculsion, and when or if he will be back, is yet to be seen.
