Five musicians who hated Guns N’ Roses
There’s a lot to be said about Guns N’ Roses. On the one hand, they’re excellent musicians who pushed the boundaries of rock music with albums like Use Your Illusion I and II. On the other hand, they’re a provocative musical outfit with a temperamental arse for a frontman. They have amassed a plethora of number-one hits in their time making music, headlined festivals, and played to some of the biggest crowds the world has ever seen. They have also ruffled some feathers along the way.
Rock stars and people associated with rock are notorious for speaking their minds. The music they play was born out of rebellion; as such, it’s usually played by rebellious people. Having an opinion on people and voicing that opinion is part of the deal when it comes to being a rock star, so any musician the band has offended will almost certainly make that offence known.
Because of the notorious outlandish attitude of the group, they have managed to upset a range of people for a range of reasons. It may be that some people don’t like their music, but often, the beef goes a lot more personal than that.
For instance, David Bowie wasn’t a fan of Axl Rose because, during a show at The Cathouse, Rose spotted Bowie in the front row and proceeded to hurl insults at him. Bowie stood up and left, refusing to take any stick from the cocksure falsetto. Slash explained after the gig that Rose was angry at Bowie because Bowie had allegedly hit on his girlfriend.
Guns N’ Roses never saw eye to eye with Nirvana, either. Kurt Cobain, a renowned advocate for feminism, was never a fan of the sexist lyrics that Rose was famous for screaming at his gigs. When Rose came out and said he liked Nirvana, this riled up Cobain even more, who made an effort to try to put some distance between the two bands.
Grohl recently commented on the rivalry, recalling when Axl Rose tried to convince Nirvana to open for them on tour. “Guns N’ Roses were about to do this massive stadium tour with Metallica, and they wanted us to open,” he said, “So Axl had been calling Kurt nonstop. One day we’re walking through an airport, and Kurt says, ‘Fuck, Axl Rose won’t stop calling me.’ I think it represented something bigger. Nirvana didn’t want to turn into Guns N’ Roses. So Kurt started talking shit in interviews, and then Axl started talking back. It went back and forth like tenth-grade bullshit.”
Corey Taylor also had issues with Axl Rose. Despite having a love for Guns N’ Roses and even working with Slash’s outfit Velvet Revolver, he struggled to hold back when giving his opinion on Rose. Taylor was playing at the same festival as the band and discovered that Axl Rose had reserved an entire corridor in the backstage area where the Guns N’ Roses camp could kick back. Taylor thought this was a dick move, so he went backstage, found roses piano and rubbed his testicles across the keys.
Other musicians who didn’t like the group were Jon Bon Jovi and James Hetfield. Hetfield developed a disdain for Axl Rose on tour after Rose disrespected multiple audiences and cut shows short because the sound wasn’t right. Jon Bon Jovi has expressed discourse with Roses’ overall attitude. He even once said that nobody listened to Guns N’ Roses anymore, and the only reason people came to gigs was to see what kind of freak show the band had in store.
Five musicians that hated Guns N’ Roses:
- Kurt Cobain
- David Bowie
- James Hetfield
- Corey Taylor
- Jon Bon Jovi
