The singers Axl Rose hates with a passion
“Thanks to the lame ass security, I’m going home!” I’m quoting that from memory. I couldn’t tell you the name of the video, but it was a Guns N’ Roses compilation I found when I was a kid that showed the moments Axl Rose had a fight with people while performing. He says that line after jumping into his own crowd and fighting somebody who was recording the gig. The audience started booing, but all I could think was, “Wow, now that’s a rockstar!”
Over the years, the definition of the term “rockstar” has changed dramatically. There was a time when Axl Rose, his on-stage antics and his disassociation with giving a fuck will have all been welcomed under the terms umbrella. However, people see that kind of behaviour now and roll their eyes, seeing it as either an example of poor behaviour or somebody playing a character.
Would we still define Rose as a rockstar today? Probably, given he’s the lead singer of one of the biggest rock bands in the world, but it’s unlikely his hot-headed nature would contribute towards this labelling. Instead, his constant bickering, fighting and strong attitudes towards others would likely grant him the position of “rude” or “dickhead”.
Regardless of your opinion on Rose’s nature as a human being, there is no escaping the fact that reading about some of the feuds he has had with others over the years makes for great reading, and who are we to deprive you of such entertainment? Here are four famous singers Axl Rose hated with a passion.
Famous singers that Axl Rose couldn’t stand:
David Bowie
It’s hard to imagine a world where anybody could hate David Bowie, but as soon as Axl Rose caught wind that the Starman was flirting with his girlfriend, the gloves were off. The story goes that Bowie was on set while the band were recording the music video for ‘It’s So Easy’, which starred Rose’s girlfriend Erin Everly. Apparently, Bowie was flirting with Everly, and Rose didn’t take too kindly to it.
Allegedly, Rose ran up to Bowie, punched him and threatened to kill him. They had beef for a number of years, but made up when Bowie took the Guns N’ Roses singer for lunch in a bid to draw water under the bridge. “Bowie and I had our differences,” admitted Rose, “And then we talked and went out to dinner and then went down the China club and stuff.”
Bob Forrest
This was one of Rose’s earliest collisions, which shows the confrontation rockstar energy that he carried around with him his whole career wasn’t a side effect of fame, but instead was something instilled in him from much earlier. Guns N’ Roses were performing in Hollywood, and Rose apparently hit a woman in the front row with his mic stand after she started spraying beer and throwing bottles at him. The woman in question was the girlfriend of Thelonius Monster’s lead singer, Bob Forrest.
Forrest found Rose after the show and confronted him about the incident. Suffice to say, it wasn’t resolved peacefully. “All of a sudden he goes, ‘Wait, you hit my girlfriend? I’m gonna kill you!’ And that was it, I started tearing him to shreds,” said Rose, “The guy had grabbed one of Steven’s drum stands by then, and the security guard had grabbed me. I had this security guy pinned against the wall, and my hands were filled with the other guy’s hair. It was a huge mess.”
Kurt Cobain
The more you learn about the feud between Axl Rose and Kurt Cobain, the more you realise it was more the result of Rose’s damaged pride than anything genuinely personal between the two. Rose was a big fan of Nirvana, so much so that he wanted them to go on tour together, but Kurt Cobain turned it down. Rose had written some questionable lyrics about women, and Cobain, as an adamant feminist, wasn’t a huge fan. He said in an interview later down the line, “We’re not your typical Guns N’ Roses type of band that has absolutely nothing to say.”
This triggered an ongoing feud between Rose and Cobain, where Rose would take any opportunity to throw shade at the Nirvana frontman. “So, ‘alternative’ — the only thing that means to me is someone like Kurt Cobain in Nirvana, who is basically just a fuckin’ junkie with a junkie wife. And if the baby’s born deformed, I think they both oughta go to prison — that’s my feeling,” said Rose, “He’s too good and he’s too cool to bring his rock ‘n’ roll to you, because the majority of you, he doesn’t like, or want to play to, or even have you like his music.” Hmm, I wonder who that last part is about…
