The single coolest singer that Axl Rose ever met: “We’re in fucking deep trouble”
By the end of the 1980s, no other frontman in the universe could have competed with Axl Rose.
Although Guns N’ Roses grew up in the same squalors that had birthed the biggest hair metal bands, they were always a bit more authentic, usually pulling from the likes of The Rolling Stones instead of whatever special hair care product that Cosmo magazine was putting out at the time. They were the real deal, and while Rose could be a wild animal whenever he got up onstage, he felt that there were always people who were able to outmatch his sense of rock and roll swagger.
You have to remember that Rose wasn’t growing up to become a singer when he was in Indiana, and when he and Izzy Stradlin both came to Los Angeles, they were practically different people altogether. And while Rose had the kind of vocal range that most people would have killed for, it wasn’t going to mean anything without the rest of the band behind him. Slash and Duff McKagan were just as important when making the songs that turned up on Appetite for Destruction, and if Chinese Democracy was any indication, they were a major piece of the puzzle.
But even when they weren’t fine-tuning the album, their reputation as the biggest bad boys in town was half of their appeal. Anyone else could have claimed to be from the streets or had years of experience working the bar circuit on the Sunset Strip; everyone was going to go with the guys in the snakeskin boots and the leather jackets rather than everyone who showed up with hair so high they couldn’t get through the door.
Rose definitely had the kind of strut that every other rock and roll star needs, but he wasn’t trying to put on that kind of performance. Every one of his idols was a person like Freddie Mercury and Elton John, and if he wanted to make a musical statement, he wanted to ensure that it was one of the greatest things that the rock and roll world had ever seen. That said, it wasn’t like he was out to make friends with every legend he met.
For instance, Slash had known David Bowie for years before Guns N’ Roses had hit it big, but after spotting him in the crowd at one of their shows, Rose got the wrong idea and was willing to give ‘The Starman’ a piece of his mind once he walked off. He wasn’t one to be trifled with, but after making up and understanding him a little bit, Rose realised that he was dealing with the single most charismatic singer he had ever seen.
Their feud may have been out of jealousy, but Rose was quick to point out that no one could be nearly as cool as Bowie, saying, “I like him a lot, yeah. We had a long talk about the business and stuff and I never met anybody so cool and so into it and so whacked out and so sick in my life…I remember lookin’ over at Slash and going, ‘Man, we’re in fucking deep trouble’ and he goes ‘Why?’ and I go ‘Because I got a lot in common with this guy. I mean, I’m pretty sick but this guy’s just fuckin’ ill!’.”
What makes Bowie even more interesting is the fact that he was being himself at every turn. Anyone could have been putting on an act for the cameras whenever they got up onstage, but when you listen to Bowie in interviews or when he was jamming with his friends, there was no doubt that this was the same mild-mannered kid who happened to be one of the biggest rock stars on the planet.
Not everyone had the luxury of seeing the real version of Bowie all the time, but he definitely managed to give Rose a reality check when they started playing. Guns N’ Roses could be as cutthroat as they wanted, but who was going to argue with one of the resident aliens of rock and roll?
