HeadBanger
04-12-2012, 06:29 AM
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/axl-rose-publicly-declines-rock-and-roll-hall-of-fame-induction/?hp
By BEN SISARIO
The biggest question hanging over the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony this weekend has been answered: Axl Rose has said he would not attend the event, and therefore there would be no reunion of the classic lineup of Guns N’ Roses.
Mr. Rose delivered the news in a 1,000-word open letter sent to The Los Angeles Times, which the paper published online in its entirety on Wednesday afternoon. In the letter — addressed to “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N’ Roses Fans and Whom It May Concern” — he announces and, at elaborate length, explains his decision to decline the induction and to avoid the ceremony, which will be held in Cleveland on Saturday.
“I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia,” Mr. Rose wrote, “and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of ‘Guns N’ Roses.’”
Guns N’ Roses was founded in Los Angeles in 1985, with a lineup settling on Mr. Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Most members departed by the mid-1990s, with Slash, the lead guitarist, leaving in 1996; the original lineup has not played since 1993. In the meantime, Mr. Rose retained the name of the band and took at least 14 years and perhaps more than $13 million to make a follow-up album, “Chinese Democracy,” which was finally released in 2008 and flopped.
Summarizing Mr. Rose’s letter may be impossible, but his reasoning in turning down the rock hall appears to go something like this:
He was “honored” to be nominated but knows that an induction would be “somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation”; his decision was “personal,” and has to do with past members of Guns N’ Roses; he asserts that the current lineup of the band includes only “myself, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Chris Pitman, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal and DJ Ashba,” despite the occasional appearance of an original member on tour; the “endless amount of revisionism” of Guns N’ Roses history is so complicated that “there isn’t room to consider a conversation let alone a reunion”; despite the honor of being nominated, he feels that “the Hall of Fame induction ceremony doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected”; it’s “time to move on”; and something about surviving “the greed of this industry and the ever present seemingly limitless supply of wannabes and unscrupulous, irresponsible media types.”
In closing, he added: “I wish the Hall a great show, congratulations to all the other artists being inducted and to our fans we look forward to seeing you on tour!!”
Slash was not mentioned.
By BEN SISARIO
The biggest question hanging over the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony this weekend has been answered: Axl Rose has said he would not attend the event, and therefore there would be no reunion of the classic lineup of Guns N’ Roses.
Mr. Rose delivered the news in a 1,000-word open letter sent to The Los Angeles Times, which the paper published online in its entirety on Wednesday afternoon. In the letter — addressed to “The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N’ Roses Fans and Whom It May Concern” — he announces and, at elaborate length, explains his decision to decline the induction and to avoid the ceremony, which will be held in Cleveland on Saturday.
“I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia,” Mr. Rose wrote, “and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of ‘Guns N’ Roses.’”
Guns N’ Roses was founded in Los Angeles in 1985, with a lineup settling on Mr. Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler. Most members departed by the mid-1990s, with Slash, the lead guitarist, leaving in 1996; the original lineup has not played since 1993. In the meantime, Mr. Rose retained the name of the band and took at least 14 years and perhaps more than $13 million to make a follow-up album, “Chinese Democracy,” which was finally released in 2008 and flopped.
Summarizing Mr. Rose’s letter may be impossible, but his reasoning in turning down the rock hall appears to go something like this:
He was “honored” to be nominated but knows that an induction would be “somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation”; his decision was “personal,” and has to do with past members of Guns N’ Roses; he asserts that the current lineup of the band includes only “myself, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Chris Pitman, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal and DJ Ashba,” despite the occasional appearance of an original member on tour; the “endless amount of revisionism” of Guns N’ Roses history is so complicated that “there isn’t room to consider a conversation let alone a reunion”; despite the honor of being nominated, he feels that “the Hall of Fame induction ceremony doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected”; it’s “time to move on”; and something about surviving “the greed of this industry and the ever present seemingly limitless supply of wannabes and unscrupulous, irresponsible media types.”
In closing, he added: “I wish the Hall a great show, congratulations to all the other artists being inducted and to our fans we look forward to seeing you on tour!!”
Slash was not mentioned.