Axl Rose not attending HOF

[W 23 Axl III]

More reason why I stopped caring, Axl. You just want our money at live shows, thats it. You want to be done with the old band, stop playing jungle, paradise and scom. Start playing Prostitute and If the World. But nah, those songs bring in zero money. In fact, those songs have cost you money.

So keep pretending the old guys were just another incarantion of GNR, and its really all about you.

Its not.

Its about you, Izzy, Slash, Duff and Steven....in that order. Because of THEM, you became the Axl Rose.

You should have shown up and accepted the award, woulda been a cool move.

Now, you just prove the point that all you want is a secure retirement for you and Beta's family. You want $$$$$.

Too scared to go for it with your own songs.

[downzy]

That's a shame. Forget about not showing up or performing, the fact that he can't even have his name listed besides former members of GNR is well, an action that I didn't think even Axl would take.

Is it a matter of not liking the Hall of Fame or is it an issue with former members?

I have to wonder if Slash and Steven had somehow withdrew their names and weren't planning on attending if Axl would have a different response to the induction. Something tells me he would but who knows.

In the end, none of this really matters. I've got my own life. If Axl wants to fuck himself even further in the eyes of the public, so be it. This doubling down of animosity will do nothing for his public's perception and likely won't help ticket sales.

For me, I think at this point I've seen the current GNR enough (14 times since 2002) unless they start producing new music. Moreover, since Axl can't stand any association with the guys who helped him achieve the success he enjoys today, I have no interest in seeing a show based on said former members artistic efforts.

Axl, if you want to put on a show that's based on music you yourself and current members are responsible for, count me in as a supporter. But I won't continue to support a live show that is primarily based on musical contributions from individuals you want nothing to do with; so much so that you wouldn't swallow your pride and at the very least respect the past for what it was. You and your five former bandmates made some unbelievable music, the fact that you want to remove yourself from such history is sad. I'm fine with not showing up or performing with the old bandmates. But what I can't swallow is your insistence on not being included solely because of who your name will sit besides. No matter how hard you try or want to be removed from any associations with Slash, face it dude, you're stuck. Might as well get over it; be a lot better for you and a lot better for everyone else.

Axl, as a Guns N' Roses fan, I quote a great frontman and brilliant composer: "I'm sorry for you, not sorry for me."

Cheers,

Andrew

Edited April 11, 2012 by downzy

[Patience 4 Axl]

Yeah, that's a lot of supposition.

People complain about being let down and I read a comment like this and wonder even more if showing up and accepting the induction with the old band would've lead to an even bigger let down when a reunion didn't happen reminiscent of what happened with Van Halen in 1996.

Ali

I'm ok with supposition.

But I do agree with your other point. As much as many people said they would be happy just seeing those guys all on stage one more time and doing a few songs, no doubt fans would be looking, demanding, and begging for more.

As for Van Halen though, well, look at them now. If Eddie and Dave could make ammends and move on.......nevermind.

That wasn't my point with Van Halen at all. I'm talking about what happened in '96 at the VMAs and the expectation that almost immediately created.

Ali

I know what you point was, but VH is a terrible example because ultimately they did reunite and put out a new album. Scratch that, it's actually a fantastic example. Neither Dave, Alex or Eddie showed to their HOF induction and the whole thing really couldn't have looked worse for the band or a reunion at that time. But only a few years later and they're one big happy.

Thanks for keeping my hopes ALIVE!!

[ironmt]

What a dick.

So I guess this means he'll be putting all his efforts towards putting out the next Guns album this year..........NOT!

Exactly. What a complete and utter dickhead. He's only 'Axl Rose of Guns n' Roses' because of the Appetite era band. The new band is awful and it's music, all of one random, scattered collection of various song ideas, would never have warranted this nomination. His letter is incredibly disrespectful and he'll regret his pathetic behaviour on his deathbed. Everyone else is willing to let bygones be bygones but he's too stubborn for that. In life, there are times when you are wronged by people you trust, but time makes you forgive, or it should.

He just has no dignity anymore, he's forgotten who he is and where he came from. He's destroying the bands name and it's legacy. It wouldn't be so bad if, as you mention, he actually did anything worthwhile with the new band apart from lazily touring to collect cash off the fans he claims to be so loyal to. Put some effort into it if you believe in it so much Axl and release another album.

Great post and great points.

[phaseONE]

Lol oh well, Axl rose the biggest COWARD there if I'm reading that letter / statement right.

After all the bullshit, all the " they are the bad guys/ liars quotes "

He has had numerous opportunities to set the record straight in his own version of events and he is basically saying I'm not going because I'll get called names!

Boo fucking hoo !

Sit down and write your book Axl and tell us all what those bully's did to you !

Then again he won't stating legal issues blah blah blah

[The Real McCoy]

I think it was a fair and respectful letter. Axl had no choices, really. He acknowledged the jabs of others without insulting them. He appears to have stated his position from the heart and shows incredible loyalty. He used integrity and it was well thought out.

He's right. He could not win in this situation, so he might as well stay true to his beliefs.

This.

[Apollo]

Taking into consideration the history of Guns N' Roses, those who plan to attend along with those the Hall for reasons of their own, have chosen to include in "our" induction (that for the record are decisions I don't agree with, support or feel the Hall has any right to make)

what he's basically saying here is that he doesn't think the have the right to claim what constitutes "guns n' roses." that they shouldn't be able to select certain members of the band for induction, as if he has the right to decide what guns n' roses is. and that because they did so, given the history of the band and its dissolution and how well-recorded that they didn't split amicaly, he's almost taking it as a personal insult that they would acknowledge those guys.

this is idiotic. while axl laboured over a single album for more than a decade and toured only a couple times (one of them ending in disaster), the world moved on. guns n' roses ceased to become a band, but they grew in legend, and now most kids from my generation would refer to them as 'classic rock,' and indeed, one girl recently told me she hated sweet child o' mine because she 'doesn't like classic rock.' there's a reason you hear these songs played by drunk people at bars alongside other classic rock jams. it's music people grew up on.

the line up being inducted into the hall of fame IS the line up that people by large consider to constitute guns n' roses. and not just a matter of perception: it is literally the line up that crafted their most popular record, which is now considered to be a classic and is often on best-of-all-time lists, and it includes a couple members of the line up that created two of their biggest commercial hits with the 'illusions.'

no one looks at the chinese democracy line up and considers that to be a legitimate version of guns n' roses - perhaps outside of the rabid online fanbase and axl himself - but that fault rests on his shoulders. i can understand axl's viewpoint in regards to this whole ordeal - that the guys he's been working with for the past decade-plus are, to him, the current band. but to the public eye they're just fill-ins for the "real" band, and that's really his own fault for not doing more press, publicity, promotions, and, y'know, releasing music.

by all accounts he's got a great set of musicians right now. he just doesn't seem to know what to fucking do with them.

declining the induction is childish. if you're not gonna show up, then be like izzy stradlin and just don't say anything. i guess he felt there was too much pressure and wanted to end all the hysteria, but frankly he comes off worse than he has in years here. for as well-worded and lengthy as it was, basically it amounts to a giant insult to everyone, including his current bandmembers.

edit: i think at the end of the day, the real reason this letter struck a nerve with me ISN'T because there won't be a reunion. i didn't think there would be and frankly i'm not one of those whining for one constantly, because i do enjoy the current line up (just wish they'd be put to use in the studio!). i think what bothered me is the fact that he's now more than a half-century old and, unlike duff, time hasn't given him a mature perspective on life. he's still the grudge-holding dude he was in 1994, or at least that is what could be gathered from the tone of his letter and his final decision to not attend. the fact that he actually declined the induction and can't just accept it as a recognition of how much his music has meant to people in the last 25 + years...it's just pretty sad, and kind of disappointing.

Best post of the month.

[Patience 4 Axl]

good, finally Axl is admitting he IS NOT Guns N Roses

Fair play.

I'm still looking forward to seeing Slash, Duff and Stevie up there accepting their awards as Guns N' Roses.

Really?? i just see in my head Adler up there with a translator taking 8 hours to accept the award and fuck off

Stevie wonder eat your heart out

Yeah I know, Adler is an easy target.

[Janis]

Declining the induction is the real lowest of the low! . I've got a ticket to see him in May but I won't be going to see him or buy his music again for the sole reason of I can't see how I can support someone who is so hateful to their fans that pay good money to see them and buy their music? Without that Axl has no money. He can do what he want as always. I don't know anyting about the guy but I know that Duff and others have no problem moving on and forgiving. I don't see how he can have any fans left after some of the pathetic stuff in that letter! Does anyone else feel the same that they wudn't go to a concert or buy any future nuguns music?

Edited April 11, 2012 by Janis

[Estranged Reality]

I think it was a fair and respectful letter. Axl had no choices, really. He acknowledged the jabs of others without insulting them. He appears to have stated his position from the heart and shows incredible loyalty. He used integrity and it was well thought out.

He's right. He could not win in this situation, so he might as well stay true to his beliefs.

i don't think it's respectful. i just don't understand the concept of declining the induction. if he had laid out some reasons for not attending - that he wouldn't want to give fans the false hope of a reunion, that he didn't feel comfortable being in the same room with slash, whatever, that's fine. disappointing perhaps to some fans, but at least then he's forthright and honest about his reasons.

but he was clearly insulted by the hall of fame's decision to honor the ex-bandmembers, and for me that is both childish and disrespectful.to not attend is one thing, but to request your name be removed is, to me, a big middle finger - not just to the ceremony (which is, you know, just a ceremony - i couldn't care less about it) but to the idea of it, what it represents to fans and to the other bandmembers. he falls back on the whole "people get divorced" trick, which is true enough in the context of a reunion, but we're talking about simply acknowledging that maybe that marriage was good at one point - that before it got ugly it represented something amazing. for all his complaints of revisionist history, turning down an acknowledgement for the reasons he chose is not far from it.

again, i don't really give a damn about the RnRHoF by any means. but what it represents i can understand, and i think this is all sort of disheartening.

Edited April 11, 2012 by Estranged Reality

[makketue]

Really dissapointing. I'll continue to support Axl and new GN'R thought. I just hoped he would have been mature enough to share the same stage with former members and accept the award without all of this bullshit. I still love you Axl, but I'm dissapointed.

[Nosaj Thing]

Eddie Trunk

I've forever said someone needs to stand up to the Hall & not cave to them & I love @axlrose did! This sends a great message to them!

Like · · 4 · @EddieTrunk on Twitter · about a minute ago via Twitter

[tomfriend]

This fucking sucks, and its typical of Axl to shit on the fans. We all wanted to see the group we know and love as Guns N' Roses on the same stage one last time, but it was too much to ask for.

No 'we' didn't all. You don't speak for everyone. I've been following this band for 20 years, love the current lineup and think performing as Guns N' Roses with people who exited the ranks years and years ago for the sake of a meaningless accolade would be an insult to the current ongoing group.

i think people fail to see that 70% of us didn't want a reunion as such a simple handshake between axl and slash would have made us happy enough to finally move on just knowing axl could man up

How is shaking hands with someone you despise and are morally repulsed by for the sake of receiving an award 'manning up'. Sounds like a cowards move to me.

what happened between them was 20 years ago does it really matter anymore?

If what happened 20 years ago doesn't matter, why does what happened 25 years ago matter? If you dig up the past you dig up all the past. Or you can let it be and move on.

[RocketQueen1985]

Not entirely sure why people are getting so irate about this. Sure, I love the original band and I really thought there was a small possibility of him getting up onstage with the other guys and accepting the award. He isn't, and my life will go on. Sure I'm disappointed but it was always on the cards that he wasn't going to show. It in no way affects what I feel towards the new band, I love the new band as much as the old band and will continue to support them.

I totally support Axl 's decision. Like others have said, he's staying true to himself. The man has integrity and self-respect. What he did takes a lot of guts. Though it's disappointing that he personally won't be inducted, I still respect his decision. And honestly, are you guys really that surprised? Axl's dedicated to his band. Not the band he used to play with. I'm just glad he's not giving in to what he doesn't want to do. There aren't many guys like him out there. And that's why he's my hero.

I think it was a fair and respectful letter. Axl had no choices, really. He acknowledged the jabs of others without insulting them. He appears to have stated his position from the heart and shows incredible loyalty. He used integrity and it was well thought out.

He's right. He could not win in this situation, so he might as well stay true to his beliefs.

I agree with the above post I've quoted. Couldn't have said it better myself.

I never thought Axl was gonna go and I understand and respect his decision not to. Cannot wait to see the band in June, it's gonna be great.

[Kira]

I knew Axl would do this. The guy just doesn't bend. And the situation was more than he could face I'm afraid. It is sad though, it would have been better if he just didn't show up and kept silent, but this statement really casts a sad pallor over the whole affair. That's the pain of loving Axl Rose. I've felt it many times over the years. I hope he can live with this decision. And I hope the rest of the guys are able to pull together and bring in some friends to put on a show with.

[tomfriend]

I think it was a fair and respectful letter. Axl had no choices, really. He acknowledged the jabs of others without insulting them. He appears to have stated his position from the heart and shows incredible loyalty. He used integrity and it was well thought out.

He's right. He could not win in this situation, so he might as well stay true to his beliefs.

i don't think it's respectful. i just don't understand the concept of declining the induction. if he had laid out some reasons for not attending - that he wouldn't want to give fans the false hope of a reunion, that he didn't feel comfortable being in the same room with slash, whatever, that's fine. disappointing perhaps to some fans, but at least then he's forthright and honest about his reasons.

but he was clearly insulted by the hall of fame's decision to honor the ex-bandmembers, and for me that is both childish and disrespectful. when he says that he's been in contact with the president of the ceremony and that things had been tried to work out, i would not be at all surprised if he was trying to arrange a performance by the new line-up or something. i'm not going to assume that, but it wouldn't surprise me at all based on the tone of his letter. i think the fact that the ceremony was honoring the people who go against the very essence of his struggles for the past 15 years is what offended him, and i think that's what makes him look bad here: that he couldn't be mature enough to say, you know what...differences aside, these guys deserve recognition because we did all achieve that early success together. this isn't about the present, this is about the past.

instead he makes a point not to wish them any luck at the end of the letter (but wishes the other bands in attendance good luck) which is a definite jab.

So you missed:

"For the record, I would not begrudge anyone from Guns their accomplishments or recognition for such."

Or did you just choose to ignore that pointed statement because it didn't fit with your assumptions about his motives?

[batman007]

I think it was a fair and respectful letter. Axl had no choices, really. He acknowledged the jabs of others without insulting them. He appears to have stated his position from the heart and shows incredible loyalty. He used integrity and it was well thought out.

He's right. He could not win in this situation, so he might as well stay true to his beliefs.

Yuuuup!

[Coma16]

Taking into consideration the history of Guns N' Roses, those who plan to attend along with those the Hall for reasons of their own, have chosen to include in "our" induction (that for the record are decisions I don't agree with, support or feel the Hall has any right to make)

what he's basically saying here is that he doesn't think the have the right to claim what constitutes "guns n' roses." that they shouldn't be able to select certain members of the band for induction, as if he has the right to decide what guns n' roses is. and that because they did so, given the history of the band and its dissolution and how well-recorded that they didn't split amicaly, he's almost taking it as a personal insult that they would acknowledge those guys.

this is idiotic. while axl laboured over a single album for more than a decade and toured only a couple times (one of them ending in disaster), the world moved on. guns n' roses ceased to become a band, but they grew in legend, and now most kids from my generation would refer to them as 'classic rock,' and indeed, one girl recently told me she hated sweet child o' mine because she 'doesn't like classic rock.' there's a reason you hear these songs played by drunk people at bars alongside other classic rock jams. it's music people grew up on.

the line up being inducted into the hall of fame IS the line up that people by large consider to constitute guns n' roses. and not just a matter of perception: it is literally the line up that crafted their most popular record, which is now considered to be a classic and is often on best-of-all-time lists, and it includes a couple members of the line up that created two of their biggest commercial hits with the 'illusions.'

no one looks at the chinese democracy line up and considers that to be a legitimate version of guns n' roses - perhaps outside of the rabid online fanbase and axl himself - but that fault rests on his shoulders. i can understand axl's viewpoint in regards to this whole ordeal - that the guys he's been working with for the past decade-plus are, to him, the current band. but to the public eye they're just fill-ins for the "real" band, and that's really his own fault for not doing more press, publicity, promotions, and, y'know, releasing music.

by all accounts he's got a great set of musicians right now. he just doesn't seem to know what to fucking do with them.

declining the induction is childish. if you're not gonna show up, then be like izzy stradlin and just don't say anything. i guess he felt there was too much pressure and wanted to end all the hysteria, but frankly he comes off worse than he has in years here. for as well-worded and lengthy as it was, basically it amounts to a giant insult to everyone, including his current bandmembers.

edit: i think at the end of the day, the real reason this letter struck a nerve with me ISN'T because there won't be a reunion. i didn't think there would be and frankly i'm not one of those whining for one constantly, because i do enjoy the current line up (just wish they'd be put to use in the studio!). i think what bothered me is the fact that he's now more than a half-century old and, unlike duff, time hasn't given him a mature perspective on life. he's still the grudge-holding dude he was in 1994, or at least that is what could be gathered from the tone of his letter and his final decision to not attend. the fact that he actually declined the induction and can't just accept it as a recognition of how much his music has meant to people in the last 25 + years...it's just pretty sad, and kind of disappointing.

Best post of the month.

In regards to the last bit it seems like they have been in talks since the nomination was announced but for whatever reasons (that we do not know) were not resolved. I smell lawsuit against the Hall for tarnishing the GNR product lol

[cuneo77]

I think there's a good chance axl and slash truce in june or july,where both slash and gnr will be playing the same festival....maybe some songs but not a reunion

[W 23 Axl III]

If Axl Rose went bankrupt, you would see how fast he would call Slash. He can do what he wants now b/c of the money he already has. And us fools keep going to shows to support him. This has been part of a plan from the gnr camp....the TONS of shows in 2012 to distract from original gnr being inducted, the girl Axl may be dating coming out this week in the press, the small club shows this year....twas all leading to this.

[packersnroses]

Like he said in the letter, it was always a no-win situation for him. Also for anyone bitching about him no-showing and no reunion:

"So let sleeping dogs lie or lying dogs sleep or whatever. Time to move on. People get divorced. Life doesn't owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another's, or in this case several others', expense."

Edited April 11, 2012 by packersnroses

[Izzyslash]

Axl's a whiny baby as usual!

Chinese Democracy? DJ? Pitman? Are you kidding me? It's like dating your grandmother.

Attend you asshole, play with those who made you what you are, and for those who made you what you are. Ignorant asshole! No surprise though, would never expect anything positive from mr. Rose.

[James Bond]

Disappointing but I can't fault him for the letter. It seems to be directed towards the idea of them playing, which is where the problem lies. I get that if they played the reunion talk would jump to new heights and overshadow the current line-up. However, I do think that Axl still could have showed up and at least shook hands with the other guys and accepted the award. While I certainly don't agree with everything in the letter, I did like the point he made about it being like a divorced couple and trying to get them back together because that's what you were happier seeing. It's a good analogy for this kind of thing.

Still, I'm not sure what to make of it. I was hoping to at least see him there.

[realpoti]

It's on the official site.

http://www.gunsnroses.com/news/#71451

[sweetness]

If what happened 20 years ago doesn't matter, why does what happened 25 years ago matter? If you dig up the past you dig up all the past. Or you can let it be and move on.

Axl hasn't moved on though, he's still bitter about the same old stupid shit. The only people who have been able to move on are Slash, Duff, Izzy, and Matt. Axl and Steven are kind of in the same boat in that respect...