Guest NGOG Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/axl-rose-and-tom-petty-sing-free-fallin-20131212http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_fNxPuytJe0The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards were full of surprises. Neil Young's "This Note's For You" won Video of the Year over Madonna's "Like a Prayer" and Elvis Costello's "Veronica" won Best Male Video over Bobby Brown's "Every Little Step" and Steve Winwood "Roll With It." (This was back in the day when MTV gave these sort of awards to veteran artists.) But the coolest surprise came at the end of the night when Axl Rose joined Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for "Free Fallin'."Guns N' Roses didn't perform that year, but they were all in attendance and won the Best Heavy Metal Video for "Sweet Child O' Mine." (R.E.M. won something called the "Best Post-Modern Video" for "Orange Crush.") After "Free Fallin,'" Petty and Axl closed out the night with an amazing rendition of "Heartbreak Hotel."Things seemed calm onstage, but Vince Neil was waiting just offstage preparing to kick Izzy Stradlin's ass as soon as the show ended. According to Neil's book The Dirt, the GNR guitarist pulled his wife's shirt down at a Los Angeles club and karate-kicked her in the stomach – and he was out for revenge. "I said to him, 'You fucking hit my wife!'" Neil recalled. "He spat back, 'So fucking what?"All my blood rushed into my first," said Neil. "And I decked him. I decked him good, and right in the face. He fell to the ground like a tipped cow. I said, 'The next time you fucking touch her, I'll fucking kill you!'"Axl Rose saw the whole thing and threatened to beat up Neil, but ultimately walked away. The two later engaged in a nasty fight in the press that nearly culminated in a fight in the parking lot of Tower Records. But according to Neil, Axl never showed up. "In the press he was acting like king of the world," said the Motley Crue singer. "But in real life he was too chicken-shit to back up his word." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasteofammo Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I remember watching this when I was 6 years old. Petty could not get as loud as Axl as he stole the show. One of my fondest memories to date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classicrawker Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Amazing version of that song and better than the original IMHO...almost as if it was written for Axl to sing......... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iron MikeyJ Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Amazing version of that song and better than the original IMHO...almost as if it was written for Axl to sing.........Agreed. I would even take it a step further, I bet Axl could sing all of Petty's songs better than Tom. I really like Petty, he's a great songwriter, but his songs really would showcase Axl perfectly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Facekicker Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Vince sure summed up Axl perfectly. All talk and no action. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volcano62 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Vince sure summed up Axl perfectly. All talk and no action. Hmmm ask the Swedish security guard, LAX pap or the fan in St-Louis if Axl is all talk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONEZY Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Izzy later apologized to Vince, according to the book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GivenToFly Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I love the song and it's a great performance but Tom's mic should have been higher in the mix to make up for Axl's natural loudness.pulled his wife's shirt down at a Los Angeles club and karate-kicked her in the stomachwhat the fuck??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niceguy Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I've always loved this performance. But you gotta wonder, does Axl miss those days, when he was just pure electricity? Tom Petty has solidified into an absolute legend of rock music; he's hugely popular among so many generations, and his tours are always sold out. And meanwhile? Axl wanders the hills of Malibu with a fat, doughty old woman/mother, and he keeps trading down his employees further and further til he's left with talentless, embarrassing douch bags like DJ or completely soulless shred-monkey Guitar Center heroes like Bumby. I wonder if Axl actually feels bad about what's happened to him, how far he's fallen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Facekicker Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Vince sure summed up Axl perfectly. All talk and no action. Hmmm ask the Swedish security guard, LAX pap or the fan in St-Louis if Axl is all talk.Any of them challenge him to a one on one fight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Vince sure summed up Axl perfectly. All talk and no action.Pretty much. Fuckin' killer performance, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volcano62 Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I've always loved this performance.But you gotta wonder, does Axl miss those days, when he was just pure electricity? Tom Petty has solidified into an absolute legend of rock music; he's hugely popular among so many generations, and his tours are always sold out.And meanwhile? Axl wanders the hills of Malibu with a fat, doughty old woman/mother, and he keeps trading down his employees further and further til he's left with talentless, embarrassing douch bags like DJ or completely soulless shred-monkey Guitar Center heroes like Bumby.I wonder if Axl actually feels bad about what's happened to him, how far he's fallen.Anybody ever tell you your posts are shit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
username Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 (edited) I've always loved this performance. But you gotta wonder, does Axl miss those days, when he was just pure electricity? Tom Petty has solidified into an absolute legend of rock music; he's hugely popular among so many generations, and his tours are always sold out. And meanwhile? Axl wanders the hills of Malibu with a fat, doughty old woman/mother, and he keeps trading down his employees further and further til he's left with talentless, embarrassing douch bags like DJ or completely soulless shred-monkey Guitar Center heroes like Bumby. I wonder if Axl actually feels bad about what's happened to him, how far he's fallen.Axl's and Guns n' Roses' biggest claim to fame is what could've been. Either way I've always loved this performance. This is as good as Axl could be. Axl and Izzy doing Salt Of The Earth with the Stones is another prime example of that. Edited December 13, 2013 by username Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whatashame Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 karate kicked her in a stomach?she must 've been pregnant with that fatso's childand that 'd explain a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Bonham Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 One of the greatest Vma performances ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RussTCB Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 One of the greatest Vma performances ever.You're not kidding. I remember watching it live and just being amazed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Apollo Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 I've always loved this performance.But you gotta wonder, does Axl miss those days, when he was just pure electricity? Tom Petty has solidified into an absolute legend of rock music; he's hugely popular among so many generations, and his tours are always sold out.And meanwhile? Axl wanders the hills of Malibu with a fat, doughty old woman/mother, and he keeps trading down his employees further and further til he's left with talentless, embarrassing douch bags like DJ or completely soulless shred-monkey Guitar Center heroes like Bumby.I wonder if Axl actually feels bad about what's happened to him, how far he's fallen.Anybody ever tell you your posts are shit?Your opinion on the quality of a poster's post isn't really relevant and just adds negativity to the forum. You should explain why the poster is wrong rather than insulting him. You are better than that.******As for the performance.I remember watching it as it happened.All month MTV had hyped up the big final performance.When Petty starts playing the crowd is like "uhhh, OK. Tom is cool but this is the big finish?"Then Axl dances out and the place goes bonkers.Axl totally destroyed Petty on stage.Made it look like this was a GnR song and Petty was just there singing back-up.IMO, this was one of Axl's greatest moments of his career.I miss this Axl. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post magisme Posted December 13, 2013 Popular Post Share Posted December 13, 2013 It's one of the videos from that time period you can show people and say, "Yeah, for a few years there, Axl Rose was the coolest fuckin' man on the planet." 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estranged Reality Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 will always be one of my favourite axl moments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GnR Chris Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 This was the shit. And I agree with others that Axl completely shined bright than Petty. I love Tom, but Axl crushed it in "Heartbreak Hotel." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J Dog Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Great performance, GNR and Tom Petty always made sense to me. And I'm a bad boy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock4eva Posted December 13, 2013 Share Posted December 13, 2013 Absolutely agree with what you all say, this song without Axl always sounds like something's missing after this fantastic performance. The way the crowd stood & danced when Axl appeared sends shivers down my spine - one of the greatest Axl performances ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Estranged Reality Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 The way the crowd stood & danced when Axl appeared sends shivers down my spine - one of the greatest Axl performances ever.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_u2D3xmUFQThat's another performance where his fucking swagger as he struts onto stage is just amazing. The energy from the crowd is intense to begin with, and the whole thing is just so magnetic and powerful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfuckinga Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Some cool moments all seem to happen at the VMA's. That one,This:and thisWere both at the VMA's as well.And let's not forget one of the BEST performances of November Rain ever,was at the 1992 VMA'shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx8qS_MT85E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magisme Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 2002? 2006? No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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