One of the aspects of Guns N’ Roses’ music that fans love most is its sheer ferocity. Who can hear “Welcome to the Jungle,” “You Could Be Mine,” “Garden of Eden,” “Mr. Brownstone,” or a couple dozen other tunes without recognizing that snarl, that explosiveness, that feral energy? Yes, the band’s instrumental nexus, built around Slash’s guitar and Duff McKagan’s bass, provides the music that illuminates the danger expressed in singer Axl Rose’s lyrics, but Rose’s delivery makes you believe every word he sings. And considering Rose’s rocky journey through life, that justΒ might be the truth.
Rose’s volatile personality feeds his songs and persona on stage and in the studio; it’s when he’s expressed that volatility in the “real world” that he has done real damage, the kind that causes injury, ends relationships, and summons the authorities to level legal consequences against him. And while he has led Guns N’ Roses on a successful, years-long reunion tour virtually without incident, the decades-long trail he left in his wake can still make one wonder why he did what he did. Let’s take a look at what events in Rose’s past made his appetite for destruction such a real and dangerous thing.
The following article includes allegations and descriptions of addiction, domestic abuse, child abuse, and sexual assault.
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