Axl Rose - Singers, Birthday and Facts

Axl Rose was born as William Bruce Rose, Jr. to Sharon E., who was 16 years old at the time of his birth and William Bruce Rose, who was 20 years old.

When he was just two years old, his parents separated and his father kidnapped and sexually molested him. His mother married Stephen L. Bailey and changed his name to William Bruce Bailey. He has a younger sister, Amy and a half-brother, Stuart.

He was given an extremely religious upbringing where he attended church eight times per week.

From very early on, he found comfort in music and performed at church services with his half-brother and sister under the name, ‘Bailey Trio’.

At the age of 17, he learnt of his biological father when he went through old indemnity papers and informally adopted his biological name. Four years later, when he joined the band AXL, he received the name ‘Axl Rose’ from his band mates.

Due to his troubled past, he was known for being a criminal and was arrested on a number of occasions for battery and public intoxication in his earlier days.

After he arrived in Los Angeles, he joined the band ‘Rapidfire’, with whom he recorded a demo, in 1983. After the group disbanded, he joined ‘L.A. Guns’, before forming ‘Hollywood Rose’ with his friend Izzy Stradlin.

In 1985, he and former band mate, Tracii Guns formed the band, ‘Guns N’ Roses’ by merging ‘Hollywood Rose’ and ‘L.A. Guns’.

They played at ‘The Troubadour’ and then started appearing more frequently on the L.A. club circuit. This is when they started developing their fan base and attracted major record labels along their way. Just before signing his official contract with Geffen Records in 1986, he legally got his name changed to W. Axl Rose.

In 1987, the band released their debut album, ‘Appetite for Destruction’, which became a huge success despite its slow start. The album was included in the year’s best list and sold over a million copies in the United States alone.

Their fan base expanded so quickly and in such large numbers that in 1988, during the ‘Monsters of Rock’ festival in England, two fans were crushed to death when the crowds began dancing to their hit single, ‘It’s So Easy’. From then on, Rose made it a point to address his fans to calm down. He has even halted the shows on a number of occasions to pacify the audience.

In 1988, they released the album, ‘G N’ R Lies’, which became an extremely popular album, but it was also severely criticized for promoting homophobic attitudes and prejudiced sentiments in the song, ‘One in a Million’.

By 1989, ‘Guns N’ Roses’ had become one of the front-runner bands in the world of rock music and the same year, he appeared solo on the cover of the prestigious ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine.

In 1990, the band was to record a follow-up for their debut album, but due to one of the band members, Steven Adler, struggle with drug abuse, the recording process was slowed down considerably. As a result, Adler was fired and was replaced by Matt Sorum. Meanwhile, Dizzy Reed also joined the band.

Despite not having an album to promote in 1991, the band left on a two and a half year tour, ‘Use Your Illusion Tour’, for which Rose faced a lot of flak from audiences and critics due to his late starts or on-stage antics. The same year, the band released two albums, ‘Use Your Illusion I’ and ‘Use Your Illusion II’.

The final show for ‘Guns N’ Roses’ during the ‘Use Your Illusion Tour’ took place on July 17, 1993, in Buenos Aires, which also proved to be Rose’s last performance with the band for the next seven-and-half years. In November the same year, the band released ‘The Spaghetti Incident?’ which was not very successful unlike their previous albums.

Through the 1990s, he remained a recluse and did not appear in the public much after taking a hiatus from the band. Although the group never disbanded, they did not release any new material through the remainder part of the 90s.

In 2001, he was once again seen at ‘Rock in Rio 3’, with a new lineup of musicians. He was known to have fired all his previous musicians without even consulting them and for ‘no reason’.

He once again withdrew from the public but not for long as in 2004, he lent his voice for the video game, ‘Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’.

In 2006, the band once again went on a tour and continued to tour the subsequent year as well.

‘Guns N’ Roses’ finally released ‘Chinese Democracy’, on November 23, 2008, 15 years after their last album. The next few years, the band toured America, Europe, and Australia. They also headed to ‘Rock in Rio 4’.

‘Appetite for Destruction’, the band’s debut album, released on July 21, 1987. The album was certified 18X Platinum by the RIAA, selling 30.5 million copies around the world, with millions selling in the United States itself. The album has been featured in the book ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die’ and is still the highest-selling debut rock album of all times. The album also spent a whopping 147 weeks on the Billboard 200.

‘G N’ R Lies’ released in 1988 and is the second studio album by the band. The album’s single, ‘Patience’ was featured on the no. 4 position on the Billboard Hot 100 and the album went on to sell 5 million copies in the United States alone.

In 2012, he was inducted into the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’.

In his early years, his psychotic, delinquent behavior was diagnosed as a case of ‘psychosis’ by his psychiatrist. When he was 26, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

In 1992, due to his troubled childhood, he underwent past life regression therapy, during which time he recollected periods when he went through sexual abuse and physical abuse.

He was engaged nine times to Gina Siler before they separated in 1985. The following year, he began dating Erin Everly and married her on April 28, 1990. Less than a month after their marriage, the couple filed for divorce. They reconciled and Everly became pregnant. However, she suffered a miscarriage, which deeply affected Rose because he wanted to start a family with her. The duo annulled their marriage the following year.

Sometime during 1991, he began dating Stephanie Seymour, who already had a son, Dylan. Rose became extremely attached to the boy. The couple got engaged in 1993 but separated after a few weeks.

Rose has been accused of domestic violence by his former wife, Everly. On the other hand, he filed a lawsuit against Seymour claiming that she ‘assaulted’ him.

This famous lead singer, who is a member of the band, ‘Guns N’ Roses’ served as his own lawyer and defended himself in numerous trials.