Axl Rose

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.

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.

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.

‘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.