Axl Rose Has No 'Appetite' For Hall Of Fame
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Fresh off a performance at the Fillmore in Detroit, rock band Guns N' Roses made international headlines, not for something they did, but for something they didn't do.
Invited to join the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, front man Axl Rose said "no, thank you."
Well, that wasn't exactly the way he said it.
He sent an open letter to the Hall of Fame, writing an induction for the fractured band would be "somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation."
"Under the circumstances I feel we've been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out," Rose wrote. "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), and how (albeit no easy task) those involved with the Hall have handled things... no offense meant to anyone but the Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony doesn't appear to be somewhere I'm actually wanted or respected."
He went on to write, "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."
Rose also requested that he not be "inducted in absentia."
This is just the latest in decades of seemingly odd behavior by Rose, known for showing up hours late to concerts, canceling with no notice and just walking off stage when something doesn't suit him. He has battled fiercely with bandmates, photographers, and others.
Guns N' Roses was set to be inducted with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beastie Boys and Donovan, among others. It was anticipated as the first time the five core members of the "Appetite For Destruction" era Guns N' Roses would appear together since 1993.
