Axl not attending RNR Hall of Fame

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/axl-rose-will-not-attend-guns-n-roses-rock-and-roll-hall-induction-ceremony-20120411

Quote :

It's official: Axl Rose will be not be attending this year's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. "I respectfully decline my induction as a member of Guns N' Roses to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame," Rose wrote in a long letter obtained by the L.A. Times. "I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of 'Guns N' Roses.'"

The announcement follows months of speculation regarding what, exactly, would happen at the April 14th ceremony in Cleveland. Axl Rose and Slash haven't shared a stage since 1993 and bad blood between the former bandmates has persisted for years. "He hates my guts," Slash told Rolling Stone earlier this month. "It's over a lot of different stuff; I don't even know. There's just no communication between us."

In his letter, Rose says that the ceremony put him in a difficult position. "I certainly don't intend to disappoint anyone, especially the fans, with this decision," he wrote. "Since the announcement of the nomination we've actively sought out a solution to what, with all things considered, appears to be a no win, at least for me, 'damned if I do, damned if I don't' scenario all the way around."

In recent weeks, Slash, Matt Sorum, Dizzy Reed, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler have all indicated that they plan on attending the ceremony. It's unclear if Izzy Stradlin plans on attending. Green Day are set to give their induction speech, though it's unknown if they plan on performing as well.

Guns N' Roses fans have been hoping to see a reunion of the classic lineup for years, but Rose once again makes it clear that he has no interest. "Time to move on," he wrote. "People get divorced. Life doesn't owe you your own personal happy ending especially at another's, or in this case several others', expense."

Here is Rose's complete letter:

To: The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Guns N' Roses Fans and Whom It May Concern,

When the nominations for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame were first announced I had mixed emotions but, in an effort to be positive, wanting to make the most of things for the fans and with their enthusiasm, I was honored, excited and hoped that somehow this would be a good thing. Of course I realized as things stood, if Guns N' Roses were to be inducted it'd be somewhat of a complicated or awkward situation.

Since then we've listened to fans, talked with members of the board of the Hall Of Fame, communicated with and read various public comments and jabs from former members of Guns N' Roses, had discussions with the president of the Hall Of Fame, read various press (some legit, some contrived) and read other artists' comments weighing in publicly on Guns and the Hall with their thoughts.

Under the circumstances I feel we've been polite, courteous, and open to an amicable solution in our efforts to work something out. 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.

For the record, I would not begrudge anyone from Guns their accomplishments or recognition for such. Neither I or anyone in my camp has made any requests or demands of the Hall Of Fame. It's their show not mine.

That said, I won't be attending The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Induction 2012 Ceremony and I respectfully decline my induction as a member of Guns N' Roses to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.

I strongly request that I not be inducted in absentia and please know that no one is authorized nor may anyone be permitted to accept any induction for me or speak on my behalf. Neither former members, label representatives nor the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame should imply whether directly, indirectly or by omission that I am included in any purported induction of "Guns N' Roses".

This decision is personal. This letter is to help clarify things from my and my camp's perspective. Neither is meant to offend, attack or condemn. Though unfortunately I'm sure there will be those who take offense (God knows how long I'll have to contend with the fallout), I certainly don't intend to disappoint anyone, especially the fans, with this decision. Since the announcement of the nomination we've actively sought out a solution to what, with all things considered, appears to be a no win, at least for me, "damned if I do, damned if I don't" scenario all the way around.

In regard to a reunion of any kind of either the Appetite or Illusion lineups, I've publicly made myself more than clear. Nothing's changed.

The only reason, at this point, under the circumstances, in my opinion whether under the guise of "for the fans" or whatever justification of the moment, for anyone to continue to ask, suggest or demand a reunion are misguided attempts to distract from our efforts with our current lineup of myself, Dizzy Reed, Tommy Stinson, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus, Chris Pitman, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba.

Izzy came out with us a few times back in '06 and I invited him to join us at our LA Forum show last year. Steven was at our show at the Hard Rock, later in '06 in Las Vegas, where I invited him to our after-party and was rewarded with his subsequent interviews filled with reunion lies. Lesson learned. Duff joined us in 2010 and again in '11 along with his band, Loaded, opening in Seattle and Vancouver. For me, with the exception of Izzy or Duff joining us on stage if they were so inclined somewhere in the future for a song or two, that's enough.

There's a seemingly endless amount of revisionism and fantasies out there for the sake of self-promotion and business opportunities masking the actual realities. Until every single one of those generating from or originating with the earlier lineups has been brought out in the light, there isn't room to consider a conversation let alone a reunion.

Maybe if it were you it'd be different. Maybe you'd do it for this reason or that. Peace, whatever. I love our band now. We're there for each other when the going get's rough. We love our fans and work to give them every ounce of energy and heart we can.

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.

But hey if ya gotta then maybe we can get the "no show, grandstanding, publicity stunt, disrespectful, he doesn't care about the fans" crap out of the way as quickly as we can and let's move on. No one's taking the ball and going home. Don't get it twisted. For more than a decade and a half we've endured the double standards, the greed of this industry and the ever present seemingly limitless supply of wannabes and unscrupulous, irresponsible media types. Not to imply anything in this particular circumstance, but from my perspective in regard to both the Hall and a reunion, the ball's never been in our court.

In closing, regardless of this decision and as hard to believe or as ironic as it may seem, I'd like to sincerely thank the board for their nomination and their votes for Guns' induction. More importantly I'd like to thank the fans for being there over the years, making any success we've had possible and for enjoying and supporting Guns N' Roses music.

I wish the Hall a great show, congratulations to all the other artists being inducted and to our fans we look forward to seeing you on tour!!

Sincerely,

Axl Rose

P.S. RIP Armand, Long Live ABC III

sour grapes. Axl cannot get over the fact very few care about the recent incarnation of GNR.

What a crock of sh!t

Eh... He'd probably arrive late even if he did choose to go. Wonder if the rest of the band will perform together?

manny wrote:

What a crock of sh!t

Axl or RRHoF, or both? I vote both.

Does Axl think that he's still the Superstar that he once was? Somebody needs to slap this old lady in the face...or Maybe he wants the very famous Bumblefoot et al to share the stage with him and not his ex- buddies

GrandNational wrote:

manny wrote:

What a crock of sh!t

Axl or RRHoF, or both? I vote both.

AMEN!

Rush and Kiss should both be in there before C'N'P (c*nts 'n' poseurs).

good for him. if you're gonna hold a grudge, hold that f*cker till the end.

mc666 wrote:

good for him. if you're gonna hold a grudge, hold that f*cker till the end.

Yeah, really!

When Axl holds a grudge, you better believe it's for a long time...

mc666 wrote:

good for him. if you're gonna hold a grudge, hold that f*cker till the end.

Can't say I am surprised. I bet if Adler and Slash werent going to be there I bet he would have showed. No Matter. Life goes on , Axl wants to be the childish baby and avoid growing a pair and maybe try to clear the air with Slash thats his perrogative.

I think we're what about 12 years away from another GNR Release?

Troublezone wrote:

When Axl holds a grudge, you better believe it's for a long time...

Well at least he holds his ground. People can call him and Nu-GNR crap all they want, but he still does good business with this lineup. He would certainly do better with a reunion, but he obviously isnt interested despite not having appearing grudges on former members sans Slash. People always bitch about HoF so what does it matter anyways?

I dont think Adler will go near Axl again but yeah Hes done performances with Duff and Izzy

Big deal.



And I agree about Rush and KISS.In fact,they should probably be in there before some of the others already inducted.

Good for him...HOF is a joke.

I remember when Ozzy said to take Black Sabbath off the ballot years back...I wish he would have stuck to that.

What a whiny little beyotch - and I agree with who ever said he's not going because Slash is there. And there is NO WAY that CnP (nice one SD!) should be in before Rush, Kiss, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Maiden, etc, etc......

And Axl needs to admit that GnR is The Axl Rose Project and nothing more.

I am willing to bet that the only reason that GnR was selected is because the powers that be that control the hall of shame wanted the controversy.

HoF is a bit of a joke, where are Rush, KISS, Deep Purple, Judas Priest and Iron Maiden? Those are only the bands that I can think of in two seconds, not mention non metal bands Steely Dan, Nick Drake, Run DMC, Public Image LTD, Public Enemy, we could go on and on and on....

What could be more Rock and Roll than to refuse induction into a glorified tourist attraction under the guise of "hall of fame"...like Duff stated, it's not the same as a sports HOF where stats tell the tale...art is art. The RRHOF has already proven it's worth, IMO, ignoring the likes of those Manny mentioned...it's no different at this point than any Clear Channel owned radio station in that it caters to the majority "honoring" the likes of Metallica & GnR because they are more visible to the current generation than others...

thejokeriv wrote:

I am willing to bet that the only reason that GnR was selected is because the powers that be that control the hall of shame wanted the controversy.

I think so too. No matter what, they knew the HOF would get a lot of publicity from this.

There was a brief mention of it on NBC's Today Show this morning during their little news round-up.

Metal Misfit wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

I am willing to bet that the only reason that GnR was selected is because the powers that be that control the hall of shame wanted the controversy.

I think so too. No matter what, they knew the HOF would get a lot of publicity from this.

There was a brief mention of it on NBC's Today Show this morning during their little news round-up.

I think that too. They needed a shot of controversy. They haven't any blow-ups in the last few years of inductions.

Can't say I'm surprised at Axl being a no-show. But he took it to another level with the whole declining thing. Well, like MC said, if you're gona hold a grudge, might as well stick with it to the bitter end.

For maximum effect, he should've done like Marlon Brando did at the Academy Awards -- sent a strange woman to accept the award on his behalf, and have her read that long rambling letter at the ceremony.

The Sex Pistols declined but they did it humorously, they sent a letter that was ink stained, that insulted Rolling Stone magazine, the committee, and called the HoF a piss stain, I believe the clip is still up on Youtube

If Axl just would have criticized the HoF then I would say "Bravo", but name-dropping & whining about his former band as opposed to his new band is just sour grapes...let it go...life is short...move on...