2002.12.11 - Chicago Sun-Times - Wheels Fall Off Axl Rose's Tour

Wheels fall off Axl Rose's tour

By Bill Zwecker

The apparent cancelation of the first Guns 'N Roses tour in nearly a decade is directly due to lead singer Axl Rose's increasingly bizarre behavior. Always an eccentric in the admittedly wild world of rock music, Rose has close friends and associates extremely concerned over his mental state during the last couple of months. The singer himself has openly admitted he's battling inner demons. "I managed to get enough of myself together to do this," the New York Post quotes Rose as telling a Madison Square Garden concert crowd last week.

Sources say Rose is very close to checking himself into a psychiatric clinic to deal with "exhaustion" and a number of other emotional problems. Famous for his outrageousness, the aging rocker lately "has been even more whacked than usual," a longtime pal tells this column.

For this tour, Rose even traveled with his own psychiatrist, whose major responsibility apparently was convincing him it was important for his mental health to get onstage nightly and perform.

Obviously that didn't work Friday, when Rose refused to appear for a Philadelphia gig--effectively ending the tour.

This piece was even more speculative.

Soulmonster wrote:This piece was even more speculative.

It's the same with all the articles that cite unnamed "sources". However, I find this rumour/speculation more plausible than the one in the Blabbermouth/NY Post article.

I can't remember how Axl eventually explained Philly and the end of the tour, so I look forward to getting to it

Soulmonster wrote:I can't remember how Axl eventually explained Philly and the end of the tour, so I look forward to getting to it

He talked about it ten years later, so it's a long way