16. JANUARY-JULY 1993: THE SKIN N' BONES TOUR; END OF AN ERA

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See separate chapter for information on the lyrics to get In The Ring and the feud with Bob Guccione, Jr.

In August 1991 the band would refuse to do any of the planned interviews with UK magazines as the band visited England to play at Wembley in London (August 31, 1991], although Slash did at least talk to RAW Magazine:



In November 1991, Axl would indicate that he had learnt from his dealings with the press:



And in early 1992 Axl would say the following:



In July 1991 (although published in August) Slash would state that many of the earlier press stories had been grounded in the truth and that they had been behaving outrageous with little regard to how they came across:



In April 1992, Rolling Stone would publish a heavy discussion between Lonn M. Friend and Axl that talked in detail about Axl's therapy and what he had discovered about himself and his childhood. Apparently, Axl had been nervous about how the article would come out, but was so happy about the end product or its reception that he immediately made himself available to new interviews [New York Magazine, April 6, 1992].

This seems to have been short-lived though, because in an interview in May 1992, to be published in June in the Liverpool Echo, Slash would say that Axl "gets a bit worked up sometimes and things get to him" and the newspaper would imply that because of this Slash was now taking over all dealing with the press [The Liverpool Echo, June 8, 1992].

Around this time Axl would stop doing interviews except for rare occasions, and he would later talk about how the press was against him and that it was no use trying to explain his side to stories [see later chapter]. Arlette Vereecke, the band's publicist, would explain how difficult it was to get good press around this time with both Izzy and Axl refusing to do interviews, and Steven and Duff being incoherent due to drinking:



In June 1992, Slash would talk about all the articles that were written about them:



Also in June 1992, Hit Parader would publish an interview with Duff where they would discuss bad experiences with the press:



In August 1992, Duff and Slash would discuss the press:




Dizzy would talk about the press in general:



As before, the press was most interested in Axl and Slash. When this came up in an interview, Duff would respond:





In early 1994, Axl and Slash would be asked what it would be the would choose to change if they could change one myth about GN'R:




To dispel the myths the band had planned a book:



In March 1994, Slash would say he had stopped reading the press:

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The band would now travel to South America for two shows at the Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 16 and July 17.

While in Argentina, the band was accused of having bought 50 g of cocaine from drug dealers in the hotel, and for indecent exposure after Slash showed his ass from the balcony of his hotel room [The Windsor Star, July 19, 1993]. A judge quickly ordered their rooms searched but no drugs were found [The Windsor Star, July 19, 1993] and both charges were dropped, the latter after Slash agreed in writing to not expose himself again, allowing the shows to take place [The Windsor Star, July 1993].





In October 1993 it was reported that the accuser, former state intelligence agent Juan Imbessi, had been motivated by unspecified "anguish and erotic exasperation" and had "sought to cancel the show" [Gainesville Sun, October 21, 1993].

Gilby, looking back at the incident:



Craig Duswalt would recount the incident in his biography:





After the band's last show at the Use Your Illusion tour, band photographer Gene Kirkland would take a famous photo of Slash and Axl backstage.





Fans would debate the picture and some would suggest the rivalry and increasing animosity between Slash and Axl was visible in the image, something Kirkland would deny:



The band's chiropractor, Stephen Thaxton, would recall saying goodbye to Axl:





Being asked what his worst memory from being in Guns N' Roses was:





These were the last shows with Matt and Gilby, and the last shows with both Duff and Slash until April 2016. The band would not play any more shows until January 1, 2001, but then with a radically different lineup wit only Axl and Dizzy remaining.

Matt and Gilby would recount returning to Los Angeles:

John Reese, tour manager for Guns N' Roses, would discuss his job:



And Robert John would look back at how the band had stopped being a band:



And Duff would express a similar sentiment:

Despite the huge commercial success of the extensive touring in 1991-1993, the band did not make much of a profit.



Explaining why:



The violations of curfews would also cost the band money.



When asked about this in an interview in 1992, Slash would seem not to care:



In 2004, Matt and Duff would be asked about how much they earnt during the Use Your Illusions days and Matt would say "millions and millions of dollars" to which Duff would interject:




Touring with Metallica might also did not make much sense financially. The double-bill certainly increased the market, but finding large enough stadiums that were willing to take them on became a problem [see discussion in previous chapter]. As discussed in Los Angeles Times:



Doug Goldstein would also admit they didn't try to cut costs:



Duff would also point out how the big production drained profits:



Later, in 2000, Slash would claim they had lost money, and blame it on the management and on Axl:




During the touring in 1991-1993 the band would also spend lots of money on the lavish parties [discussed in an earlier chapter]:




And the private jet they had chartered:



Later, Slash would say the parties had cost so much they had to end the, and that they had been Axl's idea:





In late 2014, Duff would blame the large crew they had:



Duff would also mention how he had realized that Geffen had been underpaying them royalties:



And in early 2019, Duff would claim Goldstein (or possibly Niven), was earning more than they did at the start of touring in the 90s:

In early 1992 Axl, who had talked about his desire to become a father when married to Erin [People Magazine, August 1990; MTV, October 1990], connected to Stephanie's two-year-old son, Dylan, and found similarities:



And Seymour would praise Axl for his relationship to Dylan:








The break-up with Stephanie [see later chapter] resulted Axl becoming estranged to Dylan. In 1994, Axl would discuss how the Estranged video was a form of communicating with him:



In late 1999, years after the break-up, Axl would express a desire that Dylan would listen to the lyrics of the then unreleased album Chinese Democracy and finally understand what had happened:



In 2018, when asked if Axl had ever gotten over the break with Stephanie, Doug Goldstein would speculate that the separation from Dylan was a bigger problem:



And around the same time, Dave Dominguez, who worked as a studio engineer for the band in 1998, would mention Axl befriending his kids:

In May 2000, Rolling Stone would publish a large feature on Axl Rose, titled "Axl Rose: The Lost Years" [Rolling Stone, May 11, 2000]. In this article the name Beta Lebeis would be mentioned for the first time as Axl's "housekeeper" [Rolling Stone, May 11, 2000].

Beta (Elizabeta) Lebeis, from Santos in São Paulo, moved to the USA in around 1990 together with her three children, Fernando, Vanessa and Alexandre (Alex), in search of a better life [O Globo, January 16, 2001]. Back in Brazil she had worked as an executive assistant at Quaker in Itajai [O Globo, January 16, 2001].




After a two-month stint in Delaware, the family moved to Los Angeles where she soon got a job as nanny to Stephanie Seymour's son Dylan [O Globo, January 16, 2001].




Through her work for Seymour, Beta and her children would meet Axl:





Beta would shed light on this "connection":



After Axl and Seymour's relationship ended, Beta, and later Fernando, would start working for Axl:






Beta and Fernando would live with Axl at his house in Malibu:



Tom Zutaut would later discuss how the relationship had happened at a vulnerable moment:



In addition to working as Axl's housekeeper, Beta also travelled with him and acted as his chauffeur [Rolling Stone, May 11, 2000]. Beta herself would describe her role:





Fernando would discuss having Axl as his boss:



And Doug Goldstein would comment on Beta and her work:



Beta would also discuss her relationship with Axl and indicate that it is a deeply personal relationship and not only a business relationship:










After witnessing the affection between Beta and her children, Beta would claim that Axl had said he wished he had had a mother like that [O Estado de S. Paulo, July 1, 2001].

Beta would also talk about how devastated Axl had been after the relationship with Seymour ended, and that all Axl wanted was a family and children:




An anonymous source would seem to describe this close relationship:



Near the end of the Rock in Rio show on January 14, 2001, Axl would bring out Beta and emotionally thank her for being there for him:




In 2018, after the Lebeis family had taken over managing Axl through their company Team Brazil [see later chapter], Alan Niven would comment on the effect they had on Axl: