02 December 2008
Newsdesk
Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose has been missing for two months.
The eccentric rocker has infuriated bosses at record label Geffen after disappearing without promoting the band’s long-awaited ‘Chinese Democracy’ album, which was released last week 15 years after the last Guns N’ Roses LP.
A source told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: “People have been trying to contact Axl for two months and he’s completely AWOL [Absent Without Leave].
“It is frustrating because the album would have had a much better chance of going to number one if he had only been prepared to show his face.
“You would have thought after spending all those years on an album you might do a few weeks of promotion. “Everyone knows Axl is a bit of a maverick genius and won’t do anything he doesn’t want to.” ‘
Chinese Democracy’ was beaten to the number one spot in the UK album charts by The Killers’ ‘Day and Age’, which sold 200,000 copies – nearly twice as many as Axl’s record, which is rumoured to have cost $13 million, making it the most expensive ever album. It has been claimed Axl’s disappearance could be due to him entering into secret talks to reform the classic line-up of the band.
Former guitarist and songwriter Izzy Stradlin has performed as a guest star with the band at shows in 2004 and 2006, and ex-lead guitarist Slash has admitted he likes ‘Chinese Democracy’.
The fate of Slash’s new band Velvet Revolver hangs in the balance after they were dropped from their record label.
First week US sales of ‘Chinese Democracy’ are estimated at between 300,000 and 500,000 copies. It is expected to chart at number two on Wednesday (03.12.08) behind Kanye West’s ‘808s and Heartbreak’.
So far, ‘Chinese Democracy’ has only gone to number one in Brazil and Finland.
