Axl Rose, the frontman of Guns N’ Roses, has engaged in his fair share of rock ‘n’ roll shenanigans throughout the years. Being one of the most well-known divas in music, his life in the fast lane has caused controversy and caused division among many.
Over the course of his career, Axl Rose has continued to shock the music industry with everything from multiple late arrivals at concerts to an odd song that included the sounds of real sex. He was for a long time the most blatant example of the archetype of a rock star, his life completely unexpected at many points. Unfortunately, he came of age when famous musicians were still expected to act in unusual ways. However, he is currently dealing with extremely serious and very worrying accusations from that time period.
Rose’s actions became so out of control in the early 1990s. Because of that Guns N’ Roses suffer greatly when they opened for Metallica, one of the world’s most well-known bands. James Hetfield had to go to the hospital after sustaining a serious injury on stage, and it was up to Guns N’ Roses to save the night. But after just three songs, Rose stormed off stage, claiming that his voice and the monitors were giving him trouble.
The crowd did not think well of this choice. They began to riot violently inside the stadium and into the streets of Toronto outside. Hetfield later told Rolling Stone, looking back on the incident: “He threw a fit, and that was that.” I felt so let down by him. Because by carrying on with the show, he could have won over so many people. And he took the complete opposite course, making matters ten times worse and endangering the lives of people. He had an attitude that led to a lot of needless violence.
There were no limits to Axl Rose’s attitude. One of the crew members that director Cameron Crowe spoke with for his 2016 series Roadies, Entertainment Weekly, stated that the frontman of Guns N’ Roses had sent them all the way from America to England in order to retrieve his cherished yellow jacket. This incident became so well-known that road crew legend was born out of it.
“What is yellow-jacketing? I asked, after overhearing some roadies discussing the need for something to be “yellow-jacketed”. They claimed, “Axl Rose needed a yellow jacket he had left in England before he would perform. There was a show, and there was a guy who worked with Guns N’ Roses.” Thus, a roadie took on the responsibility of boarding an aeroplane as soon as possible. Travelling to London, locating Axl Rose’s yellow jacket, and returning in time for the show. The most entertaining aspect of that tale isn’t that someone had to go buy Axl Rose a yellow jacket. Rather, it’s that other roadies became so familiar with it that it became a verb: “to yellow-jacket.”
