Real name: Born William Bruce Rose, then his mother remarried and changed to William or Bill Bailey, when he was 17 he found out who his real father was and changed it to W. Rose because "I wasn't told I had a real father until I was 17. My real father was my stepdad, as far as I knew. But I found some insurance papers, then I found my mom's diploma with the last name Rose. I was never born Bill Bailey. I was born William Rose. I am W. Rose because William was an asshole." Then he wanted people to call him Babe for a little while then to how we know him today W. Axl Rose. He got Axl from the name of a band he was in with Izzy, Chris Webber and himself. The reason it is not spelled Axel, it's because one night, while his family was having a fight, one of the members of the band "Axl" called him and asked him how to spell it, he wasn't really thinking and just said A-X-L and hung up. Other interesting facts about his name: His initials spell WAR and Axl Rose is an Anagram for oral sex.
Born: February 6, 1962.
Hometown: Lafayette, Indiana.
Height: According to Axl its 5'9, according to Erin Everly its 5'7 and according to most magazines its 5'8 so you decide.
Weight: On Feb. 10, 98 (when he got arrested in Pheonix at the airport) he weighed 160.
Siblings: Two (Amy and Stuart, Axl is the eldest).
Main vocal influence: Michael Monroe (former singer of the Hanoi Rocks).
Age began singing: Five.
Instruments: Piano, a little Guitar and Drums.
Age kicked out of house: Sixteen.
First Concert: Roadmaster, "But I was a bit too drunk, and in a bit too many fights and a bit to busy being chased by cops to see what was going on".
Longest time served in jail: Three months.
Alternative choice of occupation: Lawyer, he has defended himself at trials.
Pets: Two Maltese dogs.
Bands before GN'R: A.X.L, Rose (later know as Hollywood Rose), L.A. Guns.
Recorded with (amongst others): Steve Jones, Don Henley and Gilby Clarke.
Favorite Book: His Way by Kitty Kelly.
Favorite Bands: Frank Sinatra, Ennio Morricone, Mike Monroe, Rolling Stones, Eagles, Nazareth, Four Horseman, 10cc, Queensryche, N.W.A., Ghetto Boys, Jane's Addiction, Faith No More, Roger Waters, Jimmy Scott, Lyle Lovett, Alice in Chains, Alice Cooper, Sex Pistols, Nine Inch Nails, Prodigy, Moby, DJ Shadow, U2, Radiohead, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Aerosmith amongst others.
Favorite Actor: Robert De Niro.
Hobbies: Collecting guns and medieval crucifixes.
Favorite Foods: Lloyds Ribs from Texas, sushi, ice cream, and steak.
Favorite Drinks: Champagne and White or Red Wine.
Other info:  The red-haired, multi-talented screamer, W. Axl Rose, was born William Bruce Rose on February 6, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana. His name was soon changed to William Bruce Bailey, which was the surname of his stepfather, Stephen Bailey. Axl, his half-brother, Stuart, and half-sister, Amy, had a very rough childhood. All were abused, sexually and physically. Axl’s parents (mom: Sharon, stepfather: Stephen Bailey) were extremely religious individuals and had Axl attend church several times a week. Eventually, Axl even taught Sunday School. He also sang in the church choir and took piano lessons in his pre-teens. Strict parenting and abuse later, most likely, led to his corruption in adolescence.Axl was a rebellious teenager. Even though it has been said that he was arrested over 50 times, Tippecanoe County Court records indicate that he was only arrested four times as a juvenile, one in which he spent three months in jail. As an adult, he spent a total of ten days in county jail on charges of battery, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, public intoxication, criminal trespass, and mischief. When Axl was 14, he met Jeffrey Isbell, otherwise known as Izzy Stradlin, the former rhythm guitarist of GN’R. Later, in high school, Axl met Shannon Hoon (the late lead singer of Blind Melon), Dave Lank (longtime friend of the band), and Paul Tobias (the current rhythm guitarist). He made exceptional grades in school, but didn’t really care too much for what was taught. He dropped out and came back a few times before finally dropping out permanently sometime during his senior year. After leaving school for good, Axl created a lot of paintings and drawings and he visited the library to educate himself.When Axl was 17, he found out that he was adopted and his real father was William Rose. So he changed his surname to Rose. Later on around that time, he found out that the court was going to charge him as a habitual criminal, which could mean life in prison, so he followed the advice of his lawyer and got out of there as quick as he could. He departed on a Greyhound for Los Angeles to catch up with hometown friend Izzy Stradlin and try to make it to the big time and be a rockstar. Somewhere around this time, he wanted to change his name to Babe but decided instead to change it to William Axl Rose (Axl was the name of a band that he and Dave Lank formed in Indiana). Finally he changed his name to W. Axl Rose. William was abbreviated because, as Axl put it, "William was an asshole."From 1979 to 1982 Axl traveled from L.A. to Indiana (and back) a few times. He also hitchhiked across the country, where he was able to visit New York and St. Louis. When he was 20, in 1982, he dated Gina Siler in Lafayette. After she graduated high school, she and Axl left Lafayette for good on December 19, 1982 in her car. Axl was engaged to her a few times, but they were never married. Axl and Gina lived together for a time, but the relationship eventually ended. When she moved out, Izzy moved in. The pair formed a band called Rose in 1983 with guitarist Chris Weber and bassist Andre Roxx, and drummer Johnny Christ. Together, the band wrote the songs "Anything Goes," "Back Off Bitch," and "Shadow of Your Love". Eventually, that band turned into Hollywood Rose.Hollywood Rose survived for a short period of time before splitting after a gig in Santa Monica. Axl moved on to another local band, LA Guns, but with nothing much going on, Hollywood Rose staged a reunion on New Years Eve - 1984. Weber left after this and Tracii Guns (from LA Guns) joined the band. Along with Tracii, bassist Steve Darrow and drummer Rob Gardener also joined the band. In March of 1985, Hollywood Rose transformed into Guns N' Roses. The band consisted of Axl on vocals, Tracii Guns on lead guitar, Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar, Duff McKagan (formerly of 10 Minute Warning) on bass, and Rob Gardener on drums. During this time, Axl was living in West Arkeen’s apartment while Del James was also staying there. In early June, Duff got the band some gigs in his hometown, Seattle. When approached with the idea of touring in Seattle, Tracii and Rob were not interested. So Duff called up a couple members from an old band he was in, Road Crew. On June 6, 1985, Slash and Steven Adler from Road Crew played their first show with Guns N’ Roses at the Troubadour. Tracii and Rob were later fired from the band. The next day, the new Guns N' Roses traveled to Seattle. On the way there, their van broke down and they were forced to hitchhike, leaving all the equipment behind. While in Seattle during the disastrous tour, Axl wrote the lyrics to "Welcome to the Jungle."Later in 1985, the band became very successful on the club circuit in L.A. With the little money they had, they lived in a place they called "The Hell House," which was a run-down warehouse where they also rehearsed. Living on about $3.75 a day, they strived to make it. Axl worked as a night manager for Tower Records, did telephone sales, and even smoked cigarettes with Izzy for $8 an hour for UCLA medical tests. On March 15, 1986, Guns N’ Roses was signed to Geffen Records by A&R executive Tom Zutuat. In December of 1986, they released their own self-produced EP, Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide. Later, in July of 1987, they released their debut album, Appetite For Destruction. This album is considered one of the best albums of all time and is the best selling debut album by a group. GN'R kicked off a worldwide tour in 1987 that went through 1988 to promote their album. They toured with many bands such as Mötley Crüe, The Cult, Iron Maiden, and even Aerosmith. In mid-1988, Axl blew his throat out which caused them to cancel many shows and he was later required to have surgery. At the Monsters of Rock festival in Donnington, England on August 20, 1988, the extremely large English crowd was wild and out of control. This, combined with the steady rain and mud, proved to be ruinous. Even though the band stopped the show several times to get the crowd to calm down and move back, two fans were crushed during their set. Axl didn't hear the tragic news until they were already on their way back to the US. The press put most of the blame on him, causing the first major negative impact about him with loads to follow in upcoming years.In late 1988, GN’R Lies was released. The album contained the four tracks from their Live ?!*@ Like A Suicide EP and four new acoustic tracks. Axl was heavily critisized for the acoustic song, “One In A Million.” The song included terms such as “niggers” and “faggots.” Axl was not using the words to express hate. He was using them to show how he felt during specific situations. He was deemed to be a racist and homophobic, which earned him a bad reputation regardless of the way he really was. Soon, Appetite For Destruction rose to #1 on the charts with GN’R Lies at #4. This was the first time an artist had two albums in the top five simultaneously since 1969. Also by this time, GN’R had three hit videos, "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child O’ Mine," and “Paradise City." In 1989, during the video shoot of the unreleased "It’s So Easy" video at The Cathouse in L.A., David Bowie was getting a little to comfortable around Axl’s girlfriend Erin Everly and Axl got so furious with him that he punched him and had him thrown off the set! Later that year, an altercation between Axl and Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe occurred at the MTV Video Music Awards where Axl performed with Tom Petty.In October of 1989, GN’R opened for the Rolling Stones for four shows in L.A. At one of the shows Axl stated that Guns N’ Roses would be over if some people didn’t stop dancing with "Mr. Brownstone." In 1990, Axl and GN’R took a break to start recording their next album. In April, Axl was married to Erin in Las Vegas. The marriage was very turbulent and ended later that year. His distraught relationship with Erin inspired him to write the song, "Estranged". Also that month, GN’R performed two songs at Farm Aid IV. During the spring, Steven Adler was fired due to not giving up his drug addiction and was replaced by Matt Sorum, formerly of The Cult. Axl also added keyboardist Dizzy Reed to the GN’R lineup to coincide with the “improved” GN’R sound. On October 30th, a neighbor called the police claiming that Axl had hit her over the head with a wine bottle when she came to his door to tell him that his music was being played too loud. Axl was arrested and only had to spend the night in jail. Axl, saddened from learning about Erin’s miscarriage that day, was released due to the neighbor lacking evidence. This event later inspired the song, "Right Next Door to Hell." While recording the album, Axl camped out in the studio to force himself to write new songs and come up with new ideas.In January of 1991, after a long break, GN’R appeared for two sets at the Rock In Rio 2 festival in Brazil. The sets featured seven new songs from their upcoming albums. In May of 1991, GN’R played three club shows as warmup gigs for their upcoming tour. During the May 16th gig at The Ritz in New York, Axl injured his ankle and was forced to wear a brace during the first weeks of the Get In the Ring Motherfucker World Tour. During the summer of 1991, GN’R toured across the United States revealing many new songs from their upcoming albums. On July 2, 1991, GN’R played a show in St. Louis. That night, the leader of a biker gang had been taunting Axl throughout the show and during "Rocket Queen" Axl dove into the crowd to take the man's camera after security failed to do so. The band then left the stage and a riot ensued. The blame was placed on Axl instead of where it should of gone. Nothing new there.In late summer, Guns N' Roses toured part of Europe. On September 7, 1991, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, resigned from the band due to lack of interest and other personal reasons. Axl wanted Izzy to be happy, but in a way, he also felt somewhat betrayed by his friend. Later that month, the Use Your Illusion albums were released. Debuting with Use Your Illusion II at #1 and Use Your Illusion I at #2, GN’R were recognized as the biggest band in the world at that time. Former Kills For Thrills guitarist Gilby Clarke was hired to fill Izzy’s spot on the tour. While shooting the epic video, "Don’t Cry," Axl began a relationship with Victoria’s Secret supermodel Stephanie Seymour, who starred in the video. They were later engaged, but in late 1992 their relationship ended. This caused Axl a great deal of emotional distress for many reasons. The stress was hightened because he was no longer allowed to see Stephanie’s son, Dylan (a child he loved and cared for dearly). In December, after a 3-month break from touring, GN’R began to tour the U.S. again.GN'R continued to tour throughout the first part of 1992. In April, Axl learned that he would be arrested on charges stemming from the St. Louis riot (July 2, 1991) if he stayed in the United States, so he left the country. On April 20, 1992, Guns N’ Roses played two songs at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Also at that concert, Axl performed with one of his main influences, Elton John, for their rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody." Axl also performed "We Will Rock You" with Queen. Throughout the next few months, GN’R toured through Europe. In May, Axl joined Bono onstage at a U2 concert to perform "Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door." On June 6, GN’R performed a televised Pay-Per-View concert in Paris with special guests Lenny Kravitz and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith. Axl spends the next few days sightseeing in Paris. Not long after, doctors tell Axl to get 36 hours of rest because he is in a state of complete physical exhaustion. By following the doctor's advice, he soon gets better.Axl returned to the U.S. in July. He was arrested at JFK Airport on the St. Louis riot charges. Throughout the next few months, GN’R co-headline a summer tour with Metallica and Faith No More opening the show. Axl had throat problems throughout the tour and many shows were canceled. Also during that summer, GN’R released their famous "November Rain" video, also starring Stephanie Seymour, which is considered one of the greatest videos of all time.On August 8, 1992, James Hetfield of Metallica suffers third degree burns from accidentally walking into the pyrotechnics during the middle of their set. When GN’R comes on, the stage monitors and the amps were not working properly. With the technical problems and the rowdy crowd, GN’R could not perform properly so Axl takes the band off the stage. Before they can return, a riot breaks out. Many shows on the tour are rescheduled due to Hetfield’s injuries.On September 9, GN’R perform “November Rain” at the MTV Video Music Awards with Elton John. Backstage, Axl gets into an altercation with Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. In October, the tour with Metallica ends in Seattle. GN’R takes a month long break before touring South America throughout November and December.In January and February of 1993, Guns N' Roses plays shows in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. In late February, the Skin N’ Bones leg of the tour kicks off. From February to July of 1993, they toured the United States, Europe, and South America. In May, Izzy returns for five shows to fill in for Gilby he broke his wrist in a motorcycle accident. Axl asked his old friend to come back into the band, but Izzy refused. The 28-month tour ended on July 17, 1993 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After the tour, the “Estranged” video is released, which was supposed to be the conclusion of the “Trilogy,” ("Don't Cry" and "November Rain" being the first and second parts). Axl took the rest of the year off. In November, “The Spaghetti Incident?” is released.On January 20, 1994, Axl appears at the induction of his musical inspiration, Elton John, into the Rock N' Roll Hall Of Fame. Later that night, Axl performs “Come Together” with Bruce Springsteen. In early 1994, GN’R began to work on a new album. Musical differences cause the band to split in half while they work on things. Slash, Gilby, and Matt record tracks at Slash’s studio while Axl, Duff, and Dizzy record tracks at another studio. In June, Gilby is released from GN’R; he was only hired for the tour. This angers Slash because Axl released him without any consent from other band members. Slash presented Axl with the musical tracks that had been recorded at his studio; Axl does not want them because they “sound like something from 1980.” Axl wanted the band to evolve, but Slash seemed content to be like AC/DC, and have the same sound on the new album.In December of 1994, GN’R released “Sympathy For the Devil” for the Interview With A Vampire Soundtrack. The track features Axl’s longtime friend Paul Tobias on rhythm guitar. Slash claims that Paul plays lead guitar over Slash’s parts. Tensions continue to develop further between Slash and Axl. Throughout 1995, GN’R's attempts to record an album continue. In February, Slash releases his debut solo album, It’s Five O’ Clock Somewhere, with his band Slash’s Snakepit. Sometime in the middle of 1995, Slash leaves Guns N' Roses. In October, Shannon Hoon, one of Axl’s hometown friends, dies of a drug overdose.In late 1995 or early 1996, Axl brought in Zakk Wylde (formerly of Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne) to play lead guitar. However, Wylde does not join Guns N' Roses due to contract disputes. Matt Sorum is fired after a verbal dispute with Axl and he eventually goes back to his former band, The Cult. Axl brings in Chris Vrenna (formerly of Nine Inch Nails) and Dave Abbruzese (formerly of Pearl Jam) as drummers to work on the new album. Robin Finck (formerly of NIN) is brought in to play lead guitar.In 1997, Duff leaves the band in order to focus on his solo projects and to spend more time with his family. Axl is the only original member of Guns N' Roses left and he was now faced with the task of building a new band and recording a new album. Eventually, he signs contracts with Robin Finck and drummer Josh Freese (formerly of the Vandals). Guns N' Roses now consists of Axl on vocals, Robin Finck on lead guitar, Paul Tobias on rhythm guitar, Josh Freese on drums, and Dizzy Reed on keyboards. In May, one of Axl’s closest friends, West Arkeen, dies of a drug overdose.On February 11, 1998, Axl is arrested at the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport after threatening security workers who were mishandling his baggage. For the last few years, Axl has reportedly traveled to Arizona many times to visit a psychic named Yoda, who is also said to be Axl’s spiritual advisor. In early 1998, Tommy Stinson (formerly of the Replacements) is brought in to play bass and he eventually signs a contract. Later that year, Chris Pitman (formerly of Replicants, Lusk, Tool) is brought in on keyboards and programming. Throughout 1998, Axl and Del James go through many DAT tapes from many concerts to compile a 2 disc live album. GN’R also re-records Appetite For Destruction.In 1999, guest appearances are made by Brian May and Dave Navarro for the album. The new band is heard for the first time on the last half of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” which plays during the credits of the movie, Big Daddy. In September, the first new song in 5 years, "Oh My God," is released on the End Of Days Soundtrack. Robin Finck leaves after his contract expires and goes back to NIN. In November, Axl does a phone interview with Kurt Loder of MTV, which reveals news that fans have been curious about for years. Later that month, Live Era '87-'93 is released. In December, Axl invites the guitarist Buckethead to a Christmas party at his house.In 2000, a new Axl interview is published in Rolling Stone magazine. The interview reveals what Axl has been doing for the last several years and also unveils a few upcoming GN'R song titles. In March, Josh Freese leaves GN’R after his contract expires and joins A Perfect Circle. During 2000, guitarist Buckethead joins GN’R along with drummer Brain from Primus. On June 22, after coming from a Roger Waters’ concert, Axl joins Gilby Clarke and the rest of The Starfuckers onstage at the Cat Club in L.A. This is Axl’s first public performance in six years. In late October, Big FD Entertainment confirms that the new Guns N' Roses will perform at Rock In Rio 3 on January 14, 2001. On December 6, a warmup show at the House Of Blues in Las Vegas, NV on New Year's Day is announced and is sold out almost immediately.At around 3:30 AM on New Year’s Day, the new GN’R took the stage at the House of Blues. The first Guns N’ Roses performance in almost 8 years proved to be a success! Axl and his new ensemble not only played all the classics, but they revealed four new songs as well. On January 15, GN’R headline at Rock In Rio 3. This show is also a success and probably the best performance out of all the 98 bands that were at the festival. In the upcoming weeks after the show, Axl travels around South America and visits Argentina and Chile.The new album, Chinese Democracy, is confirmed to be out in June. Axl and Guns N' Roses are planning to tour through Europe in June with a possible North and South America tour later in the summer/fall.