Like the dickhead who punches his wife in the face in the heat of an argument and comes back a day or two later with a half-assed apology, Axl Rose has written an “I’m sorry” letter to Cleveland and the Guns N’ Roses fans he disappointed by skipping last week’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions.
After penning an open letter to the L.A. Times last week, in which he not only said he wouldn’t be at the big induction ceremony but he didn’t even want the Rock Hall’s damn award, Rose has issued an apology that pretty much says, “I’m an asshole. Forgive me.”
Here’s the entire letter:
To: Cleveland, Ohio, Guns N’ Roses Fans and everyone who’s shown support for my decision regarding the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame.
I seriously didn’t plan on or expect the overwhelmingly positive response and public support for my decision regarding the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. With such a generous outpouring of solidarity from fans, media outlets, writers and other artists, I’m truly humbled, blown away and unbelievably relieved! To be honest, I thought it would go the other way and was just hoping to weather the storm. As I said, I sincerely didn’t want to disappoint anyone. It gets old being the outlaw even if “it’s only rock and roll”.
It took a lot of focus and soul searching to be sincere and informative while making a genuine effort to be somewhat diplomatic. We made, what I feel, are real efforts to learn about the Hall and the Board, spoke as I said with the president and various members, and though I inducted Elton John and Bernie Taupin in ’94 saying something to the effect of “I’m learning what the Hall’s about…”
I still don’t exactly know or understand what the Hall is or how or why it makes money, where the money goes, who chooses the voters and why anyone or this board decides who, out of all the artists in the world that have contributed to this genre, officially “rock” enough to be in the Hall?
This isn’t an attack. These are genuine issues I don’t have enough verified information on to have more than rough ideas. Certainly not enough information to make any judgments about.
I would like to apologize to Cleveland, Ohio for not apologizing to them beforehand for not attending [the ceremony] in their city. I think they know how much I genuinely love performing there. Cleveland does in fact Rock!!
Now that the smoke’s cleared a little, any desperate, misguided attacks have been just that, a pathetic stab at gossip, some lame vindictiveness, the usual entitlement crap, he’s obsessed, crazy, volatile, a hater. I once bought a homeless woman a slice of pizza who yelled at me she wanted soup. We got her the soup. You can get your own.
Again: HUGE thanks to the fans and to everyone for the incredible public support. My congratulations to the other artists inducted. And my apologies to the city and people of Cleveland, Ohio. I hope you’ll forgive me and we hope to see you again soon!
Keep Rockin’,
Axl
Unlike my open letter to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Guns N’ Roses Fans and Whom It May Concern this was written for GNR’s official website, Facebook account and my personal twitter account and not intended as a press release. If anyone does choose to pick this up as has been done previously I’d appreciate if you’d run in full including this paragraph so as not to give a partial picture, have things taken out of context or to imply or inadvertently give the impression this was intended for other outlets.
So all’s good until the next time Axl loses his temper and kicks our head in.
But he only does it because he loves us, baby. —Michael Gallucci
This article appears in Apr 11-17, 2012.
Now he has to come to Cleveland and perform with the whole GNR band to have me believe that he is truly sorry, kiss and make up. It’s gonna take a lot more than this to redeem himself in this city. It feels as if we were left at the alter, but had the reception and party anyway forgetting whom he was. What an incredible weekend!!! Cleveland has class and Rock and Roll running through our veins not ice water! Nice try Axl!
APOLOGY ACCEPTED. MOST PEOPLE CAN’T APOLOGIZE. WHATEVER YOUR REASONS ARE YOU MISSED A WONDERFUL NIGHT . HBO MAY 5TH. ROCK HALL IS A WONDERFUL PLACE. DEDICATED HARD WORKING WONDERFUL PEOPLE. ITS ONLY ROCK AND ROLL,GOOD MEMORIES,AND TREATING,THANKING. AND SHARING WITH ALL THE TALENT YOU MUSICIANS HAVE SHARED WITH ALL OF US!!!
To Axl, this apology letter probably rated as high on his to-do list as brushing his teeth or going a whole day without crying. He’s a dick, and an apology seems mundane because most of us already knew he was a dick. Then, he made that dick move and it was not really shocking, considering his track record… C’mon Cleveland, we don’t really care right? We are Rock N Roll, not that douchebag.
Once again – screw the fans. After all, that is Axl’s MO. What I want to know is…Who did he hire to write his apology letter? It sounds like the same person who writes for several politicians — must be the same person…it hints at blame, but not responsibility but then a little bit, it like in a little, out a little–kinda like the first time I had sex–at the begin, “aawwh” then its like, “that was it?” “WTF”…I mean, REALLY, ….blah, blah, blabullshit! Apology (if he was asking, which I don’t really thing he was) not accepted.
Hey Axl…Kiss my ass…
“I still don’t exactly know or understand what the Hall is or how or why it makes money, where the money goes, who chooses the voters and why anyone or this board decides who, out of all the artists in the world that have contributed to this genre, officially “rock” enough to be in the Hall?”
He says right after that “this isn’t an attack” but it sure seems to be not-so-positive to me. Maybe I’m touchy or something, but I didn’t think that part was necessary. That’s like saying, “I’m really sorry I punched you in the face, but I was confused because I thought you were fat, stupid, and annoying. I’m still kind of confused about that, but I’m sorry.”
I second the kiss my ass comment