Axl Rose Might Retire: Reports
Longtime frontman of popular rock band Guns N’ Roses, Axl Rose, might be ready to retire. If the rumors in an exclusive report from RadarOnline are true, a friend of the band is quoted as saying that the Axl is getting ready to head out to greener pastures. The unidentified source said Rose told band members they will not be needed for the rest of the summer after June 7.
“Band members have been told their calendars are free following Vegas,” a source close to the band told RadarOnline, referring to the end of their current Las Vegas residency.
The source also said that Axl Rose is seriously considering retirement, to the surprise of other Guns N’ Roses band members. Axl has been the frontman for the band since it formed in 1985 in Los Angeles. They’ve had a long string of successful albums, including the critically-acclaimed and highly commercially successful two-part album Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012.
Axl is the only remaining original member of Guns N’ Roses, and has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone and media outlets. Rose recently made headlines when Concert Hotels posted a chart of the vocal ranges of numerous singers from Joni Mitchell to Lady Gaga. Axl Rose is at the top of the list, with a wider vocal range than Mariah Carey, Prince, Steven Tyler, and James Brown.
The UK’s Daily Mail and other other outlets characterized the list as an assessment that Rose is the “greatest singer of all time” and published stories to that end.
Of the original Guns N’ Roses band members, 52 year-old Axl has seen Slash, who played lead guitar, depart along with bassist Duff McKagan. Drummer Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin, who played rhythm guitar, also left the group.
With global record sales at over 100 million and countless iconic hits, including tunes like “Sweet Child of Mine” under his belt, sources say there is little economic reason for Rose to continue working and touring. His current Las Vegas residency on May 21 with the band has included a nine-date performance set at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
As the last member of the best-selling bands of all time, Axl Rose would leave a decades-long successful career behind him if he does decide to retire.
