Carrie Underwood Says Axl Rose Taught Her To Sing, Wants A Collab
Carrie Underwood doesn’t usually bring long-haired rockers to mind when one listens to her music, but the country star says she had a lot of influences growing up, and she really wants to collaborate with at least one of them.
Underwood opened up about her favorite musicians to E! recently, and said she loves Axl Rose and Guns N’ Roses so much because they taught her how to use her voice.
“I really want to sing with Axl Rose at some point in my life. I’ve covered enough Guns N’ Roses stuff, and it was people like him who taught me how to sing. I look at people like him and Freddie Mercury, those people who were doing all these crazy runs. It was so different,” Carrie said.
Of course, true Carrie Underwood fans won’t be surprised to hear what she had to say about Axl, as she’s covered several G N’ R songs over the course of her career, including “Paradise City,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” and “Patience.”
Guns N’ Roses have had a rotating lineup of musicians over the years, and after a famous feud between Axl and guitarist Slash seemingly found some closure, the band may be getting back together soon. According to Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland–who has played with several G N’ R members in Velvet Revolver–Axl and Slash are back on speaking terms.
“I remember a little bit about it. There was a little going back and forth between the two of us at the time, but I think that Guns N’ Roses are getting back together,” Weiland said earlier this month.
As for Carrie Underwood, despite her success in country music–which often tackles the universal topic of love and heartache–she says she doesn’t do romance. Her song, “Heartbeat,” may be the exception, however.
“I don’t do romance very well, at least not in my music. But I felt like when we were writing it, it was just so genuine and I think that’s one of my problems with love songs. It’s all like fairy tales and bubblegum and butterflies. That’s just not reality. I felt like as we were writing it, it was so conversational and this is my life. This is me and my husband just needing to be alone. It doesn’t have to be all presents and Romeo and Juliet. It can be simple and lovely,” Underwood said.
Speaking of romance, Carrie recently shared a photo on Instagram of her new Cosmopolitan cover, which features her in a short, skin-baring dress. The new mom looks healthy, happy, and fit for the magazine, which features an interview with the country star about her confidence. She also spoke a bit about seeing so many couples around her get divorced, and said she and her husband–hockey player Mike Fisher–feel confident in their relationship in part because their careers were already established before they got together.
“Everyone is getting divorced. They’re dropping like flies! But we are good. It helped that we were both established before we were married. Neither one of us could be like, ‘I didn’t know it would be like this!’ ” Carrie said.
In the issue, Carrie talks about women in the country music business and reveals how she votes when it comes time for awards season, saying she often has to write in names on the ballot.
“When I go to vote for the Country Music Awards, I have to write in names — I can think of, like, three who are really active. Women have to work harder to get half the recognition. I am one of the lucky ones.”
[Image via Vevo]
