Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic

Was it something we said? Nearly a year after releasing their eagerly anticipated album Chinese Democracy, Guns N' Roses are finally mounting a tour in support of the 17-years-in-the-making CD. But so far the outing amounts to 13 Canadian dates, with no announced plans to hit up any U.S. cities.

Rumors of the impending Canadian tour announcement, as well as some reported late 2009 dates in Southeast Asia (which weren't confirmed by GN'R reps at press time) began leaking out last week. By Tuesday, a variety of Canadian press outlets had confirmed the dates, which are slated to kick off on January 13 with a show in Winnipeg, Manitoba, at the MTS Centre and run through a February 4 date in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the Metro Centre. The dates have since been confirmed by promoter LiveNation.

Rolling Stone magazine called the dates part of the "Guns N' Roses Chinese Democracy World Tour," which would represent the first full-scale outing in support of the album, whose sales failed to live up to the likely unrealistic expectations of fans and critics, topping out just shy of 600,000 copies to date.

The album's sales were hurt, no doubt, by the lack of live touring by the band as well as by singer Axl Rose's decision to do next to no press to promote the release. GN'R now consists of just one original member, Rose, and a series of sidemen, with the most recent addition being former Sixx:A.M. guitarist DJ Ashba, who replaced Nine Inch Nails' Robin Finck.

The dates for the tour:

»1/13 - Winnipeg, MB @ MTS Centre
»1/16 - Calgary, AB @ Pengrowth Saddledome
»1/17 - Edmonton, AB @ Rexall Place
»1/19 - Saskatoon, SK @ Credit Union Centre
»1/20 - Regina, SK @ Brandt Centre
»1/24 - Hamilton, ON @ Copps Coliseum
»1/25 - London, ON @ John Labatt Centre
»1/27 - Montreal, PQ @ Bell Centre
»1/28 - Toronto, ON @ Air Canada Centre
»1/31 - Ottawa, ON @ Scotiabank Place
»2/1 - Quebec City, PQ @ Colisee Pepsi
»2/3 - Moncton, NB @ Moncton Coliseum
»2/4 - Halifax, NS @ Metro Centre

• This Week's Biggest News

• Guns N' Roses

Axl Rose
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ Getty Images

The math on Guns N' Roses' long-awaited Chinese Democracy is not promising: no tour, no videos, no interviews and now, one lawsuit.

Five days after news broke that two independent record labels filed suit against Axl Rose's band and the Universal Music Group on Friday over claims that a Democracy track illegally sampled two songs from the German electronic artist Ulrich Schnauss, the Guns camp came out blazing with a denial.

"The band vigorously contests these claims and intends to respond accordingly," manager Irving Azoff said in a statement released on Tuesday. "The band believed when the record came out and still believes that there are no unauthorized samples on the track."

According to Azoff, the snippets of ambient noise that open the song "Riad N' the Bedouins" — which the $1 million lawsuit claims are taken without permission from Schnauss' compositions "Wherever You Are" and "A Strangely Isolated Place" — were "provided by a member of the album's production team who has assured us that these few seconds of sound were obtained legitimately."

The Schnauss songs came out in 2001 and 2003, respectively,while the Guns album was in the works for more than 17 years beginning in the mid-1990s. Unless the case goes to trial, it might remain unclear which song, or songs, came first.

After years of delays and endless tweaking, Democracy was released in November and has sold just under 600,000 copies to date in the U.S. In the statement, Azoff appeared to be shifting the blame, if there is any, to the unknown member of the production team, adding, "Artists these days can't read the minds of those they collaborate with and therefore are unfortunately vulnerable to claims like this one. While the band resents the implication that they would ever use another artist's work improperly and are assessing possible counterclaims, they are confident this situation will be satisfactorily resolved."

Azoff promised that the band's legal and production team would formally respond to the complaint soon.

• Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses' <i>Chinese Democracy</i>
Photo: Geffen Records

Last year, music blogger Kevin "Skwerl" Cogill got into a bit of hot water when he posted tracks from the then-still-unreleased Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy on the music blog Antiquiet. What followed was a stranger-than-fiction story: The FBI stormed his home early in the morning, arrested him at gunpoint and put him on trial for piracy. On Tuesday (July 14), the legal fiasco finally ended. Though Cogill could have received as much as a year in jail and nearly $400,000 in fines, he was given a year of probation. As part of his sentence, he also must assist the RIAA in producing a PSA about piracy.

The details of his probation (which includes two months of home confinement) still need to be ironed out, though he'll still have computer access. "They made it clear that the court did not want to hinder my ability to earn a living as a Web developer or to continue running Antiquiet," Cogill told MTV News via e-mail.

Cogill carries a great deal of remorse for what he did, though he never intended any harm to Axl Rose — he was just a fan who was excited about a band he loved. "I've come to respect the artists' right to determine how their art is released. I do apologize to Axl for that disrespect," he said. "As a fan who had lost faith in all of the promises of release, I didn't see too many other options at the time. But in a fair world, it's not my place to judge, let alone act."

Though Cogill says he was unaware of any comments that Rose might have made about him, he did take some quotes by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash pretty personally. "A friend of mine conducted an interview with Slash last year in which he called me a thief and wished that I 'rot in jail,' " he said. "I found that surprisingly crass, especially considering the guy has made no bones about shoplifting cassette tapes with the same rationale as today's downloaders. So if he wants to see me in jail, I'll see him in the cafeteria."

Ironically, it was Cogill's leak that might have ultimately led to the release of Chinese Democracy last fall, as the announcements about the album's release started to appear shortly after.

• Guns N' Roses

Michael Jackson and Slash perform at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1995
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage

As part of the big push to promote his greatest-hits album HIStory: Past, Present and Future: Book I, Michael Jackson kicked off the 1995 Video Music Awards with an epic 15-minute medley of some of his biggest hits, including "Beat It," "The Way You Make Me Feel," "Black or White" and "Smooth Criminal."

Jackson was joined onstage by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash, who had previously recorded a number of tunes with Jackson on both HIStory and 1993's Dangerous. The top-hatted star ripped through the songs with aplomb, while Jackson strutted and danced maniacally.

Jackson and Slash cut one of the classic silhouettes in the history of the VMAs: the pair standing downstage, wind machines blowing around smoke (and their hair), with Jackson dancing and Slash pulling off a blistering guitar solo during "Black or White." When the performance was over, the crowd at Radio City Music Hall gave Jackson a deafening standing ovation worthy of the size and scope of the performance.

Later that night, Jackson collected two awards (one for Best Choreography, the other for Best Art Direction) for the video for "Scream," his collaboration with his sister Janet. The "Scream" clip remains the most expensive music video ever shot, with an estimated budget of more than $7 million.

MTV will be paying tribute to MJ throughout the weekend with music videos, exclusive performances and calls and tweets from celebrity admirers and friends. For everything we've got on the life, career and passing of the legendary entertainer, visit "Michael Jackson Remembered."

Share your Michael Jackson memories by uploading video and comments to Your.MTV.com or joining the discussion below.

• A Celebration Of Michael Jackson On MTV
• Michael Jackson's MTV Moments
• Michael Jackson Fans Pour Into The Streets
• Michael Jackson's Video Legacy
• Michael Jackson: A Tribute

• Michael Jackson's Greatest MTV Moments
• Michael Jackson: A Life In Photos
• Michael Jackson: A Fashion Icon
• Fans Mourn The Loss Of Music Icon Michael Jackson

• Michael Jackson
• Guns N' Roses

Kelly Clarkson's <i>All I Ever Wanted</i>
Photo: Sony BMG

Despite a strong debut last week, U2 have been replaced at the top of the Billboard albums chart by a resurgent Kelly Clarkson, whose All I Ever Wanted will take the pole position in its debut week on sales of 254,000.

That's just a shade behind what Clarkson's last album, the troubled My December, did in its first week (291,000) in June 2007, but with a hit single in "My Life Would Suck Without You," Clarkson seems poised for a solid comeback. Also debuting on the charts is the second album from in-demand songwriter/producer The-Dream, Love Vs. Money, which hit the #2 spot and racked up 151,000 in sales, besting U2's No Line on the Horizon. For the beleaguered music industry, the upside was that the totals for the top three represent the first time in 2009 that a trio of discs in the top 10 has passed the 100K-plus mark.

Had J. Holiday's Round 2 debuted with slightly better numbers at #4, it might have been a four-way, but alas the singer could only muster 55,000 units, barely edging out this year's chart queen, Taylor Swift, whose Fearless fell several spots to #5 on sales of 51,000, edging her ever closer to the 3 million mark. The only other debut in the top 10 was the controversial collabo between former Soundgarden/ Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell and producer Timbaland, Scream, which snagged the #10 spot with sales of 25,000.

Elsewhere in the top 10, dance diva Lady Gaga hung tight, slipping a few notches to #6 with The Fame, racking up 46,000 new fans, while the rest of the top 10 was unchanged, with Nickelback at #7 (36,000), followed by Beyoncé's I Am ... Sasha Fierce (28,000) at #8 and Jamie Foxx's Intuition at #9 (26,000).

Just outside the top 10, pop-punk stalwarts New Found Glory's first album for Epitaph, the Mark Hoppus-produced Not Without a Fight, lands at #12 (23,000), followed by the #15 debut of Punk Goes Pop Volume 2 (20,000), which features Bayside covering Sean Kingston's "Beautiful Girls," August Burns Red ripping through Britney's "... Baby One More Time" and the Cab doing Rihanna's "Disturbia."

Alt darling Neko Case drops to #17 after a surprising #3 debut for her critically acclaimed Middle Cyclone album (20,000), the Yeah Yeah Yeahs blast onto the charts for a #32 debut for It's Blitz! (13,000) and the Jonas Brothers' 3D Concert Experience continues its freefall, dropping another 15-plus spots in its third week to #37, with just 12,000 units shifted.

Gone are the days of #1 debuts for former "American Idol" champ Taylor Hicks, whose independently released The Distance limped in at #58 on sales of 8,000, nearly 290,000 less copies than his self-titled major-label debut managed in 2006.

And, after a #3 debut in November and steadily declining sales ever since, Guns N' Roses' highly touted comeback, Chinese Democracy, will fall out of the top 200 next week, likely done in by a combination of no radio hits, music videos, announced tour dates or public appearances or interviews by frontman Axl Rose.

Look for the charts to remain fairly static next week, as the only major new releases include a deluxe edition of the "Twilight" soundtrack and Gorilla Zoe's Don't Feed Da Animals.

• MTV News' Headlines Of The Day

• Kelly Clarkson
• Guns N' Roses
• U2
• Jamie Foxx
• The-Dream

Jay-Z
Photo: MTV News

If Jay-Z weren't his own boss, we probably would have gotten The Blueprint 3 a long time ago. Since Hov has been making the record without having to worry about any deadlines or quotas to meet, the long-anticipated project has been taking longer to concoct than even Jay himself wants.

Usually Hov takes a couple of weeks to knock out an album; if he records 15 or 16 songs, the best 13 or 14 go on the album. But B3 has been several months in the making, and a couple of dozen tracks are in the can already.

"I really don't, to be honest for you," Hov said at his "2 Kings" gathering in Arizona over the weekend, when asked about a release date for the album. "If I don't have any time constraints, I'll mess around, I'll never get it done. I'll be Axl Rose out here! It'll be 12 years later and we'll be talking about Chinese Democracy. I really like the [time constraints]. But whatever happens, [the album] may turn out better, 'cause it'll be done when it's right."

Kanye West — who has produced most if not all of the album's tracks so far — said he only needs to give four or so more beats for Jigga to work his blue magic over. (Kanye also explained the "Jockin' Jay-Z" sample.)

"I made a bunch of songs," Jay said. "We're gonna get in the studio and get down to what's supposed to be on the album and when. Right now, Kanye is making a new batch of music that's going to be phenomenal, and at the end of the day, when it's ready for the people, then we'll serve it up."

On Saturday, Jay was in Scottsdale hosting his third annual "2 Kings" dinner and afterparty, presented by Sprite Green. Cleveland Cavaliers star (and Hov's friend) LeBron James was the co-host for the mixer, which brought together executives from major corporations, rappers such as Young Jeezy and Busta Rhymes, athletes including Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Shaquille O'Neal and stars from other genres of entertainment like Spike Lee and Chris Tucker.

Jay told MTV News that James is one of the few people who've heard the in-progress Blueprint 3, and that he welcomes any criticism his NBA All-Star homie brings.

"He listens to lyrics so he picks up on things early," Jay said of James. "I welcome that from anyone. Anyone who makes it in the room, their opinion is valued. But him being my brother and all, he picks up on lyrics, so I'm always anxious to hear his opinions on what I'm making."

"He does the same thing to me," James offered about the constructive criticism Jay gives him about his game. "If I'm out there not getting enough rebounds, or missing too many free throws, he lets me know about it."

• Jay-Z
• Kanye West
• Guns N' Roses

Axl Rose
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ Getty Images

Axl Rose is breaking his silence. Needless to say, he more than made up for lost time.

In his first major interview in nine years, Rose came out firing to Billboard, taking aim at his record label, the rumors about him, and his former bandmates.

Through a series of e-mails, Rose took the efforts of the Universal Music Group (which owns Interscope Records, which released Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy album last year) to task, saying that their handling of the album was disorganized and less than ideal, and compared them to "friendly but otherwise cutthroat loan sharks."

"Unfortunately, I have no information for me to believe [that] there was any real involvement or effort from Interscope. I'm not saying there wasn't. But in my opinion, without [Interscope Geffen A&M chairman] Jimmy Iovine's involvement, it doesn't matter who anyone talks to or what they say — virtually nothing will happen from their end," Rose wrote. "I can say how the band feels, and that is ... they hate the record company — other than Universal International — with a passion. And that's with me talking with them about the record company negatively hardly ever, if at all. They're not blind — they hear the talk and see the results. Our involvement with Interscope has been more than frustrating for them."

Rose said that, despite his insistence, Interscope never submitted him a marketing plan for Chinese Democracy — which, to date has sold 537,000 copies in the U.S. (but more than 2.6 million worldwide) — and blamed them for early leaks of the Democracy liner notes and early shipping of album pre-orders through BestBuy.com

"We feel that, unfortunately, we've never been really anything all that much more other than a 'throw it at the wall, see if it sticks, no real ground work, something to take advantage of, last quarter, cook the books, write-off, f--- this headache, hoping to get lucky' scam. And, unfortunately, for all their nice words and assurances, nothing that's happened since the week or so before the release has shown us much of anything to the contrary," he wrote. "So at least in regard to the U.S., for the most part I don't look at it like we have a record company ... we were lucky to get what we got, but feel we could have done more if they were — at least, especially with some of their backgrounds — a bit more involved creatively. So in light of pirating and the mess the major labels are in, I have no sympathy for the record companies, based on our experiences in the U.S."

Rose also quashed Internet rumors that he has plans to release two more volumes of Chinese Democracy, writing, "We'd like to get another album out at some point, but for now, our focus is on Chinese," and said that while he has no firm plans to tour in support of the record, he is "finalizing" a video for the song "Better."

And as for any die-hards out there waiting for a reunion of the original GN'R lineup, well, Rose would advise them to stop holding their breath, because he has no intentions of ever reuniting with the core of his group — particularly guitarist Slash.

"I could see doing a song or so on the side with Izzy [Stradlin] or having him out [on tour] again. I'm not so comfortable with doing anything having more than one of the alumni," Rose wrote. "In regards to Slash ... what's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and, however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man. There are acts that, once committed between individuals, they are what they are. To add insult to injury almost day after day, lapsing into year after year, for more than a decade, is a nightmare. Anyone putting his own personal entertainment above everything else is sickening."

• Guns N' Roses

Lil Wayne
Photo: Ben Rose/ WireImage

The best thing about "Prom Queen," Lil Wayne's much-discussed foray into the world of rock, is probably the intro: 20 seconds of chugging minor chords and exploding guitar frippery that manages to sound a bit like an M1 Abrams crashing into a fireworks factory (it also sounds a little bit like Hum). It is a strangely accomplished and somewhat beguiling opening — you start to believe that perhaps Wayne can actually pull this off — but then he starts singing about underwear, and it's all downhill from there.

Actually, that's not entirely true (the bit about the intro being the best part, not the bit about it all being downhill from there). The best thing about "Prom Queen" is that it actually exists.

Because, while the song is kinda lousy, there's no denying the fact that Wayne made it — and fully intended on promoting it as the first single off his "rock" album, Rebirth before it leaked earlier this week. This is real. This is actually happening. And by its very existence, "Prom Queen" is so much more than most "rock" songs, because it reveals universal truths. It is proof positive of several things.

First and foremost, Lil Wayne is crazy. For months, he claimed that he was going to record an honest-to-goodness rock album, that he was seriously considering ditching rapping altogether. Nobody seemed to believe him when he said this, perhaps because nobody believed that anyone could deliberately derail such a successful career (or perhaps because they'd seen him "play" guitar). After all, Wayne had just come off a year in which he became (arguably) the biggest rap star on the planet. He sold a million albums in a week, landed eight Grammy nominations and shilled Nike and Gatorade. To throw this all away would be beyond crazy ... and yet, Wayne decided to do just that. "Prom Queen" is proof.

Secondly, Lil Wayne gets terrible career advice. Or he gets sound career advice, but chooses to ignore it. (The latter is probably the case.) I cannot imagine anyone telling Wayne that recording a rock album would be a good idea, and yet, he did it anyway. And this also could be explained by another truth: Wayne surrounds himself with people who don't tell him "no." And, judging by "Prom Queen," perhaps "no" is the most powerful word in the English language.

In a recent interview with Billboard, the two producers who worked on the song admitted that they too were thrown by just how rock "Prom Queen" is. And when they offered to add some organs to the track — which would, admittedly, probably make the thing about 50 percent better — he told them that he didn't want them on there. For whatever reason — it's Wayne's song, after all — "Prom Queen" is what it is.

Third, that Wayne does not let a perceived lack of talent stand in the way of realizing his dreams. It's not clear how much of "Prom Queen" he played himself, though judging by the skill he's shown on the guitar to this point, I'd say it's probably somewhere in between "none" and "one bar, but only because the producers accidentally hit record while Wayne was wooshing his fingers up and down the fretboard like a hyperactive 3-year-old, and everyone was too baked to delete it later." I don't think any of that actually matters, though — Wayne the Rock Star is basically the same as Wayne the Rap Star: deceptively gifted, yet dangerously determined.

And finally — after considering all these things — Wayne is the most interesting rock star in the world. By a mile. In fact, here's an even better one: He is Axl Rose. It's not that great of a leap. Both could kindly be described as "eccentric" (or full-blown batsh--). Both promised (threatened?) to release ill-advised vanity projects, neither listening to the doubters who sniggered that it would never happen and the advisers who said it would be a terrible idea. To extend the comparison, Wayne's Rebirth is basically Rose's Chinese Democracy, minus 15 years and millions of dollars. ("Prom Queen" actually sounds like one of the more industrial tracks on Democracy.) It will probably garner the same reception, both critically and commercially.

Like Wayne, it's fairly obvious — given Democracy's epic time in the oven and its uneven marketing scheme — that no one ever told Rose "no," either. Or if they did, he certainly didn't listen (or he fired them). The only difference between the two seems to be talent. I will begrudgingly admit that, when it comes to singing, Weezy F. Baby is no W. Axl Rose. But it's 2009. Auto-Tune is everywhere. Since when does singing matter, anyway?

All of this might be complete nonsense. Rebirth might never see the light of day (actually, given Wayne's track record with release dates, this seems very possible). But "Prom Queen" exists. This cannot be denied. And that existence is meaningful. Take a look at this week's Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The top five features songs by Shinedown, Disturbed, Nickelback, Mudvayne and Seether. It is probably the most depressing list in history. None of these songs make you feel anything ... they reveal no truths (except Nickelback's "Something In Your Mouth," which affirms that, yes, you would look better with something in your mouth). And that's why Wayne's song is better than each of them. Not, you know, musically; universal truth-ily. And that's important. Axl would be proud. Or jealous.

Questions? Concerns? Hit me up at BTTS@MTVStaff.com.

• Lil Wayne
• Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses' Axl Rose
Photo: Jeff Kravitz/ FilmMagic.com

You might not see him on the late-night talk shows or the covers of major magazines or hear him sitting in with the morning-zoo show in your hometown, but that doesn't mean Guns N' Roses leader Axl Rose isn't reaching out to fans.

The typically reclusive singer — who is the only remaining original member of GN'R — has done little to no promotion for his band's 13-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy album, but over the past few days, he's been a staple on the message boards of several GN'R forums. On Sunday, he penned a 4,300-word open letter to fans in which he tried to clear up many of what he called the misconceptions and outright lies about his band and the album, which, despite the hype, has been quickly sliding down the charts after a worse-than-expected opening bow.

The sudden chattiness began Friday, when Rose popped into the "MyGNRForum" and mixed it up with fans. Some took him to task for being a hermit, even as he explained why he's often late for his shows (apparently he's a lifelong night owl) and wished the best for troubled former GN'R drummer and "Celebrity Rehab" castmember Steven Adler. He also mentioned that a video for the song "Better" was slated for release any day now.

Rose then hit the boards again Saturday, talking about an in-process autobiography/ legal record of the original band's breakup and the possibility that he would reunite with the original GN'R lineup for a charity concert, as long as the cause was right.

But it was his expansive letter on Sunday that really got Guns boards buzzing. After vehemently denying that he tried to pull a fast one by securing the Guns name for himself, explaining that it was a legal maneuver to protect the band and himself from the group's then-manager, Rose asked, "Why keep the name" considering all the other original members are gone?

"I'm literally the last man standing. Not bragging, not proud," he wrote. "It's been a f---ing nightmare, but I didn't leave Guns and I didn't drive others out. ... I earned the right to protect my efforts and to be able to take advantage of our contract I'd worked hard for where Slash's exact words were that he didn't care."

Rose wrote that he understood some fans favor a particular lineup of the band, but even with all new players onboard, he was adamant that Chinese Democracy is not a solo album. "A solo record would be completely different than this and probably much more instrumental," he explained. "I made a Guns record with the right people who were the only people who really wanted to help me try, were qualified and capable while enduring the public abuse for years. The songs were chosen by everyone involved. ... There's been a lot of pressure to go with using my name (all external), but that never felt right to me for this band, and the parameters in regard to this music have lots more to do with the mind set of Guns than something else.

"As far as a new name ... this is who I am, not whatever else someone else thinks of. I don't see myself as solely Guns, but I do see myself as the only one from the past making the effort to take it forward whether anyone approves or not and giving beyond what many would."

In fact, Rose wrote, retaining the name helped him keep pushing forward with the album, regardless of what anyone else thought or the reportedly astronomical $13 million-plus budget. And despite years of recording, an army of players and producers and what has been described as endless tinkering, Rose said the state of perfection he was looking for literally didn't happen until the "last round of mastering and swapping out a version of a track at the pressing plant that had gotten inadvertently changed at the last minute. Also, the name was what the industry wanted as well and the burden of keeping it was something to endure in order to make the record."

Rose frequently came back to what sounds like a wide array of legal battles that he suggested constantly delayed the album's release. But in the end, he said, he's made peace with the fact that some people will never think of the current lineup as the "real" GN'R. In fact, he admitted that even he refers to the current band as "Guns" and the classic Use Your Illusion roster as "Old Guns."

"They are amazingly supportive and do their best to keep me in up spirits and focused, which I had less and less of in Guns way before 'Sweet Child' caught on," he said of the current lineup. "If that were to change, then that may be something to look at. I hope for us to grow more together as we continue, so who knows. If I hadn't secured the rights, I don't know where I'd be, and I'd probably call what would then be the current lineup 'Those motherf---ers!!'

"The name is something I take great pride in, as I feel anyone who's been a part of it should, the same as other bands or teams etc.," he continued. "The burden when it is such is a nightmare but not as much or as hopeless as I'd imagine without it could have been. ... Having the name kicks your ass every night, as it's not some side project or something u can f--- off in. You don't deliver u get your ass handed to u. So it makes us work much harder than I feel we would outside of it and it hasn't been too ugly yet."

As for why the original band broke up, Rose portrayed his role as "goin' down with the ship," in the sense that he knew it was over before the band toured in support of their final original studio album, the two-part Use Your Illusion. But he held on until the end, he wrote, when the other members "felt for whatever reasons they either couldn't or wouldn't give what Guns required." He also disputed long-simmering claims that part of the reason the group fell apart was because he changed up the band's hard-rock style. At one point he claimed that Slash "hated a good portion" of the songs on the band's landmark 1987 debut, Appetite for Destruction, and that things between the onetime good friends began deteriorating not long after GN'R started touring in support of the debut.

"The music changed after Slash and I parted so the direction was where I took Guns not where I had intended or tried to go previously," he said. "It had a lot to do with not finding or knowing a more blues-based player that I found inspiring and I was really knocked down and beat up. ... I wasn't doing what was written so often about chasing fads, etc."

Finally, after all the rancor, the dredging-up of old wounds that are clearly still fresh (including Axl's apparent ire about the use of "Welcome to the Jungle" on "Guitar Hero"), the last man standing thanks his fans and wishes them happy holidays — until the next time he decides to open up a vein and let it bleed.

• Axl Rose
• Guns N' Roses

OK, "Chinese Democracy": nos sentamos tranquilitos una década a ver qué pasaba, salió y nos pareció un álbum genial. Rockea hasta los huesos. Sin embargo, no resultó en un boom de ventas a lo loco ni nada por el estilo. Muchos culpan a Axl por negarse a ser entrevistado o a salir de promoción. Entonces, ¿dónde está el líder gunner y la última gran estrella de rock de la historia del rock? Fácil: está online.

En un foro de fans de la banda, mygnr.com, lord William Bailey entró y le respondió a un seguidor algo agresivo: "Podríamos empezar aquí. Eres un pequeño m***da y desde que estás haciendo posts parece que siempre has sido un pequeño m***da. Las acusaciones ciegas y anónimas de un lloroncito no impresionan ni se necesitan. Todos los demás, hablen con el administrador. ¿Quién quiere chatear?" ¡Tremendo!

Después, detuvo su camión y habló de varias cosas. Entre ellas, hacer esperar a sus devotos en un show hasta después de la medianoche: "Siempre fui un tipo nocturno. Con los viejos Guns, preferíamos tocar después de las 12. Ahí me siento mejor."

Sobre la falta de promoción del disco, Axl le echó la culpa a malas negociaciones de contrato, pero prometió un video para el tema "Better".

¿Qué pasa con Axl? ¿Qué les parece?

¡Hablen rockeros!

• Guns N' Roses

MTV News' Year In Photos: Britney, Heath, Twilight, More

• Beyoncé
• Jay-Z
• Mariah Carey
• Nick Cannon
• David Archuleta

Warning: These Album Covers May Contain Explicit Content

• The Beatles
• The Mamas & The Papas
• Moby Grape
• Jimi Hendrix
• John Lennon

The Week In Pictures For December 22, 2006

• My Chemical Romance
• Diddy
• Guns N' Roses
• Good Charlotte
• Avenged Sevenfold

KROQ's Inland Invasion: Devore, CA, September 23, 2006

• 30 Seconds To Mars
• Guns N' Roses
• Alice in Chains
• Atreyu
• Buckcherry

Outrageous Moments

• Kelly Clarkson
• Madonna
• Britney Spears
• blink-182
• Michael Jackson

Camp Freddy Rock Times Square

• Dave Navarro
• Lindsay Lohan
• Scott Weiland
• Guns N' Roses
• Velvet Revolver

46th Annual Grammy Awards Green Carpet

• Beyoncé
• Christina Aguilera
• 50 Cent
• G-Unit
• Justin Timberlake

Guns N' Roses 2002 VMA Performance

• Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses Live In Tacoma, WA, 11.08.2002

• Guns N' Roses

2002 VMA Top Moments

• Eminem
• TLC
• Guns N' Roses
• Diddy
• *NSYNC