Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has been missing for two
months.
The eccentric rocker has infuriated bosses at record label
Geffen after disappearing without promoting the band's long-awaited
Chinese Democracy album, which was released last week 15
years after the last Guns N' Roses LP.
A source told Britain's The Sun newspaper: People have
been trying to contact Axl for two months and he's completely AWOL
[Absent Without Leave]. It is frustrating because the album would have had a much better
chance of going to number one if he had only been prepared to show
his face. You would have thought after spending all those years on an
album you might do a few weeks of promotion. Everyone knows Axl is a bit of a maverick genius and won't do
anything he doesn't want to."
Chinese Democracy was beaten to the number one spot in
the UK album charts by The Killers' Day and Age, which
sold 200,000 copies nearly twice as many as Axl's record, which is
rumoured to have cost $13 million, making it the most expensive
ever album.
It has been claimed Axl's disappearance could be due to him
entering into secret talks to reform the classic line-up of the
band. Former guitarist and songwriter Izzy Stradlin has performed as a
guest star with the band at shows in 2004 and 2006, and ex-lead
guitarist Slash has admitted he likes Chinese
Democracy. The fate of Slash's new band Velvet Revolver hangs in the
balance after they were dropped from their record label.
First week US sales of Chinese Democracy are estimated
at between 300,000 and 500,000 copies. It is expected to chart at
number two behind Kanye West's 808s and Heartbreak. So far, Chinese Democracy has only gone to number one
in Brazil and Finland.
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