Age, Biography, and Wiki
Full Name: William Bruce Rose Jr.
Born: February 6, 1962 (age 63 as of 2025)
Origin: Lafayette, Indiana, USA
Axl Rose is hailed as one of the most distinctive and influential rock vocalists of all time. He is best known as the lead singer and founding member of Guns N’ Roses, formed in Los Angeles in 1985. Rose’s unique vocal style and magnetic stage presence have cemented his place in rock history. Over the decades, he has led the band through explosive success with albums like Appetite for Destruction (1987) and the ambitious Use Your Illusion double albums (1991), both of which achieved multi-platinum status.
| Occupation | Metal Singer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | February 6, 1962 |
| Age | 63 Years |
| Birth Place | Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. |
| Horoscope | |
| Country | India |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 5' 9" (175 cm)
- Weight: ~170 lbs (77 kg)
- Eye Color: Blue
(Note: Official measurements are not frequently updated. These are widely cited estimates.)
| Height | 175 cm |
| Weight | 170 lbs |
| Body Measurements | |
| Eye Color | |
| Hair Color |
Dating & Relationship Status
Axl Rose has maintained a relatively private personal life compared to other rock stars. Over the years, he has been linked to several high-profile relationships, including actress Stephanie Seymour and model Erin Everly. As of 2025, there is no confirmed public information about a current spouse or long-term partner.
in Lafayette, Indiana, the oldest child of Sharon Elizabeth (née Lintner), then 16 years old and still in high school, and William Bruce Rose, then 20 years old. His father has been described as "a troubled and charismatic local delinquent," and the pregnancy was unplanned. His parents separated when Rose was approximately two years old, prompting his father to abduct and allegedly molest him before disappearing from Lafayette. His mother then married Stephen L. Bailey and changed her son's name to William Bruce Bailey. He has two younger siblings—a sister, Amy, and a half-brother, Stuart. (Stuart Bailey would go on to play guitar in several L.A. area bands in the early 90s (Dr. Whiskey, the Assassins) as well as work as a musical supervisor in Hollywood.)
As young children, both Rose and his siblings were regularly beaten. Until the age of 17, Rose believed Bailey was his natural father. He never met his biological father as an adult; William Rose Sr. was murdered in Marion, Illinois, in 1984 by a criminal acquaintance who was convicted. Rose did not learn about the murder until years later.
At the age of 17, while going through insurance papers in his parents' home, Rose learned of his biological father's existence, and he unofficially readopted his birth name. However, he referred to himself only as W. Rose, because he did not want to share a first name with his biological father. Following the discovery of his true family origins, Rose became a local juvenile delinquent in Lafayette; he was arrested more than twenty times on charges such as public intoxication and battery, and served jail terms up to three months. After Lafayette authorities threatened to charge him as a habitual criminal, Rose moved to Los Angeles, California, in December 1982. After moving to Los Angeles, he became so engrossed in his band AXL that his friends suggested he call himself Axl Rose. He legally changed his name to W. Axl Rose prior to signing his contract with Geffen Records in March 1986.
In July 1987, Guns N' Roses released their debut album Appetite for Destruction. Although the record received critical acclaim, it experienced a modest commercial start, selling as many as 500,000 copies in its first year of release. However, fueled by the band's relentless touring and the mainstream success of the single "Sweet Child o' Mine"—Rose's tribute to his then-girlfriend Erin Everly—the album rose to the No.1 position. To date, Appetite for Destruction has sold over 30 million copies worldwide, 18 million of which sold in the United States, making it the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S. During the band's performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in Castle Donington, England, in August 1988, two fans were crushed to death when many in the crowd of 107,000 began slam-dancing to "It's So Easy". Rose had halted the show several times to calm the audience. From then on, he became known for personally addressing disruptive fans and giving instructions to security personnel from the stage, at times stopping concerts to deal with issues in the crowd. In 1992, Rose stated, "Most performers would go to a security person in their organization, and it would just be done very quietly. I'll confront the person, stop the song: 'Guess what: You wasted your money, you get to leave.'" As a result of the deaths at Monsters of Rock, the festival was canceled the following year.
In November 1988, Guns N' Roses released the stopgap album G N' R Lies, which sold more than five million copies in the U.S. alone. The band – and Rose in particular – were accused of promoting racist and homophobic attitudes with the song "One in a Million", in which Rose warns "niggers" to "get out of my way" and complains about "faggots" who "spread some fucking disease". During the controversy, Rose defended his use of the racial slur by claiming, "it's a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem. The word nigger doesn't necessarily mean black." In 1992, however, he conceded that the song reflected his initial and impressionable perspective when he first arrived in Los Angeles in his late teens, where he experienced culture shock to a lifestyle very much different from the conservative town he grew up in. Rose stated "I was pissed off about some black people [who] were trying to rob me. I wanted to insult those particular black people. I didn't want to support racism." In response to the allegations of homophobia, Rose said he considered himself "pro-heterosexual" but is "not against [homosexuals] doing what they want to do as long as it's not hurting anybody else and they're not forcing it upon [him]". He blamed this attitude on "bad experiences" with gay men, citing an attempted rape in his late teens and the alleged molestation by his biological father. The controversy led to Guns N' Roses being dropped from the roster of an AIDS benefit show in New York organized by the Gay Men's Health Crisis. With the success of Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies, Rose found himself lauded as one of rock's most prominent frontmen. By the time he appeared solo on the cover of Rolling Stone in August 1989, his celebrity was such that the influential music magazine agreed to his absolute requirement that the interview and accompanying photographs would be provided by two of his friends, writer Del James and photographer Robert John. MTV anchorman Kurt Loder described Rose as "maybe the finest hard rock singer currently on the scene, and certainly the most charismatic".
Guns N' Roses played its final show of the Use Your Illusion Tour on July 17, 1993, at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires; it proved to be Rose's last live performance with the band for seven and a half years. The following August, Rose testified in court against Steven Adler, who had filed a lawsuit contending that he had been illegitimately fired. When the judge ruled against Rose, he agreed to an out-of-court settlement of $2,500,000 and 15% of the royalties for everything Adler recorded prior to his departure. In November of that year, Guns N' Roses released "The Spaghetti Incident?", a cover album of mostly punk songs, which proved less successful than its predecessors. Rose had included the hidden track "Look at Your Game, Girl", a song written by convicted murderer Charles Manson, which he intended as a personal message to his ex-girlfriend Stephanie Seymour. Controversy ensued, and the band subsequently pledged to donate any royalties to the son of one of Manson's victims.
In the early 1990s, Rose became a staunch believer in homeopathic medicine, and began regularly undergoing past life regression therapy. He went public with his "uncovered memories" of being sexually abused by his biological father at the age of two, which he said had stunted his emotional growth: "When they talk about Axl Rose being a screaming two-year-old, they're right." His dislike of touring was caused in part by the various illnesses he contracted over time. He expressed his belief that these health problems were caused by him unconsciously lowering his own resistance as a form of "self-punishment". During the recordings of Chinese Democracy, Rose had a personal psychic who would look at photographs of potential employees to "read the auras" and decide if they should be hired.
In early 1986, Rose began a relationship with Erin Everly, the daughter of singer Don Everly of the Everly Brothers. He wrote the song "Sweet Child o' Mine" for her, and Everly appeared in the accompanying music video. Rose and Everly were married on April 28, 1990, in Las Vegas. Less than a month later, Rose first filed for divorce. The couple later reconciled, during which Everly became pregnant. The couple picked out baby names, Shiloh Blue if a boy, and Willow Amelia if a girl. She suffered a miscarriage in October 1990, which deeply affected Rose, who had wanted to start a family. Everly left Rose in November after an altercation; they annulled their marriage in January 1991.
In mid-1991, Rose became involved in a tumultuous high-profile relationship with supermodel Stephanie Seymour. During their relationship, Seymour appeared in the music videos for "Don't Cry" and "November Rain". Rose became deeply attached to Seymour's young son, Dylan, and tried to be a good father figure for the child, as there had been none in his own life. Seymour and Rose became engaged in February 1993, but separated three weeks later.
In 2024, Rhoades came forward with more details, claiming that she was in a relationship with Rose when he was 23 and she was 15 and miscarried their child, and when going to discuss this with him caught him sleeping with another woman in an outhouse outside the studio. Rhoades claimed that when returning to the studio to get her purse, Rose ripped off her dress and a roadie stole it. She claims Rose then proceeded to tie her in bondage and allowed others to assault her sexually then proceeded to rape her before she left completely nude. Her mother's boyfriend, who ran a nearby studio, confirmed in 2019 that he picked her up, got her dressed, and took her back to her mother's house afterwards. Rhoades claimed that despite telling her mother's boyfriend not to tell anyone, she discovered what happened and called the police. According to Rhoades, Duff McKagan and several other members of the band begged her to drop the charges, with McKagan allegedly saying "we know there's something wrong with him and we promise he'll get mental health and that he's not going to hurt any more girls." Rhoades decided not to pursue the charges after dealing with mental anguish related to the incident and claiming Rose "profusely apologized" to her.
After separating in 1993, Rose sued Stephanie Seymour, claiming she had assaulted him at a 1992 Christmas Party. Seymour filed a counter-suit claiming assault and battery by Rose. Both lawsuits were eventually settled out of court. In 1994, Rose's ex-wife Erin Everly filed a suit accusing Rose of physical and emotional abuse throughout their relationship. The lawsuit was also settled out of court.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Erin Everly (m. 1990-1991) |
| Sibling | |
| Children |
Net Worth and Salary
Estimated Net Worth (2025): $200 Million
Axl Rose’s net worth is primarily derived from his monumental success with Guns N’ Roses. The band’s debut album Appetite for Destruction sold over 30 million copies worldwide, while the Use Your Illusion albums collectively sold 35 million copies. The “Not in This Lifetime... Tour” (2016–2019), featuring a partial reunion of original members, grossed over $584 million, making it one of the highest-grossing tours in history.
Rose was arrested in Sweden in June 2006 for biting a security guard in the leg. The guard had confronted Rose who was arguing with a woman in a hotel lobby. Rose was deemed too intoxicated to be questioned right away by police. He was fined $5,500 for the incident as well as ordered to pay $1,360 in damages to the guard.
Career, Business, and Investments
Career Highlights:
- Guns N’ Roses: Lead vocals, co-founder (1985–present)
- Appetite for Destruction (1987)
- Use Your Illusion I & II (1991)
- Chinese Democracy (2008)
- Tours: Not in This Lifetime Tour (2016–2019), ongoing reunion tours
- Collaborations: Rumored to join AC/DC for North American tours (2025)
Shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles, Rose met guitarist Kevin Lawrence outside The Troubadour in West Hollywood in March 1983 and joined his band Rapidfire. They recorded a five-song demo in May 1983 at Telstar Studios in Burbank, which, after years of legal action, was released as an EP, Ready to Rumble, in 2014. After parting ways with Lawrence, he formed the band Hollywood Rose with his childhood friend Izzy Stradlin, who had moved to Los Angeles in 1980, and 16-year-old guitarist Chris Weber. In January 1984, the band recorded a five-song demo featuring the tracks "Anything Goes", "Rocker", "Shadow of Your Love", and "Reckless Life", which was released in 2004 as The Roots of Guns N' Roses. Guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler, future members of Guns N' Roses, joined Hollywood Rose before the band's dissolution. Rose then joined L.A. Guns. While struggling to make an impact on the Hollywood music scene, Rose held down a variety of jobs, including the position of night manager at the Tower Records/Video location on Sunset Boulevard. Rose and Stradlin also smoked cigarettes for a scientific study at UCLA for the reported wages of $8 per hour.
Fifteen years after its last album, in November 2008, Guns N' Roses released Chinese Democracy exclusively via the electronics retailer Best Buy. Rose did not contribute to the album's promotion; by December, he had reportedly been missing for at least two months and had not returned phone calls or other requests from his record label. In a subsequent interview, Rose said he felt he had not received the necessary support from Interscope Records. A year after the album's release, in December 2009, Guns N' Roses embarked on another two-and-a-half years of touring, including a headlining performance at Rock in Rio 4.
On November 22, 2023, Rose was sued by former Penthouse Pet, model, and actress Sheila Kennedy, who claimed he sexually assaulted her in his hotel room after meeting him in a New York nightclub in 1989. The suit was filed in New York under the Adult Survivors Act, state legislation which gives sexual assault victims the ability to sue their alleged abusers even if the statute of limitations has expired, just two days before the filing period closed. Kennedy previously mentioned being assaulted by Rose in her 2016 memoir No One's Pet and in the 2021 documentary Look Away, which covered women who claimed to be sexually abused in the music industry. Rose's attorney said the claim is "fictional" and that Rose has no recollection of ever meeting or spending time with Kennedy. On February 21, 2024, Rose and his legal team filed to dismiss the lawsuit. The lawsuit was privately settled with prejudice in December 2024, with Rose stating "As I have said from the beginning, I deny the allegations. There was no assault.
In 2004, Rose unsuccessfully sued to prevent the release of The Roots of Guns N' Roses, featuring early recordings from his band Hollywood Rose. Later that year, Rose was joined by former bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan in unsuccessfully suing to prevent the release of Greatest Hits. Slash and McKagan then sued Rose over publishing and songwriting credits in 2006, which Rose claimed were due to a clerical error when switching publishers. In 2010, Rose was sued by a rental company after returning a leased car "severely damaged' and failed to make payments in 2005.
In 2010, former band manager Irving Azoff sued Rose, seeking $1.87 million in unpaid fees related to touring. In a counter-suit, Rose alleged Azoff had deliberately mismanaged the band and sabotaged their record sales to force him to join his former bandmates for a reunion tour. Both cases were settled. According to Rose in 2011, part of the settlement agreement dictated that Rose and the current Guns N' Roses had to do a number of performances with Azoff's company Live Nation as the promoter. Azoff denied he had pressured Rose to reunite with former bandmates in a 2016 interview.
Social Network
Axl Rose maintains a relatively low profile on social media. He does not have official, highly active accounts on major platforms, preferring to keep his private life separate from his public persona. Fans often find updates through official Guns N’ Roses channels and reputable news outlets.
Born and raised in Lafayette, Indiana, Rose moved to Los Angeles, California, in the early 1980s, where he became active in the local hard rock scene and joined several bands, including Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns. In 1985, he co-founded Guns N' Roses, with whom he had great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Their first album, Appetite for Destruction (1987), has sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide and is the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S. with 18 million units sold. Rose's high-profile relationships with Erin Everly and Stephanie Seymour in the late 1980s and early '90s inspired multiple songs, including the number one hit "Sweet Child o' Mine". However allegations of abuse by Rose caused significant controversy, as did the band's next release G N' R Lies (1988) due to his inclusion of multiple slurs on the song "One in a Million".
In March 1985, encouraged by their manager Raz Cue, Rose and his former L.A. Guns bandmate Tracii Guns formed Guns N' Roses by merging their respective bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns with Stradlin, drummer Rob Gardner and bassist Ole Beich. By June, after several lineup changes, the band consisted of Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The lineup debuted at The Troubadour and proceeded to play the L.A. club circuit, eventually building a devoted fan following. The band attracted the attention of several major record labels, before signing with Geffen Records in March 1986. The following December, they released the four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide on the Geffen imprint UZI Suicide.
In September 1991, with enough material completed for two albums, Guns N' Roses released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, which debuted at No.2 and No.1 respectively on the Billboard 200, a feat not achieved by any other group. By the albums' release, however, Rose's relationships with his bandmates had become increasingly strained. His childhood friend Izzy Stradlin abruptly left the group in November 1991; he was replaced by Gilby Clarke of Kill For Thrills. Of his reasons for leaving, Stradlin said, "I didn't like the complications that became such a part of daily life in Guns N' Roses," citing the riot and Rose's chronic lateness as examples, as well as his new-found sobriety making it difficult to be around other bandmates' continued alcohol and substance abuse. On April 20, 1992, Rose performed with Elton John at The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium singing "Bohemian Rhapsody" as a duet with John and also sang "We Will Rock You".
In 2023, Rose and the band would release the two singles "Perhaps" and "The General", the latter having a music video uploaded to YouTube on January 24. In addition, they performed live in Indio, California on October as part of the 2023 tour . The band continued touring in 2025.
Rose has used Twitter to criticize various figures in the Trump administration, as well as other figures such as Apple CEO Tim Cook. On May 7, 2020, he used Twitter to criticize Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin for the Trump administration's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, to which Mnuchin responded.
Rose and Slash were charged with felony statutory rape in 1985 after Rose allegedly had sex with 15-year-old Michelle Rhoades. They argued and the girl left the house while she was still naked. Slash wrote in his book about an unnamed woman that "had sex with Axl up in the loft", then "freaked out intensely" and he tried to get her to leave. The band kept a low profile and Rose and Slash went into hiding for several months to avoid the police, Slash stated "The truth was Axl definitely had sex with the girl but it been consensual and no one had raped her." Rose recalled the events, stating "This hippy chick wandered in and started fucking with our equipment trying to break stuff. So eventually she wound up running down Sunset naked, all dingy, and didn't even know her own name." The charges against them were dropped due to lack of evidence.
Education
Axl Rose attended Lafayette Jefferson High School in Indiana. He eventually moved to Los Angeles to pursue a music career, which led to the formation of Guns N’ Roses. There is no record of higher education or formal music training beyond his early experiences playing in bands during his youth.
The Bailey household was very religious; Rose and his family attended a Pentecostal church, where he was required to attend services three to eight times per week and even taught Sunday school. Rose later recalled an oppressive upbringing, stating, "We'd have televisions one week, then my stepdad would throw them out because they were Satanic. I wasn't allowed to listen to music. Women were evil. Everything was evil." He accused his stepfather of physically abusing him and his siblings and sexually abusing his sister. Rose found solace in music from an early age. He sang in the church choir from the age of five, and performed at services with his brother and sister under the name the Bailey Trio. At Jefferson High School, he participated in the school chorus and studied piano. A second baritone, Rose began developing "different voices" during chorus practice to confuse his teacher. He eventually formed a band with his friends, one of whom was Jeff Isbell, later known as Izzy Stradlin. He also befriended a girl called Anna Hoon, who would later introduce him to her younger brother, Shannon, front man for Blind Melon.
Another riot occurred in August 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, during a co-headlining tour with Metallica. Prior to Guns N' Roses' appearance, Metallica's set was cut short after singer-guitarist James Hetfield suffered second-degree burns in a pyrotechnics accident. However, Guns N' Roses was unable to go on stage early, because Rose once again was late arriving at the venue. Nearly an hour into their show, Rose complained of voice problems before walking off stage, following which a riot erupted in downtown Montreal, resulting in an estimated $400,000 in damages. In November of that year, Rose was convicted of property damage and assault in relation to the Riverport riot; he was fined $50,000 and received two years' probation.
During Rose's late teens, a psychiatrist concluded that his delinquent behavior was evidence of psychosis. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. In addition, the psychiatrist made note of his high IQ. In a subsequent interview, Rose questioned the diagnosis altogether: "I went to a clinic, thinking it would help my moods. The only thing I did was take one 500-question test—ya know, filling in the little black dots. All of a sudden I'm diagnosed manic-depressive. 'Let's put Axl on medication.' Well, the medication doesn't help me deal with stress. The only thing it does is help keep people off my back because they figure I'm on medication." In contrast to his public image, Rose was not a heavy drug user, though he did not disavow the use of illicit substances entirely and occasionally dabbled. Rose intentionally overdosed on painkillers in 1986 due to stress, stating: "I couldn't take it. And I just grabbed the bottle of pills in an argument and just gulped them down and I ended up in the hospital." Rose's experience at the hospital inspired the lyrics to the Guns N' Roses song "Coma".
In response to an informal study that named him the 'World's Greatest Singer" based on a study of vocal ranges, Rose told Spin in 2014, "If I had to say who I thought the best singers were, I'd say first that I don't know there's a definitive answer as in my opinion it's subjective, and second that my focus is primarily rock singers. That said, I enjoy Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley, Paul McCartney, Dan McCafferty, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Roger Daltrey, Don Henley, Jeff Lynne, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Scott, Etta James, Fiona Apple, Chrissie Hynde, Stevie Wonder, James Brown and a ton of others (predominantly Seventies rock singers) and would rather hear any of them anytime rather than me!" Rose later cited Queen as his favorite band, and Mercury as his favorite singer.
Summary
Axl Rose, now 63, remains a towering figure in rock music, with a net worth of $200 million in 2025. His remarkable career, driven by legendary performances and chart-topping albums, continues to inspire fans worldwide. Despite his fame, Rose values privacy, maintaining a lifestyle that balances luxury with discretion.
