Axl Rose has dominated music headlines in recent weeks after fans got a whiff of a reunion, and when news broke that Guns N’ Roses will be headlining the Coachella Music and Arts Festival this year, a renewed interest in all things G N’ R took over the Web. Now, however, fans are worried that something is up after Rose canceled his appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live and no explanation was given.
The appearance was reportedly supposed to be full of announcements regarding the festival and an upcoming tour which would reunite Axl with longtime G N’ R guitarist Slash, but Rose backed out on Monday.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, unfortunately Axl is no longer scheduled to be on Kimmel tomorrow,” a source on the show said.
Even Jimmy Kimmel wasn’t in on the reasons behind the cancelation, and broke the news to his audience that Axl wouldn’t be showing up on Tuesday.
“Axl Rose was supposed to be here tomorrow, but he will not be here tomorrow…for reasons known only to Axl Rose. Or maybe he will be here…maybe he’s just trying to keep us guessing,” Kimmel said.
There has been talk of a G N’ R tour for some time now, with rumors flying that Rose and Slash were feuding and wouldn’t be reuniting. According to the band’s former manager, Doug Goldstein, Slash left the band in 1996 but the tension began in ’91, when the guitarist was offered the chance to work with Michael Jackson. Rose, who was allegedly sexually abused as a child, was opposed to the idea due to the many charges leveled at Jackson at the time.
“I told him not to do it because Axl was molested by his father when he was two and he believed the charges against Michael Jackson…he was devastated. He thought that Slash would support it and would be against all the abuse. From the point of view of Axl, that was the only problem. He could ignore the drugs and alcohol…but could never ignore child abuse,” Goldstein said.
As of now it’s still unclear what Axl Rose’s no-show might mean for the announcements and Coachella, but fans are anxiously awaiting an answer.