Guns N’ Roses released ‘Use Your Illusion I’ and ‘Use Your Illusion II’ in 1991. With the success of the albums came a lot of noise and drug use in the band, especially during their support tour.
The band became famous for being hours late to shows and fighting with fans during that time. What later came to light was that Axl Rose was sued for harassment by two women. In 1992, Rose opened up to Rolling Stone about his past and the abuse he suffered. The singer explained:
“Basically, I’ve been rejected by my mother since I was a baby. She’s picked my stepfather over me ever since he was around and watched me get beaten by him. I’ve been hell on the women in my life, and the women in my life have been hell on me.”
He continued:
“[My] mom’s pregnancy wasn’t a welcome thing. My mom got a lot of problems out of it, and I was aware of those problems. That would tend to make you real f*cking insecure about how the world felt about your ass.”
Rose has not only been abused and pressured by his stepfather, but he has also grown up on a lie. Rose’s birth father left him and his mother. When his mother remarried, she changed Axl’s surname, so the singer believed that his mother’s husband was his real father.
So when Axl let people into his life with the Rolling Stone interview, he revealed to USA TODAY in 2012 that he expected a different outcome regarding how everyone viewed him. He said:
“When I talked to Rolling Stone about it, I thought people would take a harder look at my stepdad. Instead, they came down harder on me. That’s still confusing to me. But surviving at any level is good. I’m a lot better than a lot of people predicted. They were rooting for the opposite. There were things on the Internet about how I’d be found dead. I had a very dark attitude.”
The negativity on the Internet was harsh for the singer; however he also discussed how his psychological issues got better with time by adding:
“I worked out a lot of them. It was strange to get successful and lose almost your entire family. Then you end up with daytime TV talk shows. All of a sudden, things considered horrific when I was growing up were so what? You were abused? Who cares? There should be more of a public acknowledgment of reality.”
You can read Axl Rose’s 1992 interview with Rolling Stone here and his 2012 interview with USA TODAY here.
