Axl Rose

Axl Rose
Rose was born William Bruce Rose, Jr. in Lafayette, Indiana, the oldest child of Sharon E. (née Lintner), then 16 years old, and William Bruce Rose, then 20 years old.[3][4] When Rose was two years old, his father abandoned the family.[5] His mother remarried to Stephen L. Bailey, and his name was changed to William Bruce Bailey.[4][6] He has two younger siblings—a sister, Amy, and ahalf-brother, Stuart.[7][8] Until the age of 17, Rose believed that Bailey was his real father.[5] He never met his biological father as an adult; William Rose, Sr. was found murdered in Illinois in 1984.[9]
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 Sundayschool.[10] Rose later described his upbringing as oppressive, 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."[10] In 1992, after undergoing past life regression therapy, Rose claimed he had uncovered memories of being sexually abused by his biological father at the age oftwo.[4][5][11] He also stated that his stepfather had physically abused him and his siblings, as well as sexually abused his sister.[4][5] 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.[12] At Jefferson High School, he participated in the school chorus and studiedpiano.[13] A second baritone,[14] Rose began developing "different voices" during chorus practice to confuse his teacher.[12][14][15] He eventually formed a band with his friends, one of whom was Jeff Isbell, later known as Izzy Stradlin.[16]
At the age of 17, while going through insurance papers in his parents' home, Rose learned of his biological father's existence, and he unofficiallyreadopted his birth name.[5][6] However, he referred to himself only as W. Rose, because he did not want to share a first name with his biological father.[5][6] (Four years later, after moving to Los Angeles, he became so engrossed in his band AXL that his friends suggested he call himself Axl Rose;[6][17] he legally changed his name to W. Axl Rose prior to signing his contract with Geffen Records inMarch 1986.[14][18][19]) Following the discovery of his true family origins, Rose became the local juvenile delinquent in Lafayette; he was arrested over 20 times on charges such as public intoxication and battery, and served as long as three months in jail.[6][19] After Lafayette authorities threatened to charge him as a habitual criminal,[13] Rose moved to Los Angeles, California in December1982.[19]

In mid-1982, Rose began dating fellow Lafayette, Indiana native Gina Siler, with whom he moved to Los Angeles, California in December of that year. According to Siler, the couple was engaged to be married "about nine times," before separating in late 1985. In 1991, Siler described their former relationship as volatile, comparing the years they lived together to "putting a nuclear warhead inyour living room and hitting it with a hammer and just waiting."[19]
In early 1986, Rose began a relationship with model 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. Everly later claimed that Rose showed up ather house the previous day with a gun in his car and told her that he would kill himself if she did not marry him.[59] Less than a month later, Rose first filed for divorce.[24] The couple later reconciled, during which Everly became pregnant. She suffered a miscarriage in October 1990, which deeply affected Rose, who had wanted to start a family.[24][59] Everly left Rose the following...