Guns N’ Roses jams way into Rock Hall

Posted: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 8:00 pm

CLEVELAND (AP) — On their way into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Guns N’ Roses got together for one more gig.
Axl Rose missed it.
The hedonistic hard rockers, who became the world’s top music act amid endless dysfunction, reunited for three songs on Saturday night before 6,000 fans, many of whom were thrilled to see at least most of the band’s original lineup jam on classic hits like “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.”
Rose, the band’s frontman and ringmaster of the G N’ R traveling sex, drugs and rock and roll circus, declined to attend the induction, saying he didn’t want to be part of the ceremony because it “doesn’t appear to be somewhere I’m actually wanted or respected.”
He was hardly missed.
While his decision disappointed some hardcore fans and ended any possibility of a full-scale reunion of the original lineup, guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steve Adler performed for the first time in nearly 20 years to the delight of the sell-out crowd inside historic Public Hall.
Guns N’ Roses was one of the headliners of this year’s eclectic group of inductees, which included the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, folk icon Donovan, late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro and British bands the Small Faces and Faces.
The event lasted well into the early morning with an All-Star jam featuring some of rock’s biggest names  closing the 51⁄2 hour ceremony with a stirring rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.”
As he inducted Guns N’ Roses, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong recalled the first time he saw the band on MTV.
“I thought, one these guys could end up dead or in jail,” he said.
Guns N’ Roses came out with both barrels blaring, and their debut album “Appetite for Destruction,” shook a music world that, at the time, was consumed with pop ballads and dance music.  

Published in The Messenger 4.17.12