Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Oringal Post May 6, 2012

Last night HBO aired the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony. As always the show contained many highlights, including a Beastie Boy montage performed by Kid Rock, Travie McCoy, and Black Thought, and Chris Rock’s hilarious introduction of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. But there was another highlight that could have been so much better.

I’m referring to the reunion of most of Guns N’ Roses’ original lineup.

After their induction guitarist Slash, bassist Duff McKagen, and the band’s original drummer Steven Adler took the stage to play a medley of songs, including “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City.” As a long time Guns N’ Roses fan, it was fun to see, but it was incomplete.

It would have been nice to see Izzy Stradlin, the band’s reclusive rhythm guitarist. Izzy was the first member to quit Guns N’ Roses at the height of their career in 1991.

It was more disappointing not to see Axl Rose.

In Axl’s letter that he wrote before the ceremony at the beginning of April declining his induction to the Hall of Fame, he mentioned that his decision not to attend was personal, and that he didn’t want to disappoint the fans. Speaking as a fan Axl, you did.

First of all let’s make one thing clear. The Guns N’ Roses of today is not Guns N’ Roses. It’s Axl and his band that plays Guns N’ Roses songs. To me, Guns N’ Roses will always be the core of Axl, Slash, Duff and Izzy, and whoever they allow to play drums. That’s it. End of story.

Now I’m not expecting a full fledge reunion. I would probably have a better chance of running into Bigfoot. But would it be so hard to share a stage to play a few songs, light up the rock and roll world, and then go back to hating each other afterwards? Is that too much to ask?

Whatever the members of Guns N’ Roses’ beef has been over the years, it’s unfortunate they couldn’t at least work out their differences for this one event. They were the biggest band in the world during the late 80s and early 90s, and made the Hall of Fame on the body of work they did during that time (sorry Chinese Democracy, but you just don’t make the cut). It would have been nice to acknowledge that to their fans one last time.