W.A.R.

A biography that “captures the runaway-train spirit” of Guns N’ Roses singer Axl Rose and delves into what shaped him as a man and a musician (Kirkus Reviews).

Even in the world of rock and roll, someone like Axl Rose doesn’t come along very often. Mercurial and brilliant, deluded and imperious, Rose defies easy description or analysis. Few people have studied Rose as closely as Mick Wall has. Traveling with Guns N’ Roses and writing about them in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Wall first earned Axl’s trust and later his fury.

W.A.R. goes back to the beginning, revealing Rose’s childhood influences (and how he got his name), and tracking the birth of the band and their enormous success with albums like Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion. With fame and money came substance abuse and infighting, and a lead singer who morphed from eccentric to seemingly unhinged.

Wall’s book is richly detailed and offers surprising new views of a variety of Guns N’ Roses and Axl Rose incidents, including the death of two fans at a concert in England; Rose’s eventual split from every one of the other original band members; fights with perceived enemies like Kurt Cobain, Motley Crue’s Vince Neil and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger; Rose’s refusal to show up at concerts throughout his career; and his many years as a virtual recluse at his Malibu mansion. W.A.R. is about great music, bad relationships, and the public and private personas of one of the most controversial performers of our time.

“The best rock biography that has ever landed on my desk . . . turns the story of Axl Rose . . . into a profound examination of the pain of fame.” —The Tribune (UK)

“A catalog of lawsuits, sackings, and all-round appalling behavior.” —The Daily Telegraph (UK)

“It’s easy to paint Rose as a wrathful tyrant, but Wall has you sympathizing with [him].” —Entertainment Weekly