Not all members of Guns N' Roses hate Axl Rose. Richard Fortus, one of the current guitarists for the group, had nothing but high praises for the iconic frontman during a recent interview with Mitch Lafon. The axeman defended Rose's signature move of starting shows late because of everything he goes through to "get into the right place with himself." He also talked about the singer's unwillingness to compromise when it comes to music.
Rose is famous in the music industry for having a difficult personality. According to most biographies written about the band and its members, he essentially forced out his few original bandmates in the mid-1990s and spent the better part of two decades working on an album with a slew of new musicians that would eventually become Chinese Democracy. Despite putting out new music and touring with some fresh faces, Rose still hasn't been able to shake his old habit of starting shows late.
"It's not like a lot of bands, where it's like clockwork. It's different, and it's never gonna be that, because that's not who [Axl] is," Fortus said, Blabbermouth notes. "But, man, you know, he's the real deal. He is the real deal. And he lives it, and, like I said, all he cares about is the music. For the longest time, when I first started with the band even, I thought it was by design."
Biographies have noted that it's never been easy for Rose to take the stage. Fortus corroborated those accounts.
"Man, he goes through a lot to walk out on stage. Just everything ... with being himself ... to get into the right place within himself," he added.
The group has been working on new material, but Fortus doesn't see GN'R hitting the road anytime soon. The guitarist is happy to be along for the ride. And he's even happier to be working with someone like Rose.
"I've never met anybody that has so much genuine musical integrity. He won't whore himself out, he won't do anything for business or money; it's just about the music. And he won't defend himself in the press, because he doesn't think it matters; it's just about the music — that's all he cares about," he said.
Check out the interview below.
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