FUSE TV - 10 Things We Learned From Axl Rose's First Live Interview in 10 Years

Ahead of Guns N' Roses' upcoming Las Vegas residency, Axl Rose did the only thing more infrequent than release a GnR album: he went on live television. Rose appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live and gave his first live interview in more than 10 years. And while Kimmel's monologue was predictably peppered with "Will he or won't he show up?" jokes, Rose was punctual and friendly, if a bit reluctant to open up too much. (The Kimmel-to-Rose word count was about 20-to-1.) It wasn't as provocative as past chats with Axl, but the reclusive singer did share a few personal nuggets that, depending on your fandom, you are now free to either celebrate or mock. To wit:

1. Axl does not regret those cornrows.

2. The last time he dressed up for Halloween was as an ear of corn, prompting a grandpa-worthy corn/cornrows Kimmel joke. Still, the '91 riot in St. Louis is much more fun to imagine if you envision this scene, only with Axl dressed as corn.

3. When asked which year of his life was so good, he would do it again, the singer said, "Sometime in the past five or six years." Translation: Go f-ck yourself, original members! 

4. Axl told Kimmel that he keeps a "Halloween tree" filled with candy in his house. Why? So when he gives candy to children, he can say, "Oh, you don't have a Halloween tree?" and piss off all the parents.    

5. He doesn't vote, but if he did, he would "lean Obama." This was the only question Axl had to give more than a millisecond of thought to before whipping out the old "Well, California always votes Democrat anyway, so it doesn't really matter" card.

6. He would run backstage in the middle of a song because he "felt like an idiot" standing on stage with nothing to do while Slash took his solo. Not mentioned: The line of groupies and groupies with lines presumably waiting for him at each show.

7. Rose, known as much for his concert tardiness as his reclusiveness, has an Oscar Wilde quote in his house stating, "Punctuality is the thief of time."

8. Asked about Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit, in which GnR performed and Axl met Young for the first time, the singer replied, "It went great." No. It didn't.

9. He's a magnanimous soul: Rose (or, more likely, the show) placed two pairs of tickets for the group's Las Vegas show under select seats in the audience and brought a Tommy's Burger Truck to feed the crowd. Please refrain from any "Appetite" jokes.

10. Axl does not stay for follow-up guests on talk shows, but guitarist Bumblefoot, who also appeared, will.

Axl Rose on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Pt. 1