Axl Rose once said songs come to him in pieces over time. “They’ll just show up,” said Rose of writing the Guns N’ Roses‘ Use Your Illusion I hit “November Rain.” He continued, “I keep them on file in my brain and then add them together. I’ll be brushing my teeth and all of a sudden a pre-chorus will come, and I won’t know why. Then a bridge came about a year ago. Six months ago another part came. Last night a whole intro came. When I was writing it, I wasn’t planning on putting it with this song, but all of a sudden it just flowed.”
Throughout the life of GN’R, Rose has written or co-written the majority of the band’s catalog, from 1987 debut Appetite for Destruction (“Paradise City,” “Patience,” “Welcome to the Jungle”), G N’ R Lies (1988) Use Your Illusion 1 and II (1991), Chinese Democracy in 2008, and the band’s 2023 single “The General.”
Outside of Guns N’ Roses, Rose collaborated with Don Henley, Steve Jones, Alice Cooper, Sebastian Bach, Michael Schenker, and more. In 2019, Rose lent his voice to a lent his voice, and likeness, to the New Looney Tunes animated series. The episode “Armageddon Outta Here” features Rose in his first studio recording without Guns N’ Roses, and since Chinese Democracy, as he helps Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig save the world from armageddon “Rock the Rock.”
Throughout the years, Rose also co-wrote and appeared on songs with some unexpected artists. Here’s a look at three songs that Rose is credited on as a composer or backing vocalist.
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[RELATED: 3 Guns N’ Roses Songs You Didn’t Know Izzy Stradlin Wrote Solo]
1. “I Will Not Go Quietly,” Don Henley, Featuring Axl Rose (1988)
Written by Don Henley and Danny Kortchmar
Don Henley‘s third solo album The End of the Innocence delivered two top 10 hits—his nostalgic title track and “The Heart of the Matter,” and featured a star-studded lineup of musicians including Mike Campbell, late Toto drummer Jeff Pocaro, Bruce Hornsby, Patty Smyth, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge, and more. On the harder rock “I Will Not Go Quietly,” Rose wails along with Henley on the song of perserverance.
Woke up with a heavy head
And I thought about leavin’ town
I could have died if I wanted to
Slipped over the edge and drowned
But, oh no baby
I won’t give up that easy, no
Too many tire tracks in the sands of time
Too many love affairs that stop on a dime, well
Oh baby
Think it’s time to make some changes ’round here
Yeah, I’m gonna tear it up
Gonna trash it up
I’m gonna round it up
Gonna shake it up
Oh now baby, I will not lie down
“It was quite an experience,” said Henley of working with Rose. “He’s got a really powerful voice. It was something else. We were so amazed that we turned on the two-track and recorded him warming up.”
A year later, Henley returned the favor and temporarily replaced GN’R drummer Steven Adler during the band’s performance at the American Music Awards.
2. “I Did U No Wrong,” Steve Jones, Featuring Axl Rose (1989)
Written by Steve Jones, Glen Matlock, Johnny Rotten, Paul Cook
When Sex Pistol Steve Jones was putting together his second solo album Fire and Gasoline, he called on a few friends—The Cult’s Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy, Mötley Crüe‘s Nikki Sixx, and more—to help fill in the sound. Rose also joined Jones on a lesser-known Pistols song “I Did U No Wrong” from 1977.
I don’t mind the things that you say
I don’t even mind going out of my way
I try and do these things for you
Why should I do it, our love is untrue
Now baby, I’m goin outa my head
3. “Crash Diet,” Asphalt Ballet (1993)
Written by Axl Rose, West Arkeen, Del James, Danny Clarke
After forming in 1988, the San Diego band Asphalt Ballet only released two albums together, their self-titled album in 1991 and the follow up Pigs in 1993. On Pigs, the band are credited with writing 12 of the 13 tracks, with the exception of “Crash Diet,” which was co-written by Axl Rose, Ashpalt Ballet guitarist Danny Clarke, Del James, road manager for Guns N’ Roses, and West Arkeen, who had co-written several songs for GN’R, including “It’s So Easy,” “Yesterdays,” and “The Garden.”
The song was originally intended as a Guns N’ Roses song but never made the cut on any of the band’s albums.
Crash diet of reds’n’ludes
A shot of vitamin C and a bottle of booze
Too stupid to live with nothin’ to lose
In your one track mind now
Where’s that leave you?
Drink’n’drive white lightning faster
Takin’ your last ride
Better be so careful or you’ll be dead before you time
Sorry you took mother’s car now
Tears in my eyes, baby please don’t go
Had one too many, now one for the road
Fresh outta detox, fresh from jail
Took your rehabilitation and you drove me to hell
Photo: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images
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