Top 5 G N' R Moments: the story of my life

With the impending release of Chinese Democracy, the first musical release by GN’R since 1999’s “Oh My God” on the End of Days soundtrack, I suggested that we dedicate our Top 5 Guns N’ Roses songs. But, for those who know me, GN’R is more important than that. To name off 5 songs would understate the importance that the band, and Axl, played in my life, so I have instead come up with my Top 5 Guns N’ Roses moments. They’re old, like me. They’re listed chronologically, not in order of importance or preference, as they help to tell the story of the band, and, in a way, of me.




1. The 1988 American Music Awards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVze_GXpH4w)
This was broadcast in primetime on national television. It really introduced America to the band, and the band to superstardom. This performance, and Appetite for Destruction, put a stake in the heart of, not only, the bubble gum pop bullshit that was littering the airwaves, but also the neon, lipstick, hairspray glam bands that were destroying rock n’ roll. It was the beginning of a revolution, and it changed my life.

2. The 1989 MTV Video Music Awards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIbokxowSU0)
This was when MTV ruled music, a song’s popularity was determined by its music video – which was MTV’s main programming – and the culmination of a year in music was literally chronicled by the MTV Video Music Awards. They were culturally pertinent. 1989 saw GN’R remain at the top of the music industry, but only through the release of an EP. Other acts replaced them on the album and MTV charts. No act was bigger in ’89 than Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, and no video was bigger than Free Fallin’. So, he could’ve performed this jam solo, and it would’ve headlined the show, but when Axl came out – the roof blew off of every teenager’s house in America. It solidified Axl Rose as an all-time Rock Star.

3. Farm Aid IV, July 4th, 1990 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW_PxY-1spY)
A bittersweet moment for me, this show aired on The Nashville Network. The crowd was there to see acts like Dwight Yoakam and Indiana’s native son, John Cougar Mellencamp. Little did they know that they would be privy to a surprise performance by the greatest rock n’ roll band in the world. Axl had brought his boys to the Heartland, and they delivered – opening w/ the never-before-heard, Civil War. It was them at their best, but it was also the beginning of the end. It was Steven Adler’s final performance. After that, they, nor I, were ever really the same.

4. 1992 MTV Video Music Awards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLoQteiJNOU)
This is a complete dichotomy. It is the performance of November Rain, a song that a young nobody Axl wrote about his love, Erin Everly. By the time of this performance, Axl is in the midst of every cliché possible; a full orchestra, the black girls sing, the gold chalice, the double piano w/ Sir Elton, and, yet, he and Everly’s marriage was already annulled. On the one hand, it is the greatest rock n’ roll performance MTV had ever seen, and has ever seen since, and, on the other, the leviathan that had become GN’R was already being replaced by the no-strings Nirvana.

5. 2002 MTV Video Music Awards (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STc30hsUCoY)
The only people more excited about this moment than Jimmy Fallon, were Char & I – literally jumping on the bed. It was the return of a legend – and in his stead, no one had emerged, and no one has since. Although it was a lackluster performance, and didn’t usher in Democracy for 6 more years, it was still proof that W. Axl Rose is fucking rock n’ roll.

Pre-order Chinese Democracy here.