Axl Rose

W. Axl Rose (born February 6, 1962) is an American hard rock singer and songwriter, born William Bruce Rose in Lafayette, Indiana. He is best known as the lead singer of Guns N' Roses.

W. Axl Rose (born February 6, 1962) is an American hard rock singer and songwriter, born William Bruce Rose in Lafayette, Indiana. He is best known as the lead singer of Guns N' Roses.

Axl Rose had a deeply troubled childhood, according to a Rolling Stone interview. He was abused at the hands of both his stepfather Stephen Bailey and William Rose, his biological father who left the family when Axl was two years old. Growing up, Axl thought Bailey was his biological father; Axl's name was "Bill Bailey" until he was seventeen years old. At that point, he learned of his biological father's existence and readopted his birth name, William Rose. He would only refer to himself as "W. Rose", however, as a way of smiting his biological father's name. The strict discipline and Pentecostal education he endured as a child led to his rebellion as an adolescent against both Indiana and society in general.