Axl Rose made the smartest decision of his career this week. He has foregone his self-managed career to allow Irving Azoff and Andy Gould to take over his management.
Azoff is arguably the most powerful and influential man in the music industry. His posse of acts over the years includes the Eagles, Christina Aguilera, Steely Dan, Van Halen, Seal, Journey, Jewel, Bush and REO Speedwagon.If anyone can get a release out of Rose, it is Azoff.
In a statement, Azoff and Gould said this week that, "Axl Rose and Guns N' Roses is and will always be one of the most important recording and touring artists of our time, and one of the great rock 'n' roll voices for his generation. We are honored that Axl has placed his trust in us".
That "trust" will hopefully mean we will see the long overdue 'Chinese Democracy' album sooner rather than later.
Rose has been putting feelers out to test his position in the market. That included fronting three songs on the recent Sebastian Bach album and a tour of Australia with Guns 'n' Roses.
'Chinese Democracy' first hit the Universal Music release schedule in 1999. Rose got as far as releasing one song 'Oh My God' on the 'End Of Days' soundtrack in '99. We've been waiting for 'Chinese Democracy' ever since.
This week, soft drink company Dr Pepper came up with a great stunt where they said they would give the soft-drink to every single American if Axl Rose releases the album this year.
Rose was amused by the initiative. "We are surprised and very happy to have the support of Dr Pepper with our album "Chinese Democracy," as for us, this came totally out of the blue. If there is any involvement with this promotion by our record company or others, we are unaware of such at this time. And as some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him", he said in a statement.
