Rockers Send 'Love Letter' to Public Radio

Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Questlove of the Roots and Jack WhiteScott Legato/WireImage; Johnny Nunez/WireImage; Erika Goldring/GettyImages

A group of musicians including Jack White, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT, M. Ward, the Roots, Tony Bennett, John Mayer and members of Pearl Jam, Phish and Fleet Foxes have penned a "love letter" to public radio as part of Public Radio Music Month.

"Thank you for taking chances," the letter reads. "Thank you for playing our music even when – especially when – it doesn't sound like everything else on the radio dial. Thank you for inviting us into your studios and asking us intelligent questions. Thank you for introducing us to some of the most important music in our lives, music that made us who we are."

Photos: Random Notes

Other artists who signed the letter include Iron and Wine, Jakob Dylan, Chairlift, Bob Mould, Best Coast, Passion Pit, Raphael Saadiq, Shabazz Palaces, Tenacious D, Vernon Reid, the Head and the Heart, Calexico and Glen Hansard. Independent labels Sub Pop, Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Secretly Canadian, and Knitting Factory Records also showed their support.

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Rockers Send 'Love Letter' to Public Radio

Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Questlove of the Roots and Jack WhiteScott Legato/WireImage; Johnny Nunez/WireImage; Erika Goldring/GettyImages

A group of musicians including Jack White, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, MGMT, M. Ward, the Roots, Tony Bennett, John Mayer and members of Pearl Jam, Phish and Fleet Foxes have penned a "love letter" to public radio as part of Public Radio Music Month.

"Thank you for taking chances," the letter reads. "Thank you for playing our music even when – especially when – it doesn't sound like everything else on the radio dial. Thank you for inviting us into your studios and asking us intelligent questions. Thank you for introducing us to some of the most important music in our lives, music that made us who we are."

Photos: Random Notes

Other artists who signed the letter include Iron and Wine, Jakob Dylan, Chairlift, Bob Mould, Best Coast, Passion Pit, Raphael Saadiq, Shabazz Palaces, Tenacious D, Vernon Reid, the Head and the Heart, Calexico and Glen Hansard. Independent labels Sub Pop, Dead Oceans, Jagjaguwar, Secretly Canadian, and Knitting Factory Records also showed their support.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Chuck D on Public Enemy's Two New Albums: 'They Will Talk to Each Other'

Chuck D talks new Public Enemy albums.

This is shaping up to be an extremely fruitful year for Public Enemy: the veteran hip-hop group will release two albums, Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp in June and The Evil Empire of Everything in September.

"They're totally separate albums," Chuck D tells Rolling Stone. "But 25 years ago, it probably would have been called a double album. And maybe 25 years ago, it would have been called an extended A-side or extended B-side. But now, in today's digital space, we thought it's very important to be able to slow the listener down. The fact that you work on something, and a reviewer or a listener listens to it on their iPod or their file in about 15 or 20 seconds, it's like, 'Wait a minute. Slow down.'"

Chuck D describes the albums as "fraternal twins. Unidentical. And these records will talk to each other." Both albums will feature numerous guests, including Brother Ali, Henry Rollins, Tom Morello, Z-Trip, Large Professor, Bumpy Knuckles and Gerald Albright.

As for confirmed song titles, Chuck D says, "One song title just emerged. It's still the same song, but it talks about so many things that are pertinent to the issue, and it's called 'Beyond Trayvon.' Another title is 'Catch the Thrown.'" But don't expect the tunes to reflect a specific Public Enemy era of the past. "Public Enemy has never made two albums alike," he says. "This is all its own ilk."

Public Enemy are aiming to tour heavily behind the releases – beginning in May, the band plans on touring Australia, Europe and Brazil. After that, they will launch the "Hip Hop Gods" tour of the United States in the fall, which will see Public Enemy joined by other classic hip-hop artists. "People like EPMD, Naughty by Nature," notes Chuck D. "We want to be able to show rap artists who ask us, 'How do we do what you guys do?' Keep going 25 years in a row, releasing what we want when we want, playing whatever we want when we want – that type of thing. Just like classic rock, we want to do the same thing in hip-hop. It's that time."

But first up for Chuck D, he will induct his friends the Beastie Boys into the Roll and Roll Hall of Fame. "It came about because they requested, and definitely it's an honor to do so. The third hip-hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a very important juncture of rap and hip-hop."

Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys first crossed paths in 1987. "We were on the License to Ill tour. That was our first tour, and it was very influential in Public Enemy developing a stage show. It was '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)', with the big phallus popping out of the stage. It was just ridiculous – it was a mind-blowing show. The beer cans… it was just like, 'What the fuck?'"

Finally, how did Chuck D's unexpected guest appearance on Meat Loaf's latest release, Hell in a Handbasket, come about? "Meat Loaf is [Anthrax guitarist and former Public Enemy collaborator] Scott Ian's father-in-law. I think he was looking for something on his album that answered to a dynamic that he didn't want to do himself. So he reached out to Scott, Scott reached out to me, and I said sure."

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Chuck D on Public Enemy's Two New Albums: 'They Will Talk to Each Other'

Chuck D talks new Public Enemy albums.

This is shaping up to be an extremely fruitful year for Public Enemy: the veteran hip-hop group will release two albums, Most of My Heroes Still Don't Appear on No Stamp in June and The Evil Empire of Everything in September.

"They're totally separate albums," Chuck D tells Rolling Stone. "But 25 years ago, it probably would have been called a double album. And maybe 25 years ago, it would have been called an extended A-side or extended B-side. But now, in today's digital space, we thought it's very important to be able to slow the listener down. The fact that you work on something, and a reviewer or a listener listens to it on their iPod or their file in about 15 or 20 seconds, it's like, 'Wait a minute. Slow down.'"

Chuck D describes the albums as "fraternal twins. Unidentical. And these records will talk to each other." Both albums will feature numerous guests, including Brother Ali, Henry Rollins, Tom Morello, Z-Trip, Large Professor, Bumpy Knuckles and Gerald Albright.

As for confirmed song titles, Chuck D says, "One song title just emerged. It's still the same song, but it talks about so many things that are pertinent to the issue, and it's called 'Beyond Trayvon.' Another title is 'Catch the Thrown.'" But don't expect the tunes to reflect a specific Public Enemy era of the past. "Public Enemy has never made two albums alike," he says. "This is all its own ilk."

Public Enemy are aiming to tour heavily behind the releases – beginning in May, the band plans on touring Australia, Europe and Brazil. After that, they will launch the "Hip Hop Gods" tour of the United States in the fall, which will see Public Enemy joined by other classic hip-hop artists. "People like EPMD, Naughty by Nature," notes Chuck D. "We want to be able to show rap artists who ask us, 'How do we do what you guys do?' Keep going 25 years in a row, releasing what we want when we want, playing whatever we want when we want – that type of thing. Just like classic rock, we want to do the same thing in hip-hop. It's that time."

But first up for Chuck D, he will induct his friends the Beastie Boys into the Roll and Roll Hall of Fame. "It came about because they requested, and definitely it's an honor to do so. The third hip-hop group to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It's a very important juncture of rap and hip-hop."

Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys first crossed paths in 1987. "We were on the License to Ill tour. That was our first tour, and it was very influential in Public Enemy developing a stage show. It was '(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)', with the big phallus popping out of the stage. It was just ridiculous – it was a mind-blowing show. The beer cans… it was just like, 'What the fuck?'"

Finally, how did Chuck D's unexpected guest appearance on Meat Loaf's latest release, Hell in a Handbasket, come about? "Meat Loaf is [Anthrax guitarist and former Public Enemy collaborator] Scott Ian's father-in-law. I think he was looking for something on his album that answered to a dynamic that he didn't want to do himself. So he reached out to Scott, Scott reached out to me, and I said sure."

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'Walking Dead' Recap: Down at the Department of Public Works

Shane Walsh and Rick Grimes stare down a zombie on 'Walking Dead.'

Where we left off: Sheriff Rick brought Randall back to the farm and Shane and Andrea fear an upcoming survivor-on-survivor war. Beth is still in shock. Lori has gone totally Lady Macbeth and is about to start lurching around, crying "Out, out, damn Shane!" The word is out that Lori is preggers and let’s hope she doesn’t continue her path towards being Lady Macboo, who would smash a baby’s brains against the floor. Speaking of brains: Mmmm, brains.

Where we pick up: It’s daylight and there is a school bus and there are lots of zombies. Is this a flashback to Shane’s escapades at Zombie High when he killed Otis? But that happened at night! OH WAIT. Rick’s there too, struggling to defend himself from a nasty zombie. And there’s Randall, who looks like he’s a regular armless and legless Owen Meany scrabbling across the asphalt towards a knife. Shane barricades himself in the school bus. Zug?

Credits! Do you think Glen Mazzara likes to write poems where he rhymes his name with Ben Gazzara? That’s what I do every week.

Here we are on a lone, desolate road. Shane and his good buddy Rick are going on a road trip! With a gun! And with a tied-up Randall in the trunk. Rick stops the car and gets out but Shane wants to know why they’re stopping. The plan was to go further away – to 18 miles out (titular line alert!). Rick needs to take this moment to have a serious real-talk with Shane. He confronts Shane about what really happened with Otis (yawn, we all know what happened to Otis!) and Shane finally tells the truth. He shot Otis in the leg because only one of them was going to make it out, and Shane needed to survive to guarantee Carl the Kid’s survival. Rick finally lays it all down and tells Shane to stop being such a dangerous asshole. "That’s my wife and my son and my unborn child and I will stay alive to keep them alive. You don’t love her. You accept everything I’ve said right here right now and we move forward with that understanding." Oh, Halleloo. Let us put all this behind us and move forward with the story! After all, Sheriff Rick tells us that it’s been a full week since the Randall incident, which is the fastest passage of time this show has ever given us.

Rick and Shane check Randall’s bindings and get back in the car. Rick muses that they need to stop shooting lone walkers because gunshots make too much noise and they’re going to run out of ammo. They should use their knives when they can. (YES! THIS IS A VERY SMART DECISION!) He continues, sharing his hopes that the winter will kill or at least slow the zombies, and that it’s time for them to think about finding fuel and dry goods to survive the cold. This is all very wise and prudent zombpocalypse planning and I could not be happier that they’re actually dealing with long-term survival issues. They drive on, and Shane spots a lone walker in a sun-dappled meadow. He doesn’t say anything and they continue in silence.

Back at the farm, Lori and Maggie prepare lunch for Beth. Maggie is upset that Glenn is being a pussy ever since he froze during the saloon shoot-out. Lori says some nonsense about how men have to do certain things and they will blame their women for whatever they do and whatever they don’t. She suggests that Maggie tell him to pull himself together – but don’t say man up! (Or balls out.) Lori brings lunch up to Beth, who doesn’t want to eat and is furious that Lori is pregnant and will bring a baby into this terrible world.

The odometer reads 18.7 miles out (almost titular line alert!) so Rick and Shane look for a place to dump poor ol’ Randall. They spot the Merit Country Department of Public Works and decide they can leave the boy there and also scavenge some supplies. There’s a lone walker in a guard uniform and Rick tells Shane not to shoot. Rick slices his hand open with his knife and the blood lures the zombie over so he can plunge his knife right into its brain. Good one! A second guard zombie lurches over and this one’s Shane’s turn. This Department of Public Works is a mess. There’s trash everywhere and an abandoned school bus (oooooh) and burnt skeletons. Rick gets fuel from a truck while Shane examines the guard zombies. Oddly enough, those corpses don’t appear to have any bite marks. Rick guesses that they must have been scratched. (Hmmmmmmmmmmm.)

The men remove Randall’s hood and he instantly starts pleading with them. He insists that he was just with the Bad Guys because he was all alone. He lost his mom! And he went to school with Maggie! Rick freaks out. "DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL WITH MAGGIE? ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Shane realizes that Randall knows where the farm is. Randall swears that he would never do anything to hurt Maggie or any of the other Still Alives. Shane pulls his weapon but Rick won’t let him shoot. Shane is incensed – Randall shot at them! He ran with men who tried to kill them! And Rick wants to bring him back to the farm where Lori and Carl live? BAD IDEA JEANS? But Rick needs a night to think this over.

Rick’s hesitancy is too much for Shane. All that tension about Lori finally explodes and Shane and Rick get into it. Shane shouts that the only right choice to make is the choice that keeps them all alive. Rick counters that there are no rules anymore. And Shane responds that he doesn’t think Rick can keep the Still Alives safe. This comment is tantamount to calling Marty McFly a chicken and Rick flies into a rage, attacking Shane. While the men pummel each other, Randall humps towards the knife like an inchworm. (Oh. He has arms and legs. They’re just tied together with duct tape. My bad.)

Shane and Rick are beating other to death, or at least to the pain. Randall continues to inchworm his way towards the knife. Shane snags a gun from the truck and Rick tackles him to the ground. It sounds like Rick breaks Shane’s face. They keep on beating the shit out of each other and Shane uses a wrench as a weapon. Finally, Shane throws a piece of metal into a window of the department of public works. Shane stumbles backward, covered in blood. His reflection in the broken glass looks exactly like a zombie. Except, holy shit, there is an actual zombie in there. Rick uses his knife skills to take that one out. But now there are SO MANY ZOMBIES. They smell blood and they’re incensed. And so, so very hungry for braaaaaaains.

Let’s take a break for some human drama! Lori checks in on Beth to make sure she’s eating, but Beth is whimpering and snuffling and doesn’t want to go on living. Lori brings her plate to the kitchen and realizes the knife is missing. She runs back upstairs and demands that Beth hand it over. Lori runs for Andrea to go find Maggie.  Maggie storms into Beth’s room and tells her that she can’t kill herself. Beth and Maggie scream and yell at each other while Lori and Andrea eavesdrop in the kitchen.

Andrea, suddenly the voice of reason, notes that they could have handled this suicide situation better. Lori is pissed that Andrea is always on guard duty, working on her tan, while Lori and Carol cook and clean and do a woman’s work. Andrea is furious because she is defending their camp and Lori just wants her to wash dishes and fold laundry. Andrea yells that Lori takes everything for granted. Lori is like, what? My husband is out there and my son got shot! And Andrea responds that Rick came back and Carl recovered and now Lori is pregnant and being all high and mighty and laying down rules for everybody except for herself. Finally, Andrea lets loose on Lori. "Go talk to her, Lori," she snaps. "Go tell her she’ll get a husband, and a son, and a baby, and a BOYFRIEND, she just has to look at the bright side." Andrea says BOYFRIEND in such a deliberate way that it suddenly becomes clear that Andrea’s anger is because she wants a BOYFRIEND. Andrea is so sexually frustrated! I don’t care for either one of these women, but suddenly I feel the slightest tinge of almost caring for Andrea.

Upstairs, Maggie tries to shame Beth into staying alive because her ma would have been ashamed to raise such a coward. But Beth is distraught. And we finally find out that she was dating Jimmy for only three months before the zombpocalypse and now it’s like they’re married. (Oh, so she does have a BOYFRIEND.) Beth wails that they can’t avoid death and they should just kill themselves now, at the same time, because eventually they’ll be all alone and the zombies will come and gut them. Beth wants to die, tonight, in this bed, with Maggie beside her. (WHOA.) Beth begs for Maggie to join her suicide pact. She even says please. (Please is what convinced the Dread Pirate Roberts to spare Wesley’s life. It is a powerful word.)

Over yonder at 18.7 miles out, there is a giant throng of zombies attacking the humans. Randall manages to cut his legs free but his hands are still bound so he stomps a hungry lady zombie in the head. Shane manages to barricade himself in the school bus, where he slices open his hand and wipes the blood on the door. As a zombie licks the blood like a deer at a salt lick, he stabs it with his knife. Rick catches up with Randall, who begs to be let go. Randall says they should just go and leave Shane in the bus because, after all, Shane just tried to bash in Rick’s head with a wrench. Rich insists they’re going to save Shane. So Randall asks for a gun so he can help and prove himself worthy. Rick drags Randall away. And then he LEAVES SHANE IN THE SCHOOLBUS.

Let’s go back to the farmhouse. Andrea convinces Maggie to go get some air and says she’ll look after Beth. But Andrea opens the door and starts to leave. She tells Beth that the pain doesn’t go away, but you just make room for it. After all, Andrea had her own suicide crisis and Dale took her gun away, stealing her choice. Andrea wants to give Beth that choice so that Beth can make her own decisions.

When Maggie returns to check on Beth, she finds her locked in the bathroom. Oh fuck! Lori takes a poker and uses it as crowbar to break into the bathroom. Beth is covered in blood and she sliced her wrist but now she is sorry. Beth has made her choice! She wants to live! Maggie is furious that Andrea left Beth alone but Andrea is elated that Beth made the right choice. Andrea’s smugface says "I tough loved her and it worked! SHE CHOSE LIFE." But Maggie is enraged and tells Andrea never to set foot in this house again.

And now let’s go back to the zombies. (Yay, zombies!) Rick tells Randall to stay put as he stares at the bus and the horde of zombies. Shane is screwed. He wipes more blood on the door and stabs another zombie in the head. Shane is distraught and knows this is the end – until Rick and Randall pull a total bad-ass move, speeding by the zombies and shooting them so Shane can escape out of the back door and jump into the moving car. Randall is all HELL YEAH DID YOU SEE THAT WE WERE AWESOME? Admittedly, it is really really awesome.

On the road, Rick puts the hood over Randall’s head. Rick confronts Shane: "If you want to kill me, you’re gonna have to do better than a wrench." He explains that, yeah, okay fine, they’re probably going to have to kill the kid, but they get to think about it for a night because it can’t just be that easy to kill a human being. "If you’re gonna be with us, you gotta follow my lead and you gotta trust me," he tells Shane. He hands a gun to Shane and says it’s time for him to come back. Come back, Shane!

They drive back to the farm. It’s magic hour and there is a still a lone zombie in the field. Shane thinks and thinks and thinks.

This episode was truly good and well-written and perfectly paced and balanced zombie action with human drama and I hope this is a wonderful sign of things to come! MORE ZOMBIES, PLEASE.

Scorecard:

Humans: all accounted for, and Beth’s self-induced injury was not very serious.

Zombies: 2 dead guard zombies, one stomped-in woman zombie, two more stabbed-in-head zombies and possibly ten school bus zombies shot to death-death.

LAST EPISODE: Shootout at Ye Olde Towne Bar

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Blue Ivy Makes Her First Public Appearance

Beyonce Knowles with baby Blue Ivy at Sant Ambroeus in New York City.

Blue Ivy Carter hit the town for lunch yesterday, bundled up tight against the cold February wind.

Us Weekly is reporting that Beyoncé and Jay-Z took their seven-week old daughter out for lunch at Sant Ambroeus in the West Village on Saturday. While the couple have been out a few times since Blue Ivy's birth on January 7th – they were spotted at the Knicks game on Monday – this was the baby's first public appearance.

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Blue Ivy Makes Her First Public Appearance

Beyonce Knowles with baby Blue Ivy at Sant Ambroeus in New York City.

Blue Ivy Carter hit the town for lunch yesterday, bundled up tight against the cold February wind.

Us Weekly is reporting that Beyoncé and Jay-Z took their seven-week old daughter out for lunch at Sant Ambroeus in the West Village on Saturday. While the couple have been out a few times since Blue Ivy's birth on January 7th – they were spotted at the Knicks game on Monday – this was the baby's first public appearance.

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Axl Rose on Privacy, Public Opinion and His War With the Media

Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses performs during the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in London.

This story is from the April 2, 1992 issue of Rolling Stone.

Only a few minutes ago, Axl Rose, sprawled on the floor of his Las Vegas hotel villa, mentioned his lack of privacy. Now, as if to prove his point, someone knocks on the door. Rose gets up to answer it, peering out into the darkness to find two breathless, carefully made-up fans who've somehow breached Guns n' Roses' security.

"I hope you know we went to a lot of trouble just to say hello to you," the first girl says. "I'm only here because she dragged me here," says the second. "I'm not a very big Guns n' Roses fan or anything."

Given Rose's reputation as a hothead, the predictable reaction would be irritation – or at the very least a wry, "see what I mean" smile. But Rose greets the giggly pair like a homeowner welcoming a group of trick-or-treaters. He invites them in and, smiling, begins asking them questions: Do you live here? What are your names? How did you find out where I was? As the story unravels – it turns out the two posed as call girls to extract his room number from a tight-lipped hotel clerk – Rose seems genuinely charmed. As do his visitors. They stick around for nearly an hour, and Rose is the perfect host – cracking jokes, offering them dinner, even laughing off their occasional barbs ("So, are you going on on time tomorrow, or what?"). By the time they leave, they've been made to feel as if it were the most natural thing in the world to barge in uninvited on a total stranger.

It's the evening before a sold-out show in late January, and Rose is in an extremely good mood. Catching the singer in this frame of mind at the scheduled time for an interview can seem like a blessing from above if you've ever been around him in the other mood. When Rose is feeling pressured or angry, talking to him is a lot like dodging bullets. He tends to rant, barely stopping for breath, and even the most innocent of comments can set him on edge. It is a distinctly uncomfortable feeling to be in a room alone with Axl Rose and see storm clouds suddenly gather on his face because of something you've just said. It is a feeling of wanting to get out, fast.

But Rose can be a disarming – and formidable – conversationalist if you catch him at the right time. When he is relaxed, he seems to delight in the challenge an interview presents, and it is all but impossible to rattle him. Tell him that much of the public views him as spoiled, and he'll surprise you by agreeing. Inform him that a character in Stephen King's latest novel describes him as an asshole, and he'll ask, ever hopeful, "Was it a good character or a bad character?" The thornier the issue, the more conviction Rose displays in offering his opinion.

During this conversation, Rose covered some especially rocky terrain. He talked about rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin's resignation from Guns n' Roses late last year. He addressed his tardiness to shows, his ongoing war with the media, his reputation as a misogynist, a homophobe, a bigot. Rose also talked in detail for the first time about childhood traumas that likely played a large part in shaping his volatile nature. He spoke about some highly disturbing memories involving his biological father that were dredged up in regression therapy and also leveled serious charges at his stepfather. (Rose's natural father could not be found for comment on the issues raised in this story; his relatives believe him to be dead. Rose's brother, his sister and a family friend corroborated the allegations concerning his stepfather. Rose's mother and stepfather declined comment.)

In talking about his early years, Rose grew soft-spoken and contemplative, displaying the rarely seen vulnerability that once prompted Sinéad O'Connor to remark that Rose made you want to "bring him home and give him a bowl of soup." Perhaps more than anything else, it is this surprising air of fragility, coupled with the hair-trigger temper that has all but become Rose's personal trademark, that makes him such a compelling figure.

The same evening this interview took place, Rose's sister, Amy, strolling through the Mirage Hotel, stopped to look at the royal white tigers the hotel keeps on display. She remarked how fascinating it was that a creature could be at once so ferocious and so gentle.

"Just like Axl," someone said absent-mindedly.

Amy laughed, realizing that she had unintentionally described her brother as well.

What do you think people are thinking about you these days?
I know it's a love-hate thing. There are people that are big fans and people that really hate me.

Do you get a sense that public opinion of you has changed?
A majority of what's in the press is negative. But I think that we're also gaining more fans, people of all different ages that really like what we're doing. There's a really good vibe in the crowd, a warm vibe.

What about St. Louis? After the riot, Rolling Stone got letters from people saying that they were fed up with your attitude and that you don't care about your fans anymore.
And that's why the riot happened? Is that what they're saying?

No. But I think the riot was a turning point in terms of public opinion of you.
Well, I think that the way the media covered it made me look completely responsible for it. I don't think I was the last straw. I think that the people who decided to start throwing stuff were the last straw. We have a big problem with the people that were at that concert. We gave them a ninety-minute show. We gave them what we were contracted to do, and we gave it good. They wanted more, and they felt that they could just have it, regardless of what happened to us or how we felt about it. When we say, "Fuck St. Louis," we're talking about the people that tore up the place. They know who they are – we're not talking about anybody else. Whether I jumped off the stage for a camera or not, that's not a good enough reason to tear the place down. It was announced that we would come back onstage, and they were more into the riot than even the band playing.

One thing that has people exasperated is the late show times. Why do you go on so late?
I pretty much follow my own internal clock, and I perform better later at night. Nothing seems to work out for me until later at night. And it is our show. I don't want to make people sit around and wait – it drives me nuts. That hour-and-a-half or two-hour time period that I'm late going onstage is living hell, because I'm wishing there was any way on earth I could get out of where I am and knowing I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm late to everything. I've always wanted to have it written in my will that when I die, the coffin shows up a half-hour late and says on the side, like in gold, Sorry I'm late.

What goes on before you take the stage? What actually makes you late?
The chiropractor we work with on the road tapes my ankles professionally. I kept twisting my ankles during shows, and it still happens now and then. I have weak ankles, always have. I used to run cross-country, and that was one of the things that got in the way of that. So I work with a chiropractor. I work with a massage therapist, because I put a lot of stress in my lower back, and with what I do onstage, there's a lot of rebuilding that has to be done. There's operatic voice exercises. And I started therapy in February [1991] and, Jesus, I'm right in the middle of stuff. I mean, if a heavy emotional issue surfaces and you've got a show in four hours, you have to figure out how to get that sorted out really quick before you get onstage so that you're not in the middle of "Jungle" and have a breakdown. The pressure of having to do the show when whatever else is going on in my life is hard to get past. We did a show in Finland where I just couldn't understand why I was doing what I was doing. I sat down while I was singing "Civil War," and I was kind of looking at my lips while I was singing and looking at the microphone and looking at the roadies, and everything just shut off. Well, that doesn't make for a very good show. We're out there to win at what we do. And if that means going on two hours late and doing a good show, I'm gonna do it. I take what I do very seriously.

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Randy Travis Busted for Public Drunkenness

Randy Travis performs at An Evening With Randy Travis at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Randy Travis was arrested early this morning in Sanger, Texas after police found him in his truck, apparently intoxicated, in front of a Baptist church. "An officer detected an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from the person, and he noticed an open bottle of wine in the passenger side of the vehicle," Sanger Police Chief Curtis Amyx told Reuters. "His speech was slurred and the officer had a hard time understanding what he was trying to stay."

Photos: Random Notes
The country star was charged with public intoxication and released after a few hours in jail. Since he was parked at the time, Travis was not charged with drunk driving. Public intoxication is a misdemeanor in Sanger, Texas and is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

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Randy Travis Busted for Public Drunkenness

Randy Travis performs at An Evening With Randy Travis at The Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

Randy Travis was arrested early this morning in Sanger, Texas after police found him in his truck, apparently intoxicated, in front of a Baptist church. "An officer detected an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from the person, and he noticed an open bottle of wine in the passenger side of the vehicle," Sanger Police Chief Curtis Amyx told Reuters. "His speech was slurred and the officer had a hard time understanding what he was trying to stay."

Photos: Random Notes
The country star was charged with public intoxication and released after a few hours in jail. Since he was parked at the time, Travis was not charged with drunk driving. Public intoxication is a misdemeanor in Sanger, Texas and is punishable by a fine of up to $500.

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Axl Rose on Privacy, Public Opinion and His War With the Media

Axl Rose of Guns N' Roses performs during the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium in London.

This story is from the April 2, 1992 issue of Rolling Stone.

Only a few minutes ago, Axl Rose, sprawled on the floor of his Las Vegas hotel villa, mentioned his lack of privacy. Now, as if to prove his point, someone knocks on the door. Rose gets up to answer it, peering out into the darkness to find two breathless, carefully made-up fans who've somehow breached Guns n' Roses' security.

"I hope you know we went to a lot of trouble just to say hello to you," the first girl says. "I'm only here because she dragged me here," says the second. "I'm not a very big Guns n' Roses fan or anything."

Given Rose's reputation as a hothead, the predictable reaction would be irritation – or at the very least a wry, "see what I mean" smile. But Rose greets the giggly pair like a homeowner welcoming a group of trick-or-treaters. He invites them in and, smiling, begins asking them questions: Do you live here? What are your names? How did you find out where I was? As the story unravels – it turns out the two posed as call girls to extract his room number from a tight-lipped hotel clerk – Rose seems genuinely charmed. As do his visitors. They stick around for nearly an hour, and Rose is the perfect host – cracking jokes, offering them dinner, even laughing off their occasional barbs ("So, are you going on on time tomorrow, or what?"). By the time they leave, they've been made to feel as if it were the most natural thing in the world to barge in uninvited on a total stranger.

It's the evening before a sold-out show in late January, and Rose is in an extremely good mood. Catching the singer in this frame of mind at the scheduled time for an interview can seem like a blessing from above if you've ever been around him in the other mood. When Rose is feeling pressured or angry, talking to him is a lot like dodging bullets. He tends to rant, barely stopping for breath, and even the most innocent of comments can set him on edge. It is a distinctly uncomfortable feeling to be in a room alone with Axl Rose and see storm clouds suddenly gather on his face because of something you've just said. It is a feeling of wanting to get out, fast.

But Rose can be a disarming – and formidable – conversationalist if you catch him at the right time. When he is relaxed, he seems to delight in the challenge an interview presents, and it is all but impossible to rattle him. Tell him that much of the public views him as spoiled, and he'll surprise you by agreeing. Inform him that a character in Stephen King's latest novel describes him as an asshole, and he'll ask, ever hopeful, "Was it a good character or a bad character?" The thornier the issue, the more conviction Rose displays in offering his opinion.

During this conversation, Rose covered some especially rocky terrain. He talked about rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin's resignation from Guns n' Roses late last year. He addressed his tardiness to shows, his ongoing war with the media, his reputation as a misogynist, a homophobe, a bigot. Rose also talked in detail for the first time about childhood traumas that likely played a large part in shaping his volatile nature. He spoke about some highly disturbing memories involving his biological father that were dredged up in regression therapy and also leveled serious charges at his stepfather. (Rose's natural father could not be found for comment on the issues raised in this story; his relatives believe him to be dead. Rose's brother, his sister and a family friend corroborated the allegations concerning his stepfather. Rose's mother and stepfather declined comment.)

In talking about his early years, Rose grew soft-spoken and contemplative, displaying the rarely seen vulnerability that once prompted Sinéad O'Connor to remark that Rose made you want to "bring him home and give him a bowl of soup." Perhaps more than anything else, it is this surprising air of fragility, coupled with the hair-trigger temper that has all but become Rose's personal trademark, that makes him such a compelling figure.

The same evening this interview took place, Rose's sister, Amy, strolling through the Mirage Hotel, stopped to look at the royal white tigers the hotel keeps on display. She remarked how fascinating it was that a creature could be at once so ferocious and so gentle.

"Just like Axl," someone said absent-mindedly.

Amy laughed, realizing that she had unintentionally described her brother as well.

What do you think people are thinking about you these days?
I know it's a love-hate thing. There are people that are big fans and people that really hate me.

Do you get a sense that public opinion of you has changed?
A majority of what's in the press is negative. But I think that we're also gaining more fans, people of all different ages that really like what we're doing. There's a really good vibe in the crowd, a warm vibe.

What about St. Louis? After the riot, Rolling Stone got letters from people saying that they were fed up with your attitude and that you don't care about your fans anymore.
And that's why the riot happened? Is that what they're saying?

No. But I think the riot was a turning point in terms of public opinion of you.
Well, I think that the way the media covered it made me look completely responsible for it. I don't think I was the last straw. I think that the people who decided to start throwing stuff were the last straw. We have a big problem with the people that were at that concert. We gave them a ninety-minute show. We gave them what we were contracted to do, and we gave it good. They wanted more, and they felt that they could just have it, regardless of what happened to us or how we felt about it. When we say, "Fuck St. Louis," we're talking about the people that tore up the place. They know who they are – we're not talking about anybody else. Whether I jumped off the stage for a camera or not, that's not a good enough reason to tear the place down. It was announced that we would come back onstage, and they were more into the riot than even the band playing.

One thing that has people exasperated is the late show times. Why do you go on so late?
I pretty much follow my own internal clock, and I perform better later at night. Nothing seems to work out for me until later at night. And it is our show. I don't want to make people sit around and wait – it drives me nuts. That hour-and-a-half or two-hour time period that I'm late going onstage is living hell, because I'm wishing there was any way on earth I could get out of where I am and knowing I'm not going to be able to make it. I'm late to everything. I've always wanted to have it written in my will that when I die, the coffin shows up a half-hour late and says on the side, like in gold, Sorry I'm late.

What goes on before you take the stage? What actually makes you late?
The chiropractor we work with on the road tapes my ankles professionally. I kept twisting my ankles during shows, and it still happens now and then. I have weak ankles, always have. I used to run cross-country, and that was one of the things that got in the way of that. So I work with a chiropractor. I work with a massage therapist, because I put a lot of stress in my lower back, and with what I do onstage, there's a lot of rebuilding that has to be done. There's operatic voice exercises. And I started therapy in February [1991] and, Jesus, I'm right in the middle of stuff. I mean, if a heavy emotional issue surfaces and you've got a show in four hours, you have to figure out how to get that sorted out really quick before you get onstage so that you're not in the middle of "Jungle" and have a breakdown. The pressure of having to do the show when whatever else is going on in my life is hard to get past. We did a show in Finland where I just couldn't understand why I was doing what I was doing. I sat down while I was singing "Civil War," and I was kind of looking at my lips while I was singing and looking at the microphone and looking at the roadies, and everything just shut off. Well, that doesn't make for a very good show. We're out there to win at what we do. And if that means going on two hours late and doing a good show, I'm gonna do it. I take what I do very seriously.

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Eddie Van Halen Donates 75 of His Guitars to Public Schools

Eddie Van Halen and Executive Director Felice Mancini pose with some of the 75 guitars donated to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation.

In a collaboration with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, Eddie Van Halen has donated 75 guitars to L.A.-area schools. "Music education and families are dealing with the economic times," said the guitarist in a statement, "and I wanted to help them."

Playing music has provided a good life for him, said Van Halen, and he hopes to pass along that gift. "Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me," he said. The guitars came from Van Halen's personal collection.

The band Van Halen, recently reunited with singer David Lee Roth, is currently preparing to go on tour to support  their first album since 1998, A Different Kind of Truth, which is due next month.  

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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Eddie Van Halen Donates 75 of His Guitars to Public Schools

Eddie Van Halen and Executive Director Felice Mancini pose with some of the 75 guitars donated to the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation.

In a collaboration with the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, Eddie Van Halen has donated 75 guitars to L.A.-area schools. "Music education and families are dealing with the economic times," said the guitarist in a statement, "and I wanted to help them."

Playing music has provided a good life for him, said Van Halen, and he hopes to pass along that gift. "Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me," he said. The guitars came from Van Halen's personal collection.

The band Van Halen, recently reunited with singer David Lee Roth, is currently preparing to go on tour to support  their first album since 1998, A Different Kind of Truth, which is due next month.  

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Find music selection in Amazon here

Read more »