Stop Axl Rose from using the name Guns N Roses

This petition is for singer W. Axl Rose to stop using the name Guns 'N Roses on future tours and albums. And that the Guns N Roses name should only be used if Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan are in the band. Axl should not tour as Guns N Roses and the "Chinese Democracy" album should not continued to be promoted as a forthcoming Guns N Roses release.

The original version of Guns N Roses that became world famous in the late 80's featured Rose, Slash, McKagan, guitarist Izzy Stradlin' and drummer Steven Adler. Together, they recorded one of the most successful debut albums of all time, 1987's "Appetite For Destruction."

After Adler and Stradlin's departure from the group in the early 90's, Rose, Slash and McKagan carried on with the Guns N Roses name. And helped the band become one of the biggest acts in rock. They embarked on hugely successful world tour. Then in the mid-90's Slash and McKagan left the group, leaving Axl as the sole remaining member from the "Appetite" era lineup.

Despite this, Rose has continued to tour and release new music using the Guns N Roses name. He released "Oh My God" and a re-recorded version of the GnR hit "Sweet Child " Mine" in the late 90's. He performed 2 concerts in 2001 and a world tour in 2002. And in 2006 he announced plans to tour the world and release a new album as Guns N Roses.

Rose believes he has the right to do this because he originally formed the band back in 1985 and owns the rights to the Guns N Roses name. However, the version of Guns N Roses Axl put together back in 1985 was not the one that became known and loved by music fans all over the world. It featured guitarist Tracii Guns, Stradlin', bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner and they were only together for a few months. They only played a handful of club shows and recorded no new music. Only after Slash, McKagan and Adler were brought into the lineup did Guns N Roses tour and land a record deal.

Furthermore, Axl Rose was never the primiary songwriter in the band. Most of the well known hits were a collaborative effort between Rose, Stradlin' and Slash. 10 of the 12 songs on "Appetite For Destruction" are credited as being written by the entire band. And by 1993, Rose, Slash and McKagan had become the recognized faces of Guns N Roses both in concert and in videos.

Furthermore, the way that Axl gained the rights to the GnR name was equivalent to blackmail. On the eve of the group's 1991 world tour, he treatened to cancel the tour and break up the band if McKagan & Slash didn't sign away their rights to the name.

Axl Rose is not Guns N Roses. His decision to carry on using the name without any of the people that made the band famous is an insult to the memory of a great band and it's former members. He should call his future musical projects something else.