Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose sat down with USA Today late last month for a rare interview that covered a lot of topics including the state of the music industry, his skipping the Rock Hall induction and the odds of a truce with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates. Below are excerpts from that conversation. The music industry now: "It's horrible. It has nothing to do with music. I'm not trying to be bitter or cynical, but it's an ugly business. People want you to care about them or their lives, their kids, but in the end, you're just a commodity. I don't feel that way about this Guns lineup. I'm not trying to use them. I have to treat it like a business, but I don't want to make decisions that are detrimental to anyone's welfare."
Skipping the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction: "It wasn't painful to not be there. It was a beating to deal with all the pressure of feeling I was supposed to be there and deciding what to do. I try to be respectful about getting an honor or recognition, but I don't really know what the Rock Hall actually is. In my experience with the people who run it, I don't see it having to do with anything other than them making money."
The odds of a Guns truce: "I feel that ball's not in my court. I'm surviving this war, not the one who created this war." Read the full interview here.
