Net worth of some rock stars list here:
http://songmango.com/rock-riches-the-net-worth-of-your-favorite-rock-stars/
How can Axl Rose be worth that much? I know he has a few songs in heavy rotation, but how can he possibly be worth more than a Bob Dylan? Or 20 times as much as Robbie Robertson, who has the whole Band catalog paying royalties to him?
Axl also struck me as a prudent investor.
Only $150M according to this site:
http://richestcelebrities.org/richest-rock-stars/axl-rose-net-worth/
But still, that's really shocking and sad given his level of talent, drug addiction, overall personality, and level of contribution to society. I think he'd have been lucky to net $100k. The fact that he's worth $150M confirms my atheist leanings.
Guns N Roses was pretty huge and sold a lot of albums.
I guess Axl owned the rights to everything.
I wonder if Axl got royalties for people trying to play Slash solos on Guitar Hero.
How old are you?
Anyone who lived through the 80's knows just how huge GNR were and they still have a massive loyal following.
I believe he also owns the GNR name.
Mojo Jerkin wrote:
Net worth of some rock stars list here:
http://songmango.com/rock-riches-the-net-worth-of-your-favorite-rock-stars/How can Axl Rose be worth that much? I know he has a few songs in heavy rotation, but how can he possibly be worth more than a Bob Dylan? Or 20 times as much as Robbie Robertson, who has the whole Band catalog paying royalties to him?
They had a few absolutely huge records and he has publishing on them for sure but he also has been touring as guns n roses (before tbis reunion tour) not just domestically but a shit ton abroad and musicians make the majority of their money touring. Dylan has been on the road forever but his shows are much smaller scale and don't generate as much money as a g n r show. They have been selling out stadiums abroad for a while. Robbie Robertson didn't tour on the scale of g n r certainly not when he could have been making a fortune. The artists you mention had their peaks a long time ago. Look at artists now, I'm sure Bieber is worth more than all of them. Talent or quality of songs doesn't mean that you're going to make more money than someone less talented. Truthfully, Dylan hasn't put out a good record since maybe New Morning and Robbie Robertson didn't have a ton of success post Band. In addition, Dylan is absolutely awful and I mean just atrocious live. Axl doesn't sound like the 80s and 90s but he's doing a much better approximation that Dylan. When you see Dylan play it's hard to even recognize which song is which. G n R are much better live but I'm not in love with their drummer. He's nice as shit but his drumming is just ok to me. I have played gigs with Dylan and have opened for Guns n Roses too and G n R are by far the better band live.
I saw them live in 1993 or 1994, in Denver. Use Your Illusion/Metallica Black album tour. Opener was Body Count, and then Metallica played. Both were excellent. Then GnR came on...
Axl walked off stage halfway through the set because, as I recall, he had a hangnail (that's what was reported by the press, at least, after the show). I lost all remaining respect for him that day. He'd done some other stuff on that tour, including inciting a riot somewhere in Canada.
I was never a huge GnR fan; I was at that show primarily for Metallica. But to this day the lack of professionalism I saw in that show still annoys the hell out of me and I change to a different station if a GnR song comes on. Axl's voice sounds to me like cats f*cking.
Axl is an a-hole wrote:
I saw them live in 1993 or 1994, in Denver. Use Your Illusion/Metallica Black album tour. Opener was Body Count, and then Metallica played. Both were excellent. Then GnR came on...
Axl walked off stage halfway through the set because, as I recall, he had a hangnail (that's what was reported by the press, at least, after the show). I lost all remaining respect for him that day. He'd done some other stuff on that tour, including inciting a riot somewhere in Canada.
I was never a huge GnR fan; I was at that show primarily for Metallica. But to this day the lack of professionalism I saw in that show still annoys the hell out of me and I change to a different station if a GnR song comes on. Axl's voice sounds to me like cats f*cking.
Axl has a terrible track record when it comes to performing at scheduled concerts. If it weren't for his drug use and flakiness, he'd probably be worth north of $500 million.
You mean that Axl Rose is a doper?
Axl is an a-hole wrote:
I saw them live in 1993 or 1994, in Denver. Use Your Illusion/Metallica Black album tour. Opener was Body Count, and then Metallica played. Both were excellent. Then GnR came on...
Axl walked off stage halfway through the set because, as I recall, he had a hangnail (that's what was reported by the press, at least, after the show). I lost all remaining respect for him that day. He'd done some other stuff on that tour, including inciting a riot somewhere in Canada.
I was never a huge GnR fan; I was at that show primarily for Metallica. But to this day the lack of professionalism I saw in that show still annoys the hell out of me and I change to a different station if a GnR song comes on. Axl's voice sounds to me like cats f*cking.
While that kind of behavior is well documented for sure and he's been a total jerk in the past, but from my experience (firsthand) is that he's a super nice guy. He personally employs a shit ton of people as their crew full time and pays them all well and they all love him. He treats everyone really well and they are loyal. I played with them I think four years ago and I used to see the drummer around at odd gigs here and there (super nice dude) and I'm pretty sure he keeps all the band members on a $100,000 retainer yearly plus of course they make a shit ton of cash recording. Not to mention, for this reunion tour, he didn't fire any of the current lineup when Slash and co came back on board. So yeah I'm sure he acted out 20 years ago especially when he was some drug addict alcoholic but he's a pretty solid guy from my experience with him and people I know who work for him.
Axl is an a-hole wrote:
I saw them live in 1993 or 1994, in Denver. Use Your Illusion/Metallica Black album tour. Opener was Body Count, and then Metallica played. Both were excellent. Then GnR came on...
Axl walked off stage halfway through the set because, as I recall, he had a hangnail (that's what was reported by the press, at least, after the show). I lost all remaining respect for him that day. He'd done some other stuff on that tour, including inciting a riot somewhere in Canada.
I was never a huge GnR fan; I was at that show primarily for Metallica. But to this day the lack of professionalism I saw in that show still annoys the hell out of me and I change to a different station if a GnR song comes on. Axl's voice sounds to me like cats f*cking.
One more thing, I thought the same thing about him until I played with him and he was the opposite of what I thought of him. He showed up late to the gig and then the band proceeded to play for three hours. Behind the scenes a solid dude. And no, I'm not a huge fan at all so no nut riding here.
Mojo Jerkin wrote:
Net worth of some rock stars list here:
http://songmango.com/rock-riches-the-net-worth-of-your-favorite-rock-stars/How can Axl Rose be worth that much? I know he has a few songs in heavy rotation, but how can he possibly be worth more than a Bob Dylan? Or 20 times as much as Robbie Robertson, who has the whole Band catalog paying royalties to him?
Justin Bieber is worth $200 million. Yes. That no talent arse clown with no song writing or vocal ability is worth $200 million.
Axl wrote & performed for decades and is ONLY worth that much.
Axl owns the rights to use the term "Guns N' Roses" on whatever he wants - which is worth an absolute fortune. He took that right from the other founding members back in the mid-90s. He owns it exclusively.
Appetite for Destruction has sold over 18 million copies in the US and 30 million worldwide.
Use Your Illusions (1 and 2) were released at the same time. And were ranked #2 and #1 on the sales charts respectively when released. Both albums have sold over 7 million copies each.
And Axl has regularly toured as Guns N Roses- he kept the profits of a show and paid all of the non-founding members as hired help. So he was pocketing millions off of each of the tours that did not feature the original lineup. Even though they were not selling out major stadiums, the various tours and Vegas stint made Axl a lot of money.
In this latest tour and reunion with Slash, the three founding members are splitting profits and the remaining players on stage are hired help. From what I have read so far, they are making millions off of each show and there are 25 in the US alone. They are going to embark on the South American tour later this fall and I am sure a visit to Europe will be announced.
Thus far, the shows in the US have all received AMAZING reviews. I was at the show in Foxboro and was blown away. Axl is going to make a BOATLOAD of additional money in the next few years.
Do you know how much you make from owning song rights to massively popular songs? He has writing credits on several songs that are considered among the best rock songs ever.
Think about this - you ever see Hootie and the Blowfish stressing out?
They don't need to work anymore strictly because of Cracked Rear View.
Mojo Jerkin wrote:
Net worth of some rock stars list here:
http://songmango.com/rock-riches-the-net-worth-of-your-favorite-rock-stars/How can Axl Rose be worth that much? I know he has a few songs in heavy rotation, but how can he possibly be worth more than a Bob Dylan? Or 20 times as much as Robbie Robertson, who has the whole Band catalog paying royalties to him?
What could possibly make you think Robbie Robertson would be worth anywhere near what Axl Rose is worth. Hardly a day goes by that I don't hear a GNR song somewhere. The Band was great, but they're more of a critical sensation than a commercial one. Name a couple big hits they had (in terms of sales). Their albums hardly rated commercially.
To quote my favorite guitarist. "Money for nothing and your chicks for free"
Royalties. GnR sold a boatload of music and they still do. I don't know why but people love crap rock. And $200 mil is nothing these days. He is a lite weight.
Wife and I have seen the "reunion" tour in Detroit and Pittsburgh. Fantastic shows (really it's Slash that steals the show). That said, Axl has been great. On time, plays nearly 3 hours, and on stage it looks like he is having fun. Smiling, laughing.
We will probably try to see them one more time before the North America tour ends.
JAKIR wrote:
Dylan is absolutely awful and I mean just atrocious live.
That was not my experience. I saw him once at a festival and enjoyed his performance.
Other people have already made great points, but I will throw in the fact that Axl said in an interview that he quit drinking (and I got the impression all substances as well) for like 15 years just because he didn't really enjoy it. My impression is that he was out of control with drugs for a brief period in the 80s but straightened out and actually was constantly yelling at the other members of GnR because of their drug use. He even staged an intervention for Sebastian Bach and I think another couple of people. So, it's a misconception that he's a drug addict as I believe his substance use pales in comparison to that of many of the troubled musicians we think of. He definitely had major emotional issues when he was younger that are well documented, but he strikes me as a pretty intelligent and sensitive guy who struggled with anger and sensitivity when he was young, so I'm not surprised that he had done well financially given the other factors people have mentioned.
Also, I saw the reunion tour and my hopes were low after hearing Axl struggle on concert videos years ago, but they all sounded fantastic including Axl.