Guns N Roses Music Group

Rock 'n' roll is in the hot seat again. Call it media hype or justifiable outrage, but an acrimonious debate is raging over whether hard-rock heavyweights Guns N' Roses--as well as rap idols Public Enemy and speed-metal kings Slayer--are promoting bigotry and hatred. Guns N' Roses has been under fire for a host of inflammatory lyrics in its song "One in a Million," which uses derogatory epithets to describe blacks and gays.

The downfall of Soviet Communism took 70 years, but "Chinese Democracy" appears to be in jeopardy after just two weeks. The Guns N' Roses album that was 17 years in the making climbed only as high as No. 3 when it debuted on the national sales chart. It has tumbled to No. 18 in its second week of release. That's a disturbing sign for the most expensive to produce album ever in rock, the cost once estimated at $13 million.

Patti Tate is thinking back. It's the summer of '69, and she's got her hands on her sister's stomach, feeling the baby inside kick. She was 11 years old then and her 26-year-old sister, actress Sharon Tate, was two weeks away from having her first baby. But on a hot August night, followers of Charles Manson killed seven people, including Sharon Tate, who was repeatedly stabbed as she pleaded for her life and that of her unborn child. "My sister was everything to me," said Tate, 36.

Enjoy Dr Pepper at 10, 2 and . . . 11/23? Everyone in the United States can claim a free beverage from the soft drink company on that date, thanks to Guns N' Roses. Earlier this year, Dr Pepper officials teased that they would give everyone in the country a free can if GNR's "Chinese Democracy" arrived before the year was out. It was part of a whimsical promotion connecting the long-gestating album with the soft drink.

Lots of people think the world's greatest rock band will be on stage this week when the Rolling Stones and Guns N' Roses appear at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but don't assume they're all referring to the Stones. The Stones have been called the world's greatest band for so long now that no one even considered the possibility on past tours of another group actually upstaging the masters.

The downfall of Soviet Communism took 70 years, but "Chinese Democracy" appears to be in jeopardy after just two weeks. The Guns N' Roses album that was 17 years in the making climbed only as high as No. 3 when it debuted on the national sales chart. It has tumbled to No. 18 in its second week of release. That's a disturbing sign for the most expensive to produce album ever in rock, the cost once estimated at $13 million.

Guns N' Roses is considering removing its version of a song by mass murderer Charles Manson from future copies of its new album, sources close to the Los Angeles hard rock group said Tuesday. The composition, "Look at Your Game, Girl," which appears on "The Spaghetti Incident?" album released last week, has come under fire from law enforcement and victims rights groups, as well as from the head of the band's record company, entertainment mogul David Geffen.

No extra security is planned inside the Pacific Amphitheatre for Thursday's Guns N' Roses show, even though 60 people were injured in a riot when the band played St. Louis recently. "We feel that we prepared well in the beginning," Susan Rosenbluth, the Pacific's general manager, said Tuesday. She noted that Nederlander West Inc., operators of the amphitheater, also promoted two Guns N' Roses concerts in May at the Pantages Theatre in Los Angeles and that there were no security problems.

The 48,000 rock fans at Giants Stadium are impatient as the clock moves past the midnight hour. It has been almost 90 minutes since Metallica ended its blistering set, yet there is still no sign of Guns N' Roses. "Where the hell is Axl?" shouts a young man wearing a bright new Guns N' Roses T-shirt. Other fans near him raise their fists as if also demanding an answer. "Yeah," screams another youth. "Maybe he's in jail in St. Louis." The fans nearby howl with laughter.

Heavy metal rock fans went on a rampage in Montreal after a sold-out concert by Guns N' Roses and Metallica was cut short. Metallica ended its portion of the concert early after lead singer James Hetfield suffered second-degree burns when a stage prop exploded. Then Guns N' Roses shortened its appearance after singer Axl Rose developed a voice problem. Witnesses in the crowd of 53,000 said the riot erupted as concert-goers left the Olympic Stadium.

You win some, you lose one. Guns N' Roses has landed a new management team headed by veteran rock manager Irving Azoff just as the band abruptly learned that guitarist Robin Finck is returning to his place in Nine Inch Nails for that band's summer tour, which reaches the Forum on Sept. 6. "Robin's plans caught everyone in Guns, as well as our fans, a bit off-guard," reads a post on GNR's website. "Neither we nor management, etc., know any more in this regard and we prefer not to speculate or offer opinions at this time."

Guns N' Roses fans are going to have to wait a little longer for the band's next album. Axl Rose now says "Chinese Democracy" will hit stores March 6. Seven months ago, the 44-year-old rock recluse emerged from seclusion and claimed the album -- a decade in the making -- would be out before the end of the year.

Guns N' Roses canceled a performance in Portland, Maine, this week after being told by state officials that the band could not drink on stage. Inspectors from the state fire marshal's office gave the band the no-drinking order when they came to look over the pyrotechnics planned for Monday's scheduled concert at the Cumberland County Civic Center, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Public Safety Department.

For the tattooed members of the band Guns N' Roses, paradise city has become an unwelcome legal jungle. Former Guns N' Roses members Slash and Duff, otherwise known as Saul Hudson and Michael McKagan, are suing band leader Axl Rose for the second time in less than two years. The latest complaint, filed Aug.

Guns N' Roses took one step forward and one step back last week, entering the national sales chart at No. 3 with "Greatest Hits" the same day singer Axl Rose announced that the beleaguered band was canceling plans to venture out in public again to headline the annual Rock in Rio festival in Lisbon.

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit brought by Axl Rose and other members of Guns N' Roses to try to prevent Geffen Records from releasing a greatest hits album by the hard-rock band. The album will be issued as scheduled on Tuesday, according to a record company spokesman. Rose had patched up differences with former GNR guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan enough to join forces in the suit, filed last Friday in U.S.

Controversial rapper Ice-T has been "vetoed" from appearing on the Guns N' Roses/Metallica concert bills Sunday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and Oct. 3 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. The rapper, whose song "Cop Killer" was the focus this summer of a national debate over lyric content in music, is doing at least five dates with the two rock bands--including Oakland tonight and San Diego on Wednesday.

Guns N' Roses canceled a concert tonight near Chicago after the rock group's sound equipment was destroyed during a melee Tuesday night following an abbreviated performance outside St. Louis. "It was a full-fledged riot," Carl Middleman, a reporter for St. Louis radio station KSHE-FM, said Wednesday. The disturbance erupted at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Mo.

The first Guns N' Roses tour in nine years is over after just a month and will be remembered as a road run that began and ended with booing fans and an empty stage. The "Chinese Democracy" tour has been called off by Clear Channel Entertainment, the promoter that did not cite a reason for the surrender in its terse news release. The reasons were evident in the arenas, however, where on too many nights, either the fans or the band didn't show up as expected.

The uncertain saga of the Guns N' Roses tour took another twist Tuesday as six upcoming shows were canceled, including stops in San Jose, Sacramento and tonight's scheduled performance in Greenville, S.C. A spokesman for Clear Channel, the promoter for the tour, said there was no new information about other dates and pointed out that tickets remain on sale for two Southern California stops, Jan. 3 at the Forum in Inglewood and Dec. 27 at the San Diego Sports Arena.