W. Axl Rose (Pan Macmillan)

Axl Rose is one of rock's most colourful figures and yet his story has never been properly told until now. Mick Wall knew the original line-up of Guns N' Roses before they were famous and has interviewed them many times. Drawing on exclusive unpublished material he has written a no-holds-barred study of the turbulent life and career of the group's singer and leader. Wall describes Axl's difficult childhood in Indiana and how, after escaping to LA, he and his fledgling band struggled to survive until they were signed up by Geffen in 1986.The first album, "Appetite for Destruction", turned them into stars but the band's lurid lifestyle took its toll - they embarked on a two-year tour that sounded the death knell for the original line-up. As their lives slipped out of control, the original members bar Axl all left. Axl himself turned into an increasingly reclusive figure, working on the long-awaited "Chinese Democracy" album. In 2006 he re-emerged into public view as Guns N' Roses embarked on a world tour. Scrupulously researched and vividly written, "W. Axl Rose" is an explosive biography of one of rock's biggest living legends.