The hottest new showbiz blood feud: Axl Rose vs. Irving Azoff

OK, I admit it. As much as I love show business, when it comes to guilty pleasures, there's really nothing so marvelous as a showbiz feud. (And by show business, I also mean the media biz, since after all, the media biz has become even more showbizzy than show business itself). Even though politics has produced some colorful feuds over the years, show business is in a class by itself when it comes to nasty invective, bitterness and vitriol.

Just think about it. Whether it's David Letterman vs. Jay Leno, Scott Rudin vs. Harvey Weinstein, Jeffrey Katzenberg vs. Michael Eisner, Keith Olbermann vs. Bill O'Reilly or Nikki Finke vs. Jeff Zucker, Hollywood can almost always deliver a real doozy of a blood feud. And don't think journalists can't huff and puff and piss on each other with the best of 'em, as is evidenced by the great little donnybrook happening right now between Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff and Newsweek writer Jonathan Alter, who've been at each others throats after Wolff puckishly dubbed Alter "the most pompous man in American journalism."

But now we can add a wonderful new duo to our cask of great feuding antagonists: Axl Rose and Irving Azoff. As the Hollywood Reporter legal blogger Eriq Gardner reports in this delightful post, the Guns N' Roses singer has filed an eye-popping countersuit against Azoff, his former manager, claiming that Azoff, among other things, "tried to implement a scheme to force [Rose] to reunite with the original Guns N' Roses band members and, as part of the plot, failed to properly promote the 'Chinese Democracy' album, lied about a prospective Van Halen super tour and mishandled the band's tour dates."

Rose wants $5 million in damages from Azoff, who is now arguably the most powerful man in the music business. With the merger between Live Nation and Ticketmaster, Azoff now controls roughly 70% of the concert ticket market (via Ticketmaster), a huge swath of the live concert business (through Live Nation) and handles the careers of roughly 200 top artists (from the Eagles, Van Halen and Christina Aguilera to Willie Nelson and the Kings of Leon) thanks to Azoff's Front Line Management.

So Rose isn't taking on just anybody. In fact, in his suit, he says that Azoff is violating the government's consent decree (which allowed the merger to happen in the first place) by coercing and bullying artists to do what he wants. In Rose's case, he claims Azoff wanted a Guns N' Roses reunion. So Rose claims that Azoff proceeded to sabotage Rose and his new band so Rose would have no option but to reunite the old band. As the filing puts it: "Upon realizing that he couldn't bully Rose and accomplish his scheme, Azoff resigned and abandoned Guns N' Roses on the eve of a major tour, filing suit for commissions he didn't earn and had no right to receive."

There's oh-so-much more. But surely one of the highlights is Azoff's response to the countersuit. When the Reporter's Gardner contacted longtime Azoff lawyer Howard King, volunteering some of the highlights of the claim, King quipped: "[Rose] didn't accuse Irving of being on the grassy knoll in Dallas on November 22, 1963?" Over the years, Azoff has been in the midst of a number of outlandish feuds, going at it with the likes of David Geffen and former CBS Records chief Walter Yetnikoff, so I suspect there will be more fireworks yet to come. 

Like so many years ago, when Azoff didn't like a story I'd written about the Eagles' Don Henley, he sent me a giant bouquet of black roses. When Azoff had a falling-out with the wife of a high-powered rock manager, he sent him a gift-wrapped boa constrictor as a birthday present, with a note saying, "Now you have two of them!" If I were Axl Rose, I'd be having someone opening my mail for a while. Who knows what kind of blood-curdling surprise Azoff may have in store for him?

Photo: Axl Rose performing in concert at Centenario Stadium in Uruguay in March. Credit: Patricia Torres / European Pressphoto Agency

Comments

[MArk]

Go get um Axl!

[The Royal One]

First, we'll establish Truth, and work from there:

Love them, or hate them, Guns N' Roses were the most influential American
rock band in the last 30-years. The "Grunge" era, would've never even have
happened, if G N' R had not disbanded. The void they created (at the time)
in Rock music, cannot be overstated. Honestly, I wasn't even a big
fan, but being in both Radio and Music, they could not be denied.

In this corner, the "Music" Industry: Cheats, thieves, fakers, and pretenders.
And those, are just their "success-stories"

[David Konow]

Axl finally has the manager he deserves, couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[Italianvixen]

"Who knows what kind of blood-curling surprise Azoff may have in store for him? "

I believe the correct phrase is "blood curdling".

[melusine]

This is just another way for Mr. William "Axl Rose" Bailey to blame his shortcomings on something besides himself.

[dascha]

It appears more Seniors making news again. This time it's Azoff (becoming a grumpy old bipolar freak-out) and aging rock bands. We need more rock bands folks! Be creative, the broken records will be just that after these guys are gone. Rap had its share the last 20 years and country... well, it needs to go more backwards by design as well!!

No "rock-n-roll" rules here, just common sense looking at the FUTURE of the music industry, concerts (don't forget your iphone/android, no lighter) and the personalities that build audience perceptions in front and behind the stage.
Otherwise, let's all stay home and curf the Internet as protest to making I.A. richer than his wildest dreams!

[Peter]

MArk,
Are you serious? Where does that leave Steve Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith? Guess they just have to wait their turn for superstardom while GNR dominates the top spot as the most influential rock band in the States over the last 30 years. Puhlease.

[Fred T]

Axl who? Was he in Abba?

[PAUL OLIVAS]

handle your biz Axle. He has probably hurt a lot more people

[Steve Meyer]

So, let me get this right: Axl thinks Mr. Azoff intentionally sabotaged his album?
Yo, Axl...wake up. As a manager Mr. Azoff wants nothing more than any and all of his artists to sell the most records possible so he makes more money when the artists tour, etc.
Axl Rose's fans didn't but 'Chinese Democracy' like previous G&R albums because it wasn't as good. Period. (And nothing was stopping millions from buying it anywhere)
If Mr. Azoff did suggest a G&R reunion tour, he was giving Axl good advice. That tour would have make BIG news and generated BIG revenues.
This sounds like the last act of 'A Desperate man'