Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose stops show to call out spotlight operator: ‘Please shut it the f**k off’

Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose made headlines when he stopped in the middle of a song on the Australian leg of the band’s world tour to call out production staff over the use of a spotlight that annoyed the 60-year-old rock and roll bad boy.

The action went down at a Saturday show at the Melbourne Cricket Ground – the first at the venue since the COVID pandemic – when the singer abruptly halted during the band’s rendition of its 1991 hit “You Could Be Mine” which was featured in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s box office smash “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” to curse at the worker with the spotlight.

“OK this is to the spotlight that I’m pointing at,” Rose said after stopping the music. “I don’t know what your deal is but I’ve asked you to shut that off about ten times now.”

“I really want to do the show for the people and I don’t want to be blind,” he said. “I don’t know what’s wrong with the light, I can’t seem to fix it,” as he apologized to the crowd, saying that the band would start over again.

“That one sucks, please shut it the f**k off,” he said before the show resumed.

Rose’s disagreement with the spotlight operator came days after controversy erupted after a show in Adelaide where a woman in the crowd was badly injured when she was reportedly struck in the face by a microphone thrown by the singer, leaving her with two black eyes and a busted nose

“What if it was a couple of inches to the right or left? I could have lost an eye … what if it hit me in the mouth and I broke my teeth?” Rebecca Howe told the Adelaide Advertiser. “If my head was turned and it hit me in the temple, it could have killed me.”

(Screengrab: The Daily Mail)

Rose responded to the incident in a statement, “It’s come to my attention that a fan may have been hurt at r show in Adelaide Australia possibly being hit by the microphone at the end of the show when I traditionally toss the mic to fans,” Rose said.  “If true obviously we don’t want anyone getting hurt or to somehow in anyway hurt anyone at any of r show anywhere.”

‘Having tossed the mic at the end of r show for over 30 years we always felt it was a known part of the very end of r performance that fans wanted and were aware of to have an opportunity to catch the mic,’ he added. “Regardless in the interest of public safety from now on we’ll refrain from tossing the mic or anything to fans during or at r performances.”

“Unfortunately there r those that for their own reasons chose to frame their reporting regarding this subject in a more negative n’ irresponsible out of nowhere light which couldn’t be further from reality. We hope the public and of course r fans get that sometimes happens,” he said before closing the statement with “A BIG THANKS to everyone for understanding.”

The band will wrap up the Australia/New Zealand trip with shows in Wellington an Auckland NZ this week.

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Chris Donaldson

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