Guns N’ Roses ‘faggot’ track cut from album reissue
Axl Rose (L), lead singer of the US rock band Guns N’ Roses, performs with Slash at Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 27, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Scanpix Denmark / Mads Joakim Rimer Rasmussen / Denmark OUT (Photo credit should read MADS JOAKIM RIMER RASMUSSEN/AFP/Getty Images)
A controversial song featuring homophobic and racist language has been omitted from a major reissue of Guns N’ Roses’ debut studio album.
The rock giants’ track “One in a Million” includes the words “n******” and “faggots” and was defended amid controversy by frontman Axl Rose shortly after the song’s release in 1988.
It appeared on an EP called G N’ R Lies, which sold more than 5 million copies in the US.
All the tracks from the record have now been repackaged and feature on a disc of B-sides being released alongside a remastered Appetite for Destruction, the album which established Guns N’ Roses and began their rise to become one of the world’s most successful rock bands.
Axl Rose and guitarist Slash still perform with Guns N’ Roses (Getty)
All, that is, except for “One in a Million,” which includes lyrics such as: “Police and n******, that’s right / Get outta my way / Don’t need to buy none of your gold chains today.”
Another line goes: “Immigrants and faggots / They make no sense to me / They come to our country / And think they’ll do as they please / Like start some mini-Iran / Or spread some f***ing disease / And they talk so many goddamn ways / It’s all Greek to me.”
The song was written by Rose and is said to have been based on personal experiences. A year after its release, he told Rolling Stone magazine: “Why can black people go up to each other and say, ‘n*****,’ but when a white guy does it all of a sudden it’s a big put down?
“I don’t like boundaries of any kind. I don’t like being told what I can and what I can’t say.
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“I used the word ‘n*****’ because it’s a word to describe somebody that is basically a pain in your life, a problem.”
Of the use of a homophobic slur, he said: “I’ve had some very bad experiences with homosexuals.
“When I was first coming to Los Angeles, I was about 18 or 19.
“On my first hitchhiking ride, this guy told me I could crash at his hotel. I went to sleep and woke up while this guy was trying to rape me.”
Last year, Sir Elton John, who has performed with Rose since 1988, said he had never felt the star was homophobic.
“I’m always a supporter of the people that are getting trashed,” he told Rolling Stone. “Never in a million years did I think [he] was homophobic.”
Guns N’ Roses are reissuing Appetite for Destruction, first released in 1987, in a variety of forms next month. “One in a Million” has been omitted from the CD of “B-sides, EPs N’ More” which can be bought with the remastered Appetite for Destruction from $20 (£15).
A “Locked N’ Loaded” edition, described as the “one true G N’ R holy grail,” comes in an embossed faux leather and wood cabinet and will set back fans $999 (£750).
PinkNews has contacted representatives of the band for comment.
