Last night Axl stated the real reason he did not attend. Rose said, "Quite simply the reason is that I'm offended. We went though a lot of crap to achieve what we did. There were bands we toured with who are great rock bands and they ain't in the Hall. Everyone can say the real reason is that I hate Slash. Well, I do hate Slash but he isn't going to stop me from going where I want to go. The reason I didn't go to Cleveland is that The Beastie Boys aren't rock. They don't belong in the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Quite honestly, I think they suck."
"I'm not complaining about The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It's debatable if they are rock but I've done cocaine with Flea and he's cool. But to let The Beastie Boys in and keep out bands like Kiss out is an outrage. The Beastie Boys play some kind of rap garbage. I'm not sure what they play because I can't stand to listen to very much of it. I did not show up as a form of protest. When they quit letting bands that clearly aren't rock in and let some classic hard rocks in that deserve to be there, then I may actually attend The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But right now, I think they need to consider changing the name to something that doesn't say rock in it. Maybe call it The Hall of Crappy Band Who Made A lot of Fatcat Music Execs Filthy Rich. But if it is about rock, then The Beastie Boys shouldn't even be allowed to serve as waiters there."
Ask if he would be attending any of the parties surrounding the event, Axl answered, "Is Ted Nuggent armed and dangerous? Of course I'm going to party!"
