Guns N’ Roses shocked the rock world with their seminal debut album Appetite for Destruction in
1987. It would go on to become one of the biggest selling albums of all time and while the band
waited to record their next full length follow up, they released a stop-gap EP, in 1988’ titled GN’R
Lies. While successful, the EP ignited a media firestorm over one song . Today we’re going to
talk about the controversy over the song and how some people rushed to the band’s defence.
Appetite for Destruction was a slow burn for Guns N’ Roses. The band’s label Geffen Records almost
gave up on the album after sales failed to surpass 300,000 copies. But a year of touring with high
profile acts including the Cult, Aerosmith and Iron Maiden, along with MTV finally deciding to
play Welcome to the Jungle, along with Sweet Child of Mine turned the band’s fortune around and by
the end of 1988 the record sold over 6 million copies. And this was despite the fact that many
whole salers refused to carry the record because of offensive language and content on the record.
To serve as a stop gap between Guns N’ Roses next full length release, the band cut GN’r
Lies. The EP consisted of old material with one side, which was made up of tGuns N’ roses
first EP released in 1986. That EP only had 5-10K copies made and with the band’s new found fame,
some people were selling it for exorbitant prices.Frontman Axl Rose resented this and wanted
fans to have a chance to listen to those songs so the band included those 4 tracks on GN’R Lies.
The other side of the EP consisted of new material including the songs “patience”, “used
to love her”, “a slowed down version of You’re Crazy” which was on Appetite for Destruction
and of course today’s topic of discussion One in a million. One in a Million tells the story of a
small town white boy coming to the big city and is really about frontman Axl Rose’s experience
at the greyhound bus station and convenience stores in Los Angeles. The song was accused of
promoting homophobia, nationalism, and racism. I wanna make it clear I am not here to take one
side or the other today, but rather talk about the controversy and give an objective look at the song
and let you in the audience make your minds. Released on November 29, 1988, GN’R Lies was
reviewed by the band’s hometown paper The LA Times who on December 4th stated the following: Clearly,
“One in a Million"--with its abhorrent epithetical references to gays and ethnic minorities--will be
a point of controversy. Does the band agree with the views or is the song a recognition
of small-town prejudice as the darker side of the American Dream?” the paper would ask.
Of course the LA was completely correct, the song would ignite a media firestorm,
but it took a while before things really exploded. Initially the band's record label backed Guns N'
Roses putting out the following statement. We believe in free speech at this record
company,”. “We’ve stickered the record, which should serve as ample warning to concerned
parents. But we can’t speak for the artist. In fact, it’s important to let our artists speak
for themselves--and we hope their audience will judge them in the appropriate context" they'd say.
In the same LA Times article the newspaper would interview Bassist Duff McKagan was asked about
the track and he defended the band saying “I think each individual has to interpret it as they like,”
“As for me? I think it’s kinda funny! It’s real life, and this band has never minced words when
it comes to real life. The song is basically Axl’s view of coming to downtown L.A. for the
first time. He was from Indiana, he was real green--and L.A. blew his mind. You have to
remember--we’ve lived all this stuff. When you saw these dirty white-trash (expletive) guys on
Hollywood Boulevard--hey, that was us!” he'd say. While GN’R Lies quietly racked up millions in
sales and produced a huge single in Patience, the controversy over the track really swelled in the
summer 1989. It started with an August interview frontman Axl Rose did with Rolling Stone where
he said the following ““Why can black people go up to each other and (use racial epithets),
but when a white guy does it, all of a sudden it’s a big put-down?””
In the same interview Rose revealed the band was supposed to play a benefit show the same year
for the gy mens health crisis to raise money for ads research. Rose was adamant in the interview
that the bnd wanted to play the event because they felt i was a good cause to get behind.
In addition to the Rolling Stone piece it would be an op ed published in the Village Voice which
took the publication to task over criticizing the rap group Public enemy for anti-semetic remarks,
but not treating Guns N’ Rose the same way. From there, a lot of media outlets including the Today
Show, The New York Times and other publications covered the song’s controversial lyrics and
themes. And of course the Tipper Gore who led censorship group Parents Music Resource Centre
or the PMRC also had to weigh in with their 2 cents and slammed the band as well. But one thing
that was missed by the media was the fact that no one bothered to bring up the fact that guitarist
Slash was half black and bassist Duff McKagan came from a family that was ethnically mixed.
Even late night host Arsenio Hall slammed rose saying “There are rules of the turf. . . . I met
several members of Guns N’ Roses during the MTV Awards, and they seemed nice and decent.
But Axl never said a word to me. And if we ever talk, I’ll tell him another rule of the street.
If you use that kind of language, you get your (rear-end) whipped.
And I hope someone whips his rear end so he knows it’s a mistake" he'd say.
But, in what was a surprising twist of events actor Sean Penn defended Guns N’ Roses in a
1989 op-ed he wrote for the New York Times comparing the the song to a Robert Capa war photo,
labeling criticism of the band as and i quote “pseudo-liberal hogwash. MTV would cover the story
and interview numerous musicians including billy joel, NWA and Living Colour as you can see here.
Toward white youth. It is disquieting to hear the leader of one of the biggest white rock
bands in america sing a song that not only attacks foreigners,, but also as axl rose of guns n' roses
put it. Distaste felt by many white hard rock fans for disco in the 1970's was an often unspoken
resentment of the black people all of whom were in large part it's stars. I used to word because
it just fit real quick. It fit, it was accurate and it wasn't being derogatory towards
a large group so there's a lot of different meanings to that word but a lot of people
just take the time to assume that when a white person uses the word it's meant at the whole
race and you're derogatory and you're a racist. I was talking to Axl Rose about that song. I met
up with him in Los Angeles. He's a nice guy and i asked him what about this one song and his point
was he wasn't saying it as him, he was saying it as him he was saying this is what people say he
said that was just to present his point of view. So you know if he wants to express his thoughts
Guns N' Roses peace. Everyone that's an artist has the artistic freedom to do what they want.
I'm completely against censorship so I think Axl Rose has the right to say what he likes,
but if he puts it out in the you know in the public eye then he has to deal with the reaction.
By October of 1989, the controversy popped back up again when Guns N’ Roses were set to open 4
dates for the rolling Stones in Los Angeles at the Colisseum. Also on the bill was Living Colour
as well. Living Colour guitarist Vernon Reid gave a radio interviw ahead of the gig and spoke out on
stage against Rose for his lyrics. Rose responded on stage the first night in a rant where he said,
"All you people calling me a racist, shove your head up your f--king ass."
So what was the reaction from Slash and Rose’s other bandmates years later?
Well Slash would tell Musician Magazine in 1990 Everybody on the black side of my family was like,
'What is your' problem? My old girlfriend said, 'You could have stopped it.' What am
I supposed to say? Axl and I don't stop each other from doing things It was something he
really wanted to put out to explain his story, which is what the song is about. Axl is a naive
while boy from Indiana who came to Hollywood, was brought up in a totally Caucasian society,
and it was his way of saying how scared he was and this and that. Izzy meanwhile wasn’t happy about
the lyrics in the song telling the Vox in 1991 Living with that 'One In A Million' fall-out was
heavy shit. I don't know if Axl learned anything from the experience - I would hope he did.
Actually, Slash said the best things about that in some interview he did when he said that Axl's
free expression was all well and good but he'd hate to think what would happen to any of the
band if they got thrown in jail and had to explain the lyrics to the other guys doing time. 'Cos
during that period I ended up in jail in Phoenix for a day.. It was pretty fed up.. I've actually
done a story on that very instance when Izzy Stradlin went to jail. The link is down below.
Years later Duff McKagan would look back at the song in his
2011 autobiography it’s so easy and other lies. Axl's lyrics in 'One In A Million' immediately
caught attention. The press labelled us things like David Duke's house band;
I heard that the kk- or some faction of it least - started using the song as a war cry.
I stood by my original interpretation of the song and of Axl's intentions. Art gets misunderstood
all the time. Still, I found myself uncomfortable as a result of this particular misunderstanding
And of course three years later in 1992 in the run up to the Freddie Mercury Tribute show
the song came up once again as some group’s protested Guns N’ Roses inclusion on the bill.
The Freddie Mercury Tribute show would mark one of the first times Axl Rose
would play with his musical idols Elton John. Fast forward to 2018 Guns N’ Roses reissued
Appetite for Destruction along with GN’RLies and One in a Million was removed fro mthe box set.
Slash would tell Rolling Stone why the band omitted the song revealing
“We collectively decided that it just didn’t have any place in that box set. It didn’t take long.
There wasn’t a big roundtable thing over it" he'd say. So that does it for today's video
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