Is Guns’N’Roses Going to make a Surprise Appearance at the American Music Awards this Sunday?

November 20, 11:29 PMPop Culture ExaminerDominic Patten

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  Will Axl and his gang be onstage at the AMAs this Sunday?

It would be the perfect rock’n’roll ending to what has been a very rock’n’roll ride the last 13 years for Axl Rose and crew.

Just think about it – after all this time, all that money, and all those line-up changes. The 2002 aborted tour, the rise and crumbling of former bandmates Slash and Duff’s Velvet Revolver, all those phony release dates, and Dr. Pepper’s promise to give a free drink to everyone in America except Slash and temporary guitarist Buckethead if the band finally put out the long awaited and mythical Chinese Democracy album this year. And then last month, in a marketing flurry of TV ads, listening parties, Itunes pre-orders, MySpace streamings and a 100 other smooth moves, it was announced that Chinese Democracy was truly coming – exclusively through Best Buy and Itunes on November 23^rd. 

The reviews have been very good Check out the LA Times’ praise for Chinese Democracy here or Rolling Stone’s thumbs up review of the new Guns’N’Roses’ release here.

Click here, sign into MySpace and you'll be listening to the entire Chinese Democracy in minutes.

Click here to read more of Dominic Patten on the release of Guns’n’Roses Chinese Democracy

And while you’re at it, click here too to check out Dominic Patten’s Top 5 of the Best of the Chinese Democracy Best in Pop Culture for the Week of November 16, 2008, including GNR listening parties in your city

It looks like after all the scorn, there was a method to Axl’s obsessive madness.

And that might not be the end of it.

According to one well placed music industry Deep Throat, there is a very good chance you’ll see GNR onstage at the American Music Awards this Sunday on ABC

“Axl wants to be the conquering hero,” says the source who has worked closely with some of the biggest acts in the world including Guns’N’Roses. “The timing of the show on the night he brings out his masterpiece is too good for him to pass up. He knows it’s a good way to get in front of old and new fans in one swoop.”

This isn’t the first time the new Guns’N’Roses have tried this kind of surprise. A bloated and out of breath Axl and his boys came out at the end of the 2002 MTV Awards to perform a melody of the band’s hits.

Maybe the appearance at the AMAs is to erase that memory.

They certainly have the management for such a coup.

Since March of this year, Axl and GNR’s manager has been Irving Azoff, one of the most feared and grudgingly admirer movers and shakers in an embattled industry. It was Azoff who bucked the downward spiral of record sales and pulled off the hugely successful comeback of The Eagles last year. Like GNR, the Eagles, who are the best selling band in the world, did an exclusive deal with one retailer to sell their comeback album, in the SoCal band’s case it was with Wal-Mart. And what else did the Eagles do? A sorta surprise performance of their comeback single “How Long” at the 2007 Country Music Awards. Needless to say the crowd of superstars like Vince Gill, who introduced the band, went crazy.

In a heavyweight line up of Christina Aguilera, the reunited New Kids on the Block (both of whom are managed by Irving Azoff), Beyonce, Coldplay, the Jonas Brothers, Alicia Keys and Kanye West, among others, Guns’N’Roses would still emerge as the champion.

The band is likely to be introduced by Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry.

“Wait and see,” says the source,  “the release of the record is just the beginning for Axl. He plans to be bigger than ever.”

Wait and see.

How many times have we heard that Axl?

And where is my Dr. Pepper?

DR. PEPPER UPDATE - Looks like we are all going to get our free soda after all. A lot of companies would cite the lousy economy to pull out of their promise but not Dr. Pepper. “We never thought this day would come,” Tony Jacobs, Vice President of Marketing at Dr. Pepper said in a released statement. “But now that it’s here, all we can say is: The Dr. Pepper’s on us.”

At 12:01AM on November 23, you can go to the Dr. Pepper website ( which you can click here to get to )and get a coupon for a free 20-ounce soda. The GNR coupon will be available for exactly 24 hours. You have until until Feb. 28, 2009 to cash in your coupon for that free Dr. Pepper.

So that’s where my and your Dr. Pepper is.