Johnny Depp as Freddie Mercury??

Somehow this just seems wrong............... Maybe it's just me...............

http://www.independent.co.uk/

Depp tipped for Freddie Mercury film role

By Louise Jury, Arts Correspondent

Published: 23 December 2006

He is a keen guitar player whose admiration for the Rolling Stones stretched to modelling his character, the pirate Jack Sparrow, on the mannerisms of Keith Richards.

Now the Pirates of the Caribbean star, Johnny Depp, is being lined up to play a rock star for real in a biopic of the late Queen frontman, Freddie Mercury.

Robert de Niro's company, Tribeca Productions, is said to be behind the project, which Brian May, the Queen guitarist, confirmed was in development. "Discussions are at an early stage," he said on his website.

May described Depp as "fantastic". "He would be a worthy counterpart for Freddie on screen. I don't think I can say any more right now," he added.

De Niro has known Brian May and Queen's drummer, Roger Taylor, since they met at the Venice Film Festival in 1996 and ploughed his own money into their hit stage musical, We Will Rock You. The musical was originally going to be about the band but the surviving members decided that would be too embarrassing for all involved.

"It would be too painful, too close, and a bit grand. It would be for somebody else to do, you can't supervise your own history," May said at the time.

Instead, Ben Elton, the comedy writer and novelist, devised a story that incorporated the band's back catalogue of songs. When the show opened in London in 2002 after six years in development, De Niro attended the first night. "It's an adventure. I've been involved in this for a long time. It went through a lot of stages and finally got to this stage - it's going to be terrific," he said.

The £7.5m production, which is still running, is set in a future where musical instruments have been banned but a group of rebels go in search of mythical electric guitars.

But the proposed biopic would tell the life story of Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar in 1946 and died from complications of Aids in 1991, the day after confirming he had the disease.

His real name was Farrokh Bulsara but he adopted the name he was best known by at school in India, where he grew up. His family settled in England when he was in his teens. He performed with several bands before co-founding Queen in 1971.

They signed to EMI a year later. His distinctive voice, which ranged across four octaves, was a key factor in their success on songs such as Bohemian Rhapsody. It lasted nearly six minutes and stayed at number one in the UK charts for nine weeks.

It has since been voted Britain's best single of all time by music fans in a Guinness Book of British Hit Singles poll, defeating John Lennon's Imagine and Hey Jude by the Beatles.

Although Mercury had a close friend, Mary Austin, with whom he lived for several years and who inherited his estate, he was fairly open about his homosexuality. He lived with Jim Hutton for the last six years of his life.

Reformed character vs flamboyant showman

* JOHNNY DEPP Born: 9 June 1963 in Kentucky.

Significant other: Vanessa Paradis, the French actress and singer, with whom he has two children.

Reputation: Once accused of selling drugs at his club, The Viper Room, where River Phoenix overdosed and died, he is a reformed family man.

Did you know? He has twice recorded with the band Oasis, including playing lead slide guitar on the track "Fade In-Out" from the album, Be Here Now.

* FREDDIE MERCURY Born: 5 September 1946 in Zanzibar. Died 24 November 1991 in London.

Significant other: Jim Hutton, a hotel barber.

Reputation: A flamboyant showman who had numerous affairs.

Did you know? He was of Indian descent but kept this from most of his fans and rarely mentioned his heritage in interviews. Some friends suggested it was because he feared a racist backlash.

Axl sets date for album. Oh look up in the sky! Is that a pig???

From: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily

12/15/06, 4:49 pm EST

Are You Taking Notes? Axl vs. Former Manager Saga Gets Complicated

If you’ve been following the Chinese Democracy drama, you know that — in an interview with this magazine — Mercuriadis promised the album would be out sometime this year, and made good use of the now infamous “There are 13 Tuesdays left in the year” phrase. We now know that Axl — who has proven himself to be surprisingly literate and professional in the last 24 hours — was also aware of Mercuriadis’ comments as he quoted them in a letter he wrote to his fans, announcing that Mercuriadis has been fired and declaring a tentative release date of March 6th for G N’ R’s new album, Chinese Democracy.

Now Mercuriadis — perhaps similarly surprised by the sophistication and general level-headedness revealed by Axl’s statement — has released his own statement (full text after the jump) in which he, among other things, claims he wrote some of Axl’s letter and refers to his Rolling Stone-printed comments as “facetious.”

Look, guys: We’re not getting involved. We of course continue to find this back-and-forth fascinating and will totally be blogging about every exchange, but we’re not even touching that “facetious” comment. You two are plenty amusing all by yourselves.

An Open Letter To Guns N’ Roses Fans From Merck Mercuriadis

Along with all of the other Guns N’ Roses fans around the world I read “An Open Letter To The Fans From Axl” this evening with much interest. About half way through it occurred to me that I had read much of this before. In fact, I had written the blueprint for it in an email for Axl’s attention two days ago which I have copied below.

The reality is all of this year’s touring was planned and agreed between Axl and myself, with a view to the album being in the stores before the 31st of December ‘06. This was confirmed by Axl in numerous interviews - most famously at the MTV Video Music Awards. We planned the tour in February, just after Axl’s birthday and we were supposed to finish the album in May, before it started. We sent our engineers to New York, where we all waited, for over a month, for the muse to come but she never arrived. We then scheduled sessions in London in August and had our engineers meet us there at the end of the English tour. August came and went and once again the muse did not show. We postponed our proposed radio date of Labour Day for the first single and we came back to LA and tried to finish before the San Francisco, Las Vegas and Los Angeles shows but yet again she eluded us. Axl then asked me to postpone the North American tour which was due to start on 24th of September by a month and finally, early in that period after the euphoria of Inland Invasion, Axl made a break through and got two or three very productive days under his belt.

At this point we were very excited as Axl’s feeling was that we had two or three days of work left to tidy things up and we still had three weeks before the tour started, so we were in good shape. Unfortunately the muse disappeared just as fast as she came and the tour started with no single at radio to support it and the album still needing two or three days of work. Despite this, it was a break through period as Robin, Bumblefoot and Frank had all made important contributions to the album that made it even stronger. By the way none of the above is meant as a criticism of Axl. It is the reality of trying to create something special under incredible pressure from the public - that wants and DEMANDS the record - and the record industry - that NEEDS it. The creative process is not something you can dictate and Axl is a true artist.

At this time I seriously considered postponing the start of the tour, again, as the album was of paramount importance but the reality was that our historic track record left us with very little good will with you, the fans, and we needed the money to be able to complete the album and keep the band alive. We scheduled sessions in New York and once again sent the engineers there for the first two weeks of November while the tour was based there - but the hectic touring schedule meant nothing got done. The record company refused to conclude the renegotiation until we were ready to hand over the finished album and refused to prepare a marketing campaign or commission video treatments until they had it in their hands. This is still their position as of this week.

At this point despite the success of many of the dates on the tour the pressure on all of us became unbearable. While some of Axl’s letter is disappointing - As John Lennon once asked Paul McCartney “How Do You Sleep?” - until you have walked a mile in his shoes you cannot begin to comprehend the pressure he is under. I know I sleep well at night in the knowledge that when Chinese Democracy hits the streets in March that it is in large part down to my efforts over the last almost 5 years. I found the money and the motivation to keep Axl and the band alive and get the record made when everyone else had given up and walked away. We worked as a team united to make Chinese Democracy a reality. In the end the album will speak for itself but our relationship could not survive the pressure.

I have no regrets. I believe Chinese Democracy is one of the best albums ever made, Axl Rose is one of the greatest vocalists and front men and the new Guns N’ Roses (which kicks the shit out of the old) is one of the greatest bands. What we accomplished in 2006 only hints at what is to come.

I believe in Axl Rose. I am the artist’s manager and it is my responsibility and job to take the heat. I promise you Chinese Democracy is worth it and you should keep the faith. I will walk away knowing I have done my best and that next year will see Axl recognized not only as a great singer and rock icon but as one of the greatest artists of all time.

Merry Christmas and all the best to you for 2007!

Merck Mercuriadis

PS I apologize to all the fans irked by my facetious comments regarding the release date to Rolling Stone magazine. They were meant to poke fun at a magazine that had announced a definitive release date, causing us all lots of grief, when none had been set. Unfortunately many of you took them to heart and for that I am sorry.

Begin forwarded message:

From: Merck Mercuriadis
Date: 12 December 2006 14:11:02 GMT-08:00
Subject: Album Press Release

Regardless of the issues that exist between Axl and myself I believe it is important for an announcement on the album to be put out this week and at the same time cover the cancellation of the 5 shows in January. Further to this I have thought about the album release date taking into account the issues between Axl and myself and my view is that the album should be set for release on the 20th of March rather than the 6th of February. March 20th is the first day of Spring and a positive day. This allows for three months to set it up properly around the world without unmanageable pressure and for it to be well imbedded in the market place before the summer lull sets in. It also allows for the deal to be done with the label and any change in Management etc which may be made to be made as well as detailed meetings on the touring which on this basis would start in Dubai just before the album’s release. The note will be most effective if it comes from Axl as he will then be seen as the good guy who is giving people the information they want. Having said that it could come from either Howard or myself or both of us. I have presented two options the first not giving a release date and the second one stating it. The message would be posted as the lead story on gunsnroses.com and we would then point all of the media there. I would appreciate it if you would all let me know your thoughts on all of this keeping in mind that this is a work in progress.

Option 1

Merry Christmas To You All

We are into the last week of the tour and Christmas is almost here so I wanted to take the time not only to wish you Merry Christmas but to also explain why CHINESE DEMOCRACY is not under your tree or in the stores as we wanted it would be. We read the papers and we know you want - demand! - news. We have been in the final stages of renegotiating our deal with our record label and it has been a long slow process - not unlike making the record! The discussion started over a year ago but did not become serious until they started hearing the mixes. Everyone involved has worked hard to get the deal completed so we could get the record out this month but a few weeks ago it became obvious that was not going to happen. We then held out as we wanted to at least be able to give you the release date before Christmas but unfortunately we are still not there yet. This is not meant to spark a hate campaign on the label. This is an unusual and complicated situation as we have worked a long time on this album and it is important to us to make sure that everything including the deal is right. At the same time it is a business that has to work for everyone involved. We have all - you included - waited a long time for this and this is not the time to compromise. The first news you will hear from us in 2007 will be to announce the album’s release date. Without the album out it does not make sense to do the 5 shows we have scheduled for January in isolation so they are being cancelled and we will focus on getting the album out. Until that time we want to thank you for all of your support in 2006 and wish you all the best for the holidays and a happy new year.

W. Axl Rose

Option 2

Merry Christmas To You All

We are into the last week of the tour and Christmas is almost here so I wanted to take the time not only to wish you Merry Christmas but to also explain why CHINESE DEMOCRACY is not under your tree or in the stores as we wanted it to be. We read the papers and we know you want - demand! - news. We have been in the final stages of renegotiating our deal with our record label and it has been a long slow process - not unlike making the record! The discussion started over a year ago but did not become serious until they started hearing the mixes. Everyone involved has worked hard to get the deal completed so we could get the record out this month but a few weeks ago it became obvious that was not going to happen. We have all - you included - waited a long time for this and this was not the time to compromise. We then held out on making an announcement as we wanted to at least be able to give you the release date before Christmas so here it is. Chinese Democracy will be released on the 20th of March in the US and Canada - the first day of Spring and a time for new beginnings! - and on the 19th of March everywhere else in the world. Without the album out it does not make sense to do the 5 shows we have scheduled for January in isolation so they are being cancelled and we will focus on getting the album out. We want to thank you for all of your support in 2006 and wish you all the best for the holidays and a happy new year. We look forward to seeing you in 2007!

W. Axl Rose

-- Rolling Stone





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If you've ever been to Rolling Stone's Rock&Roll Daily page then you'll know that you can leave comments under the stories. In my last post I mentioned one that I had so enjoyably left. Let's take a look at some of the other comments that people willingly left for the onlookers of the world wide web to see:

Axl>Everything | 12/15/2006, 6:49 pm EST

Axl is godder then god and all the hater are either wiggers or penis loving ass jockeys.

Now that sounds like an intelligent human being right there. Let's give him a hand for showing the world his faith to his "godder then god" diety - the almighty, Axl Rose.

Let's take a look at another one, shall we?!

Anonymous | 12/15/2006, 6:03 pm EST

Do you think either of these losers really cares about the fans? Grow up. They’re already paid and will make a bit more to snort up their noses once this album drops.

They keep stringing their loser fans along their loser paths.

Now, now Anonymous... Of course they care about their fans! I mean, we (if you include yourself a part of this mania, which obviously this person does not) are what made them famous...right? However, Anonymous, you seem quite certain that the album will actually come out even if it's absent on said March 6, 2007 - "once this album drops."


Oh well, with Mercuriadis gone, I'm sure Axl's muse will come swooping around again and finally grant him the balls he needs to release Chinese Democrazy...oh I mean Democracy...of course...

Sebastian Bach catches the 10 o'clock moron train to Publicityville

from: http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/12/14/
sebastian-bach-parades-chinese-democracy-knowledge-in-our-faces/


So Sebastian Bach is essentially Axl’s publicist these days, right? That’s practically official already? The former Skid Row rocker has come to the defense of Axl et al, claiming that not only does Chinese Democracy have a release date, but that he knows what it is. He can’t say of course, because that would be a “betrayal of confidence.” Right.

His temporary solution for fans who are sick of this runaround bullshit? Come to the show. “Guns N’ Roses fans are not just interested in old songs,” the singer reportedly said. “They want to hear Chinese Democracy … If you want to hear the songs, come by the show.”

Who knew rock bands could be such shameless teases?

-- Elizabeth Goodman




I nonchalantly left a comment (the 44th to be exact) on that post on Rolling Stone's Rock Daily page that said:
"chinese democracy will go down in history as some myth...like bigfoot...or the abominable snowman. axl's sitting on his butt laughing at all of his fans. he's not smart enough to take over the world like bono but he sure likes confusing people."

Now I realize that this might be stupid on Axl's part - lying to all of his fans creating a sort of Metallica/Napster vs. fans deal. Or, he's just jealous of Velvet Revolver and wants to find some way to once and for all give Slash a huge slap in the face, saying "Ohh you might be ten times more attractive than me and my voice is no where near the equivalent of your guitar playing, but look at me, I can lead everyone on for over a decade and people are buying more of my albums because of it!"

Ok, maybe he wouldn't say exactly that. Who really knows what's going under all those dreadlocks in his wasted, shriveled up brain? No one. Not even Sebastian Bach. Which brings me to my point:

Axl's a butthole and he's finally dragged Bach onto his train of fools.

Common Sebastian... We all know you're better than that.