Now We Know Why Axl Rose Was Recently Photographed in the Studio

Now we know why Guns N’ Roses‘ Axl Rose was recently photographed in the studio.

In late September, the band’s manager Fernando Lebeis shared a photo of Rose in a recording studio on his Instagram story. This prompted a lot of speculation amongst fans, especially on Reddit, who questioned whether the vocalist was working on new Guns N’ Roses music or something else.

Why Was Axl Rose in the Studio in September?

Yesterday, Japanese rock musician Yoshiki revealed that Rose was set to appear as one of his special guests at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City. The event was scheduled for Sept. 26 but canceled due to severe weather warnings in the region.

Yoshiki posted a photo of himself with Rose in the same studio Lebeis shared the image of the singer from. In the caption, he shared that they were supposed to perform Yoshiki’s song “Red Swan” together at the festival and that Rose’s “kindness” helped him get through the cancelation.

His full post read:

Axl Rose from Guns N’ Roses was one of my special surprise guests for Global Citizen in New York’s Central Park. Axl and I were going to perform ‘Red Swan’ (English ver), and we rehearsed together in New York.

I’m heartbroken that the festival was canceled, especially knowing that my fans were planning to come from around the world to support me. Through all of this, Axl’s kindness has helped me through. I’m grateful for warmth and support.

Hope we’ll have another opportunity to rock together soon.

What Did Fans Say About the Photo of Rose in the Studio?

A fan shared a screenshot of Lebeis’ Instagram story (see below) on the Guns N’ Roses Reddit page in September, which prompted a discussion amongst other fans because there’s been a lot of talk of an alleged new Guns N’ Roses album over the last few years.

axl rose in a recording studio

“Means nothing,” one fan commented on the Reddit post. “You can rehearse in a studio, you can be recording guest work for another artist or you could be digging up another [Chinese Democracy] reject. Nothing about the band’s behavior indicates they’re interested in properly writing music.”

Another individual replied to the aforementioned comment, pointing out that the photo was apparently taken from inside Studio A – Power Station at BerkleeNYC. They thought it was peculiar that Rose was in a New York City studio, though we now know why that was the case.

READ MORE: Guns N’ Roses Originally Had a ‘Very Dark’ Concept for the ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ Video

Someone else suggested that the singer may have been working with Carrie Underwood, as it was recently reported by TMZ that he’s mentoring the country singer as she works on her first-ever rock album.

There hasn’t been any official confirmation on the release of a new Guns N’ Roses album yet. The band just wrapped up the North American leg of their current tour in mid-September and will head over to Asia, Australia and New Zealand next month. Check out their website for more information.

See a breakdown of every official member of Guns N’ Roses, past and present, in the gallery below.