Claim: Axl Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time in Rock and Roll history.

W. Axl Rose -LRB- born William Bruce Rose Jr. ; raised as William Bruce Bailey ; February 6 , 1962 -RRB- is an American singer , songwriter , record producer and musician . He is the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Guns N ' Roses , and has also been the band 's sole constant member since its inception in 1985 . In addition to Guns N ' Roses , he is also the current lead singer of AC/DC since 2016 . Due to his powerful and wide vocal range and energetic live performances , Rose has been named one of the greatest singers of all time by various media outlets , including Rolling Stone and NME .   Born and raised in Lafayette , Indiana , Rose moved to Los Angeles in the early 1980s , where he became active in the local hard rock scene and joined several bands , including Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns . In 1985 , he co-founded Guns N ' Roses , with whom he had great success and recognition in the late 1980s and early 1990s . Their first album , Appetite for Destruction -LRB- 1987 -RRB- , has sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide , and is one of the best-selling debut albums of all time in the U.S. with 18 million units sold . Its full-length follow-ups , the twin albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II -LRB- 1991 -RRB- , were also widely successful ; they respectively debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide .   After 1994 , following the conclusion of their two-and-a-half-year Use Your Illusion Tour , Rose disappeared from public life for several years , while the band disintegrated due to personal and musical differences . As its sole remaining original member , he was able to continue working under the Guns N ' Roses banner because he had legally obtained the band name . In 2001 , he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N ' Roses at Rock in Rio 3 , and subsequently played periodic concert tours to promote the long-delayed Chinese Democracy -LRB- 2008 -RRB- , which undersold the music industry 's commercial expectations despite positive reviews upon its release . In 2012 , Rose was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Guns N ' Roses , though he declined to attend the event and requested exclusion from the Hall . In 2016 , Rose partially reunited the ` classic ' lineup of Guns N ' Roses and has since toured the world as part of the Not In This Lifetime ... Tour .