welcome to the jungle

This makes me wonder if izzy and axl were just friends or very good friends, or maybe more, I know it was the 80s, but who carried photos of their best friend around?

What da ya think?

Izzy probably would have a pic of the two of them, like this, the one they made a poster out of, which he showed to people. But if they were solos 😳, then he must love Axl very much, lol.

Makes sense ‘cause they’d known each other for so long, and practically grew up together; I don’t think they were as close to anyone else, especially Axl, given his ambivalent relationship with his family (so when he said Izzy’s one of the people he cares about most in the entire world, he really meant it 🫶). Many folks who met Izzy first have mentioned him talking about Axl, which is so cute. He has been so supportive about Axl’s singing, like that was Axl’s hype-man for real. 

I’ve come across this perception of some fans who believe that Izzy abandoned Axl back in Indiana or that he wasn’t too happy about Axl following him to LA, which isn’t true. (I can’t recall but it might’ve been because of something Izzy implied after he left GN’R and was mad about the stuff being laid out in the press by Axl and Slash—although, whatever was reported is to be taken with a grain of salt because it was often sensationalized or straight-up false). 

Anyway, Izzy and Axl were joined at the hip, whether it was band-related or outside of it, and would make sure to talk on the phone every day if they were apart. If Izzy was somewhere, you could bet Axl would show up too, and vice-versa.

My thoughts:

1. absence makes the heart grow fonder

2. Izzy talking up Axl as a ‘great singer’ and ‘we’re gonna form a band’ is also him talking up his future music career with his music bros

3. Dezi Craft (izzy’s girlfriend in 84-85) said Izzy was reluctant to be in a band again with Axl and was even talking abt quitting LA altogether

4. Dezi remembers a lot of fights between them. Izzy hung out a lot with Slash in the early days - writing songs and doing heroin

5. Axl hated the heroin addiction he saw his friends fall into - probably drove a wedge between him and izzy on and off as he kicked and then relapsed for years

Steve Darrow, Pamela Manning, Tracii, and even Izzy’s ex-fiancee, to name a few, have confirmed it one way or another that Izzy and Axl were always together. They’ve been sticking together for a long time, so no, absence did not make the heart grow fonder, they genuinely enjoyed each other's company. To reiterate, if you came across one of them, the other was sure to follow. Sure they had their fights (they themselves have been open about it, like the one that led to Don't Cry), but they always found their way back to one another. More fans than there should be act like Izzy was just putting up with Axl or something, no.

As Izzy said in 1989, “It’s been 14-15 years already. I might be the person who knows him the best. Oh, certainly, [Axl’s] a man that invites misunderstandings. But he's a normal guy. At least for me. (laughs). Me and him, we're not exact opposites but, how do I put it, we fit together like puzzle pieces. Sometimes he disappoints me, sometimes I disappoint him. If he's in trouble, I help, and sometimes I need help from him. I trust him. That's what this kind of relationship entails.”

As for the drug use, there was a point when Axl himself dabbled in Heroin, LSD, etc, not enough to ever fully get into it, but still. It started to bother him way later down the line, and it was more directed toward the others, specifically Slash and Steven. When Axl made his Mr. Goddamn Brownstone rant, Izzy was already on his journey to get clean, and was described a few days earlier as “clean and sober” by Marc Canter.

Their friendship got strained after 1990, while they were recording UYI, when Izzy realized that his opinion no longer influenced/moved Axl, which is sad, because for the longest time, they were a team, and if anyone could get through to Axl, it was Izzy.

I personally don't find anything too complicated about their friendship. Their life was chaotic and it ended up dictating their friendship, but it didn't change the fact that they cared about each other (if they didn't, then their relationship would be pretty simple, actually).

People acting like you HAVE to ship band members or you’re somehow boring / insufferable is so weird to me

Do you think I'm calling non-shippers insufferable? Like, reading comprehension is zero. I'd follow you if you post about Axl/GN'R, period, doesn't matter if you ship or not. I'm calling out the people here, who will see that I'm a shipping account, interact with my posts even where I'm just acknowledging their friendship (which is majority of the time, most of my posts are about their factual friendship), and be like, they're not actually gay btw, you're reading too much into it!

Like, thank you, I am well-aware. I say it on my posts often enough, I don't presume to know the band members themselves or their friendship beyond what has been shown to us.