Axl Rose 🎤🥀 and Izzy Stradlin🎸
Bill Bailey was what he was known as at Jefferson High School. Also know as Jeff High School. I grew up in the same town that Axl Rose was born and raised in. All my life I was star struck by Axl Rose. I loved Guns N’ Roses since I was 7 years old. When I was 10 and realized we came from the same town o was like “oh hell yeah!” What a lot of people might know is that he hated the place and couldn’t wait to get out of it. His half sister and brother used to sing at the church as the Bailey Trio. He was a second baritone at the choir in Jeff’s choir. He used to try “different voices” (which we all came to hear and love.) He was arrested over 20 times in town. He was the trouble maker The Lafayette city police will always remember. They threatened to charge him as a habitual criminal and he took off to LA. He and Izzy Stradlin both came from Lafayette and went to Jeff High School. Izzy once said this about Lafayette, Indiana, “It was cool growing up there. There's a courthouse and a college, a river and railroad tracks. It's a small town, so there wasn't much to do. We rode bikes, smoked pot, got into trouble—it was pretty Beavis and Butt-Head actually.” And I completely agree with him.😂 that all there is to do! They met at school and bonded. Growing up I would ask my mom, “so you think Axl ever comes back to Lafayette?” She said she believes he used to come back in the day to visit his mom. He’d come back in a black limo, but he would be discreet. I always hoped I’d run into him so I could tell him how much his music influenced me and that I’d hope I could get out of small town Lafayette too. Around here, we don’t talk about Axl or Izzy. There is no sign that says “welcome to Lafayette, Indiana Home of Axl Rose.” There is no photos of him in the halls of Jefferson High School where he was a master in the choir. There’s no honor. I wish to this day that we would honor two gifted, successful people from our own beautiful town. To show us young kids we can follow our dreams. They deserve it.
