So, when do we get a new duet version of “November Rain?” Carrie Underwood and Axl Rose continued their rock ‘n roll friendship during the Mar. 13 stop on Carrie’s Denim & Rhinestones tour in Los Angeles. During the encore, Carrie, 40, rose from the Crypto.com arena stage, mimicking Axl’s signature snake dance. After introducing Axl, 61, to the audience, the Guns N’ Roses frontman came out in a silvery zebra print blazer. Together, Carrie and Axl performed an energetic version of the band’s 1987 hit, “Welcome to the Jungle.”
In the footage captured by fans, Carrie – in a leather jacket, glittery top, and rhinestone cowboy boots that went up to her knees – ran across the arena during the guitar solo. The flames on the set began to rise right as Axl asked the crowd that signature line. “Do you know where you are? You’re in the jungle, baby! You’re gonna die!” For Axl, one of the kings of the 1980s Sunset Strip metal scene that took over the world, this was a wonderful treat for Carrie’s L.A. fans (and a hero’s welcome for Axl.)
Carrie has made “Welcome to the Jungle” a part of her set throughout her Denim & Rhinestones tour, per Louder. And this isn’t the first time that she and Axl shared a stage. The two teamed up for renditions of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” and “Paradise City” during her headlining performance of the 2022 Stagecoach Festival. She later spoke to Rolling Stone about getting Axl “out of hiding” for the performance. “It was many years in the making,” said Carrie. “I’ve been covering Guns N’ Roses my whole life, pretty much, and definitely onstage for the past 15 years at least. I had asked before if he would ever come sing or if I could come to him somewhere. We had a couple almost maybes, where it almost maybe would have happened, but for various reasons, it wasn’t the right time.”
“But [for Stagecoach] I asked,” she continued. “I sent him an email and said, ‘We’re so close to you,’ and explained the why and what he meant to me. The way I learned how to sing was I would pick really hard vocalists to try to emulate, and his voice always mesmerized me. I was like, ‘How is he doing the things that he’s doing?’ So I told him all that…and he came! We had rehearsals, and everything went very smoothly. It was easy for all of us to be around each other. Hopefully, he had a good time.”
In February, Guns N’ Roses announced their 2023 world tour. The group starts its tour in June with a show in Israel before traversing throughout Europe. The band makes its way back to North America in August before concluding its tour in Vancouver in October. The band is set to headline Glastonbury and the Aftershock festival. Get all the details here.