Guns N' Roses to Play New York

When Axl Rose told Rolling Stone in January that he'd have new music for Guns N' Roses fans this year, he wasn't kidding. After a decade of working on Chinese Democracy, the follow-up to 1993's platinum-selling The Spaghetti Incident?, and three years away from American stages, GN'R are ready to play New York next month. Tickets for May 15th and 17th at the Hammerstein Ballroom, go on sale April 21st.

While there's no definite word as to what music Axl and his current GN'R lineup will play live, the notoriously reclusive rocker told Rolling Stone of his new songs, "I'm trying to do something different. Some people are going to say, 'It doesn't sound like Axl Rose, it doesn't sound like Guns N' Roses.'"

Thirty-two songs -- including the Axl faves "Better," "There Was a Time" and "The Blues" -- are in the works for the new album, to be narrowed down to thirteen. Versions of "Better" and "There Was a Time" were among the tracks leaked online -- and, briefly, to radio -- in February.

After these two U.S. dates, GN'R are also slated to play a string of dates in Europe, starting May 27th in Lisbon, Portugal.

An official release date for the now-mythical Chinese Democracy has yet to be announced.