Credit: Raph Pour-Hashemi
Thu 13 August 2026 17:42, UK
At a three-hour Guns N’ Roses show at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium, Axl Rose revealed that he suffers from Temporomandibular Joint (TMJ).
The frontman took to the stage in front of around 82,500 fans on August 12th, but he wasn’t quite 100 per cent up for the challenge as he revealed that he was in active recovery from a procedure to correct TMJ.
“I had really crazy TMJ,” Rose admitted to the fans, adding, “When I’m singing it’s kind of like somebody’s in my ear, like Bugs Bunny is eating in my ear a carrot and celery and it’s popping around.”
Humorously, he recalled that during the procedure, “I had to do a tube. I had that done a couple of days ago. So now, this side of my mouth [pointing to his left side] is still numb … it gets interesting. It’s challenging.”
Rose deadpanned, “You’re singing and you hear sounds, and you’re like … none of the doctors, none of the dentists — there’s really no way to describe what you do, and with TMJ they tell ya, ‘Try not to chew!’ Okay I won’t eat.”
His rant continued (per Billboard), “Second, you really can’t describe — you stretch your face in so many ways trying to sing like I do!”
“So you hear all these sounds while you’re singing, and you hear sounds that, like, make you go, ‘I really probably shouldn’t be doing what I’m doing, because that sound sounds like my jaw’s gonna fall off or go to the side or get stuck that way,” he explained, adding, “Which, that would be pretty funny!”
Despite Rose’s facial numbness, the band soared through plenty of hits during the 2026 World Tour show at MetLife after opening with ‘Patience’ and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’.
Rose was joined on stage by Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus and Isaac Carpenter.
Later in the set, he put the TMJ jokes aside and delivered a message meant to inspire togetherness: “We must all stick together and build a world of unity. So if y’all understand me and ya’ll are with me, just remember, like I said: There’s only one race, my people, and that’s the human race.”
Guns N’ Roses are next set to perform at Busch Stadium in St Louis on August 16th.
ADD AS A PREFERRED SOURCE ON GOOGLE 
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.