Lots of rock stars have had stalkers over the years — it comes with the territory of being a world famous celebrity with masses of wealth and success. Call it an occupational hazard.
But as far as we can tell, Axl Rose is alone in having a stalker claiming she could communicate with him telepathically.
Said stalker wound up sentenced to jail 25 years ago. Here’s how it happened.
The Original Restraining Order
Back in 1997, Rose discovered that a stalker named Karen McNeil was showing up around his property, claiming that she was his wife and that she could communicate with him telepathically, otherwise referred to as “thought transfer.” Rose got a court ordered restraining order against McNeil, who was then legally required to stay at least 300 yards away from Rose.
McNeil was evidently not deterred in the slightest, because just a year later she was caught attempting to break into Roses’ home. This led to her doing some time in jail.
The Second Arrest
Once again, this didn’t seem to faze McNeil, reportedly sending Rose copious amounts of letters. Then in May of 2000, she was arrested after being found by police at Rose’s home in Malibu, California, charged with violating the original restraining order and held at a $150,000 bail.
“Rose called the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff Station to report that a stalker was trying to enter his property,” Deputy Boris Nikolof of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said at the time (via NME).
Roughly a month later on June 21, 39-year-old McNeil was sentenced to a year in jail.
READ MORE: 10 Rare Axl Rose Performances Only Hardcore Fans Know
And interestingly enough, Rose was somewhat prepared for this kind of situation.
“When I was growing up, I was never really popular,” he told Rolling Stone over a decade earlier in 1989. “Now everybody wants to be my friend. I like my privacy, to live alone in my own little world. I live in a security building, and all my calls are screened. I don’t even know my own phone number.”
He also owned guns. “I’m not paranoid,” he continued. “This is how I choose to live. This is comfortable.”
Bringing Stalking Back
You might assume McNeil had really learned her lesson after a year in jail, but not so. In 2009, another world famous singer, Justin Timberlake, filed a restraining order after McNeil broke into his Los Angeles house not once but three times.
“That was all lies,” McNeil said outside the courtroom then (via Today.com). “I did not break into Justin’s house. I was let on the property.”
But the court ruled otherwise and McNeil was ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Timberlake and his home. It does beg the question…who’s next?
Axl Rose Year by Year: 1984-2020 Photos
We track the career of Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose through yearly photos.
Gallery Credit: Matthew WIlkening
