Appetite for Destruction


While waiting at the corner bus stop with K yesterday, I heard the sad news that the father of one of K's bus stop friends had died. Previously, the mother had told me that the girl's dad was living in LA and wrapped up in drugs and probably wasn't going to make it. As the mother was describing how Ronnie was making amends and preparing to move back to Minnesota, the girl blurted out: "He played in Guns'n'Roses."

My interest was piqued, but I listened sympathetically as the mother told the tale of how he had died a few hours shy of his 44th birthday from a heart ailment that his mother had succumbed to when she was 44 years old.
A little sleuthing revealed that Ronnie was in Slash's pre-GnR band and was a roadie for GnR from 1986 to 1988. During that period the band recorded and released "Appetite for Destruction", which sold 28 million copies.

I felt sad to hear of the loss, but I was also struck by how the ordinary is simply the extraordinary hidden by a thin veil.

Photo: GnR in 1986. Ronnie is in the middle with the sailor's cap.