Axl Rose Wanted This Famous Image to be the Cover of ‘Appetite’

The cross caricature cover of Guns N' Roses' debut album Appetite for Destruction came to be after the album's original animated cover by Robert Williams was pulled due to being too graphic. However, even before that change, Axl Rose had a different image in mind for the cover.

Believe it or not, Rose wanted the cover of Appetite to feature a photo of the 1986 Challenger explosion. It's a very random, fringe fact that GN'R superfans know, and apparently artist Tom Dunn is one of them as he has made Rose's original vision a reality.

Dunn shared the artwork via his Instagram, and it's also currently on display at Noysky Project, an art gallery in Los Angeles. He's selling prints of the artwork for $300, and interested buyers can inquire about the prints via email at tom@tomdunnart.com.

Rose mentioned his Challenger artwork idea in an interview on That Metal Show and explained, "I figured, it’s on the cover of 'Time' [magazine], then we should be allowed to use it, too. It wasn’t meant [to be] derogatory...That photograph just blew my mind. But [the label] went, 'Oh, this is in bad taste.'"

Good call, Geffen...GOOD CALL!