Axl Rose Showing Off His New Cordless Phone at the Sunset Grill in Hollywood, 1988

These photographs of a young Axl Rose, captured by the renowned rock photographer Mark Weiss in 1988 at the Sunset Grill in Hollywood, where he seemingly paused for a quick portrait and maybe grabbed a burger after arriving with his then-girlfriend, Erin Everly.

According to Weiss, Guns N’ Roses were off-tour that spring. They arranged a shoot at Sunset Grill—everyone in the band showed up except Axl. The next day, he arrived with Erin Everly, had a quick meal, posed for around 15 minutes, and even showed off a mobile phone, marking Weiss’s first time using one.

“Every time I went to L.A., I would see who is around and what’s going on,” Weiss said. “And I reached out to [Guns N’ Roses] publicist Bryn Bridenthal. I said, ‘Let’s not make this a big photo shoot. They don’t like that. Why don’t we just meet at the Sunset Grill. I’ll buy them some lunch and we’ll just take some photos.’”

“Axl didn’t show up that day, so I shot him the next day by himself. We took some photos in front of the Sunset Grill sign. Just some portraits. And then at the end, he starts making a phone call and he’s like, ‘Mark, check out my phone. I’d never used one of them before.’ ... I don’t think there’s many pictures of him with a beard. They were in between tours or records. It was just very natural. It wasn’t posy.”

Mark Weiss, often referred to as “Weissguy,” is a legendary American rock photographer who rose to prominence in the 1980s. His images defined the look of that era’s heavy metal and glam rock scene, capturing icons like Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Metallica, and Guns N’ Roses.