Axl Rose Reveals TMJ Struggle at Guns N' Roses' MetLife Stadium Show: "Sounds Like My Jaw's Gonna Fall Off"
Axl Rose told a MetLife Stadium crowd on August 12, 2026, that he is dealing with temporomandibular joint disorder — TMJ, a condition affecting the hinge joint that connects the jaw to the skull — and joked that the sounds he hears while singing make him think his jaw is about to detach.
The Guns N' Roses frontman explained between songs that he had dental work done two days earlier to address the condition, leaving part of his mouth numb. He deadpanned that doctors and dentists had advised him to "try not to chew," and described the sensation as having "Bugs Bunny in his ear," quipping that his jaw might "fall off, go to the side, or get stuck," according to Billboard.
The New Jersey date was part of Guns N' Roses' 2026 World Tour, announced last November on MetLife Stadium's official website. The band played for roughly three hours, with Rose introducing his bandmates: Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus and Isaac Carpenter.
The set list spanned the band's catalogue and beyond. It opened with "Welcome to the Jungle," which peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, and included "Patience" (No. 4 in 1989), "You Could Be Mine" (No. 29 in 1991) and a closing "Paradise City" (No. 5 in 1989). Rose also took lead vocals on Velvet Revolver's "Slither," while McKagan sang "Attitude." The band covered Black Sabbath's "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath" and dedicated it to Ozzy Osbourne.
Public Enemy opened the show, performing hits including "Fight the Power." Flavor Flav addressed the crowd with a message about racial unity, declaring he had "no time for racism" and urging that people of all races are "God's children of the Planet Earth" who must build a world of unity, as Billboard reported.
For a singer whose vocal range and stage stamina have been subjects of fan discussion for decades, a jaw condition is no small detail. TMJ can cause pain, clicking and restricted movement in the joint, and dental intervention is a common route for managing it. Rose's decision to disclose it mid-show, with humour rather than drama, gave the stadium a rare glimpse at the physical cost behind a three-hour headline set.
