NEW YORK -- Axl Rose, lead singer of the heavy metal rock band Guns N' Roses, was arrested on an outstanding warrant Sunday for extradition to Missouri on charges related to a riot at a 1991 concert in St. Louis.
Axl Rose arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport on an Air France Concorde jet from France and was arrested when he passed through customs, said Port Authority spokesman Officer Raymond Dilena.
Port Authority officers took him into custody about 12:30 p.m. and he was being held at the Port Authority office before being taken to Queens Central Booking, Dilena said.
The singer was to be extradicted to St. Louis to face charges of starting a riot at a concert, officials said.
Rose's publicist, Bryn Bribenthal, said the singer had planned to surrender to face the outstanding warrant this week and that was the reason for his return to the United States.
The St. Louis prosecutor was aware of his agenda and had been informed Rose would return this week, she said, adding Rose had been in and out of the United States several times since the warrant was issued.
'There was no need for all of this,' Bribenthal said. 'The prosecutor was told by his agent and spokesman that when he returned, he would come to St. Louis to turn himself in to face the warrant this week.'
The singer returned to New York Sunday after a short vacation following a European tour, she said.
He was with model Stephanie Seymour, her son and the child's nanny, Bribenthal said. His manager, Doug Goldstein, also was with him when he was arrested, his publicict said.
It was not immediately known if the arrest would affect his performance at the RFK Stadium scheduled for Friday in Washington, D.C., officials said.
The July 2, 1991 riot at Riverport Amphitheater outside St. Louis began after Rose jumped into the audience to seize a camera from a fan after security guards failed to confiscate it. He and the band then walked off the stage.
During the riot that followed, about 60 people were injured, 16 people were arrested and the amphitheater suffered an estimated $200,000 in damages. Officials estimated that some 3,000 of the 15,400 people present took part in the rampage.
