Pop Stars May Split Sweet Soda o' Mine

The Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy has been nearly as long in the making as, well, Chinese democracy. But now some soda stunters, the makers of Dr Pepper, are leveraging their marketing savvy to aid the advance of democracy—at least the musical kind.

To wit, the pop pushers have offered a free can of their prune-flavored beverage to nearly every man, woman and sweet child in America, if only Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose will release the album sometime this year (fyi, the last new GNR album was released in 1993). The only folks to be denied their can o' Pepper by the soda company would be guitarists Slash and Buckethead, with whom Rose has feuded.

But now it seems as if Rose is ready to bury the hatchet, saying, "As some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him." Finally, detente.

Another possibility: Rose doesn't like Dr Pepper.

—Via New York Post