The spotlight wasn’t what she hopedīefore reuniting with her “Real World” cast mates, Julie Gentry had to grapple with the very public life of a ‘naive’ 19-year-old from Birmingham, Ala.,: herself. Television ‘The Real World’ made ‘Julie from Alabama’ a star. The second in a loosely connected trilogy of videos helmed by Morahan - the others being “Don’t Cry” (the one where Slash drives a car off a cliff) and “Estranged” (the one where Axl jumps off an oil tanker and swims with dolphins) - “November Rain” was based on the story “Without You,” written by Del James, a journalist, road manager and permanent fixture in the band’s orbit. 3 on the charts, where it landed behind two other memorably romantic anthems (Boyz II Men’s “End of the Road” and TLC’s “Baby-Baby-Baby”).
Is this the best music video of all time?”ĭirected by Andy Morahan, “November Rain” quickly went into heavy rotation on MTV and helped the single - a lushly arranged power ballad that shifts into an ominous metal dirge at the seven-minute mark - climb to No. “How did Stephanie die?” “Why did that guy dive into the cake?” “Did he kill Stephanie?” “What is Slash doing in the desert?” and “Oh, my God. The video, unveiled on MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” and broadcast later that night on Fox, left a generation of music fans with questions that linger to this day. Thirty years ago this week, the “November Rain” video premiered on MTV - a baroque nine-minute rock opera starring Guns N’ Roses frontman Axl Rose and his then-girlfriend, supermodel Seymour, in a timeless tale of love gone wrong. Maybe for you it’s the mirrored coffin covering half of Stephanie Seymour’s face, or the long-haired guy hurling himself face-first into a wedding cake, or Slash’s guitar solo in front of a remote church. Maybe you remember the mullet wedding dress.