You might not see him on the late-night talk shows or the covers of major magazines or hear him sitting in with the morning-zoo show in your hometown, but that doesn’t mean Guns N’ Roses leader Axl Rose isn’t reaching out to fans.

The typically reclusive singer — who is the only remaining original member of GN’R — has done little to no promotion for his band’s 13-years-in-the-making Chinese Democracy album, but over the past few days, he’s been a staple on the message boards of several GN’R forums. On Sunday, he penned a 4,300-word open letter to fans in which he tried to clear up many of what he called the misconceptions and outright lies about his band and the album, which, despite the hype, has been quickly sliding down the charts after a worse-than-expected opening bow.

The sudden chattiness began Friday, when Rose popped into the “MyGNRForum” and mixed it up with fans. Some took him to task for being a hermit, even as he explained why he’s often late for his shows (apparently he’s a lifelong night owl) and wished the best for troubled former GN’R drummer and “Celebrity Rehab” castmember Steven Adler. He also mentioned that a video for the song “Better” was slated for release any day now. more

Axl’s open letter / post can be seen here.