Sweet pie of mine! Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose is unrecognisable after piling on the pounds

He was once a pin-up for millions of rock and roll fans throughout the world.
But it seems 's poster boy days are over, judging by photographs of the 49-year-old singer performing with the band in Brazil last night.
The Guns n' Roses frontman was unrecognisable as he took to the stage at the Rock In Rio music festival, with his attempts to cover up his larger frame in a coat failing miserably.

What happened? A significantly larger Axl Rose was unrecongisable as he performed with Guns N' Roses in Rio, Brazil, last night

Changing figure: Axl's new look is a far cry from his slimline figure at the height of his fame

Rose appeared to have gained a significant amount of weight in recent months, with his slimline frame at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards a distant memory.
The rocker teamed his yellow coat with a black hat and sunglasses, with the whole ensemble contributing to his bizarre appearance.
It's not the first time Rose's weight has sparked concern, as he previously shocked fans with his overweight look in January 2010.

Belting it out: The group performed songs including Sweet Child of Mine and Welcome To The Jungle at the Rock In Rio festival

His size also led to him being labelled a 'fat Botox-faced wig wearer' by rival rocker Scott Weiland.
But his weight gain appears to have continued over the past year and a half, with Rose looking entirely different as he performed in Brazil.
Gearing up for the performance, Rose told eager fans he was concerned that the pouring rain would make the stage treacherous for the concert.
He said: 'Good evening… good morning! Please bear with us and give us a little second here to figure out what to do about not falling on our asses.

Back in the day: Axl (centre) with Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, Duff McKagan and Slash

'I'm going to try to focus on singing rather than running around like an idiot. I'm better at being an idiot. We want everybody to be careful.'
The group then delighted fans with tracks including Sweet Child of Mine, Live and Let Die and Welcome to the Jungle.
The band's performance was their first since last December, and came ahead of the Guns N' Roses' US tour which begins later this month.
The tour will start in Orlando on October 28th and finishes on December 1st in Auburn Hills.

Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy album blasted - by the Chinese

Axl Rose of Guns n' Roses on stage at Wembley (file pic). The band's comeback album, Chinese Democracy, has been blasted in China

A newspaper published by China's ruling Communist Party is blasting the latest Guns N' Roses album as an attack on the Chinese nation.
Delayed since recording began in 1994, "Chinese Democracy" hit stores in the U.S. on Sunday, although it is unlikely to be sold legally in China, where censors maintain tight control over films, music and publications.
In an article headlined "American band releases album venomously attacking China," the Global Times said unidentified Chinese Internet users had described the album as part of a plot by some in the West to "grasp and control the world using democracy as a pawn."
The album "turns its spear point on China," the article said.
China's Foreign Ministry did not respond to faxed questions about the article, although a spokesman speaking on routine condition of anonymity said: "We don't need to comment on that."
Spokesmen for the Culture Ministry and State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, government bodies that regulate album releases and performances, could not be reached for comment.
The Global Times article referred only to the title of the album and not to specific song lyrics. The record's title track makes a reference to the Falun Gong meditation movement that was banned by China as an "evil cult" and warns "if your Great Wall rocks blame yourself," in an apparent message to the country's authoritarian government.

Controversial: The cover of the Chinese Democracy album by Guns N' Roses, condemned by China

Songs from the album can be heard on websites such as YouTube and the band's MySpace page but it was not immediately possible to tell whether China's Internet monitors were seeking to block access to it.
Monitors use content filters that highlight and sometimes block messages containing words such as democracy. That prompted some Internet users to combine English and Chinese characters in their postings about the album to skirt such monitoring.
China approves only limited numbers of foreign films and recordings for distribution each year, partly due to political concerns but also to protect domestic producers.
Live performances are also closely regulated, with bands forced to submit set lists beforehand. The Rolling Stones were asked not to play several songs with suggestive lyrics during their 2006 China debut, including "Brown Sugar," "Honky Tonk Woman," "Beast of Burden" and "Let's Spend the Night Together."
Earlier this year, bandleader Harry Connick Jr. was forced to make last-minute changes to his show in Shanghai because an old song list was mistakenly submitted to Chinese authorities to secure the performance permit for the concert. Authorities insisted he play the songs on the original list, even though his band did not have the music for them.
That came just a week after Icelandic singer Bjork embarrassed authorities by shouting "Tibet!" at the end of a Shanghai concert, prompting stricter vetting of foreign performers.
Despite such restrictions, computer file sharing and pirating of DVDs, computer games and music CDs is rampant in China, meaning that much banned material is available through alternative channels.