Video: Guns N’ Roses Rock ‘Hatikvah’

Axl Rose Image by getty images

By Margaret Eby July 5, 2012

Axl Rose and his newest iteration of Guns n’ Roses brought down the house in Tel Aviv when lead guitarist Ronald Jay Blumenthal, better known by his alias Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, did an abbreviated solo version of “Hatikvah.”

Blumenthal, who adapted his stage title from a colorfully named bacterial infection, had performed the national Israeli anthem before in 2011 alongside Salem, a pioneering Israeli Death Metal band.

A Jewish American, he has roots in Lithuania and Poland.

Perhaps, as the Forward has previously suggested, “Hatikvah” could be on its way to becoming a more inclusive national anthem — one that includes everyone. Even metalheads.

Watch Blumenthal’s Version of the Anthem:

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO