Backstage Pass

The biggest surprise of the MTV Video Music Awards? No, it wasn’t Black Eyed Peas winning best hip-hop video for “My Humps.” It was the appearance of a smiling, well-adjusted, healthy-looking W. Axl Rose in the press room after his unexpected appearance introducing The Killers on the awards show.

Rose said the new Guns ‘N’ Roses album “Chinese Democracy,” more than a decade in the making, will be out “later this year, finally.” “We plan to put out [this album] and we plan to make music for many years to come,” said Rose, who looked nothing like a man who would get so angry he would bite a Swedish security guard.

He added that he hadn’t seen Kelly Clarkson’s version of “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” but “anyone who covers the songs is a good thing.”

Other news from backstage: Fall Out Boy said The Killers’ new album is good and that their “beef is squashed… it’s like tofu now.” The band said to expect a new single in December and a new album in January… Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda said they are working with producer Rick Rubin and have more than 100 rough mixes of songs completed for their new album, which should arrive some time next year. “It’s the most fun I’ve had recording a Linkin Park album yet,” Shinoda said… Pink said she thought she had no chance to win best pop video for her biting “Stupid Girls” clip. “I was talking while they were announcing the nominees,” she said, adding that she appreciated the irony of receiving the award from Nicole Richie. Pink said her next single will be “U and Yr Hand,” though the song that may get seen more will be “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” her reworking of Joan Jett’s classic “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” which will be the theme for NBC’s Sunday Night Football this fall. Why did she do it? "I love Joan Jett and my brother loves football," she said.

Photo of Axl Rose by AP.