Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has launched an extraordinary 787-word attack against the media via Twitter.

The singer used the micro-blogging website, which normally limits tweets to 147 characters, to defend the band following a string of recent “nonsense” reports.

Rose began his message by thanking fans who attended the band's recent secret gigs in New York, describing them as “insane”.

But he then criticised others fans who complained that the Fashion Week shows had been too exclusive.

"So if ur complainin' n' u drink beer, today I recommend a Lucky or perhaps a Red Stripe...if ur still peeved...again, fuck off," he wrote.

He also rubbished reports that claimed he had requested that T-shirts bearing Guns N' Roses' former guitarist Slash's face were turned inside out on the band's recent Canadian tour.

“Fabricated from a 2001 bs RS piece from Rock N' Rio. Bottom line Never happened, end of story. Fuck TMZ, ContactMusic, Spinner (I got ur attitude.)” the singer said.

Rose then said that the band had arrived late on stage for a show in Toronto because of “circumstances beyond r control”.

Turning his attention to the media in general, Rose added: “So in closing...Fuck the LA Times, TMZ, Contact Music n' Spinner. I don't need 'forgiven' for alleged n' fabricated nonsense.

“I've no respect for mean spirited aholes gettin' paid talkin' shit at other's expense or irresponsible biased partisan politics wanna be journalism by dated hacks. Go on! Back ur boy!

(by Jason Gregory)