Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock
band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band has sold an estimated 90 million albums worldwide,[3] including 39 million in the
United States.[4] Their 1987 major label debut, Appetite for Destruction, sold over 26 million copies worldwide and reached #1 in the
United States.[5]
The band's musical style, onstage presence and bad boy rock image helped usher in a new era of the dominant hard rock and heavy metal scene of the late 1980s and early
1990s. While glam metal was the leading genre
in record sales, video charts and radio airplay, Guns N' Roses offered a grittier, more traditional take on rock music, and won
many fans who admired their apparent authenticity.
The band enjoyed worldwide success from 1988 to 1993, but clashing personalities of different band members led to the end of
the core lineup. Today, frontman Axl Rose is the only original member left in the current Guns
N' Roses line-up, having served as lead singer for twenty-two years since 1985.
Band history
Early days (1985-1987)
Foundation - L.A. Guns/Hollywood Rose merge
Guns N' Roses was founded in Los Angeles in March 1985 by Axl Rose and guitarist Tracii Guns, as an informal merger of
Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, both of which
Axl Rose had been a member, and the second of which Tracii Guns had been a member.[6] The original Guns N' Roses lineup included other members from
both bands: from Hollywood Rose, Rose's longtime friend rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin,
and from L.A. Guns, Guns's former bandmates bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner. The band's unique style integrated hard rock,
heavy metal, sleaze rock, blues and punk rock.
When Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner could not appear at one of the band's first shows in Seattle, Stradlin and Rose recruited guitarist Slash and
drummer Steven Adler for the performance. In early 1986 the pair joined full-time, fixing
the lineup as Axl Rose (lead vocals and keyboards), Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar),
Duff McKagan (bass guitar) and Steven Adler (drums).
On the way back to Los Angeles, they wrote the lyrics for "Welcome to the Jungle", which became one of their signature songs.
Discovery
After witnessing a Guns N' Roses show at the Troubadour, Tom Zutaut, a Geffen Records
A&R executive, falsely warned other scouts "they suck" so he could have more time and leeway to sign them. Axl Rose demanded, and received, a $75,000 advance from Zutaut before revealing that he had promised an A&R
executive from Chrysalis that the band would sign with her if she walked naked down Sunset
Boulevard. For three days, Zutaut nervously watched from his office window for a naked A&R executive before he could
close the deal.[7] Alan Niven was subsequently
hired as the band's manager, and the team set out to record the band's full-length debut album.
Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide
-
In December 1986, the band released a four song self-produced EP entitled
Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide on their own UZI
Suicide label. It opens with bassist Duff McKagan screaming "Hey fuckers, suck on
Guns N' fucking Roses!".
Designed to gauge public opinion of the band outside of Los Angeles, the record contained covers of Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" and Aerosmith's "Mama Kin", along with two original compositions: the punk
anthem "Reckless Life" and the classic rock inspired "Move to the City", both of which were co-written by Hollywood
Rose's founding member Chris Weber. Despite having the look and sound of a live
album, band members have admitted that the tracks were actually studio recordings with a live audience overdubbed.[8]
Only 10,000 vinyl copies of the album were produced, and even though the tracks were re-issued verbatim two years later as
part of the GN'R Lies EP, the original Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide has been a valuable and sought after
collector's item among fans since the late 1980s.
Rise to fame (1987 – 1989)
Appetite for Destruction
-
1987's
Appetite for Destruction
The band's first album, Appetite for Destruction was released on
July 21, 1987. In the US, "Welcome to the Jungle" was issued as its first single with an accompanying music video. Initially,
the album and single did not perform well, but when Geffen Records founder
David Geffen was asked to lend support to the band, he obliged by personally convincing
MTV executives to play "Welcome to the Jungle" during their after hours rotation. Even though the
video was initially only played one time at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, rock and punk fans took
notice and soon began requesting the video and song en masse.
In the United Kingdom, "It's So Easy" was
released prior to the album itself. The band quickly gained popularity through radio airplay and via a rousing performance at
London's famous Marquee Club on
June 28 1987. The 12-inch single for "It's So Easy" included
Marquee Club performances of "Shadow of Your Love" and "Move to the City".
Overseas, countries were often treated to material that never saw release to the US market, and went unexposed to US fans. The
original UK "Welcome to the Jungle" single was backed with the Marquee Club performance of AC/DC's
classic "Whole Lotta Rosie" and a 12-inch single included live renditions of "It's So
Easy" and the Bob Dylan classic "Knockin' on
Heaven's Door" (which would later be covered by the band in the studio on Use
Your Illusion II). In Japan, an entire EP entitled Live from the
Jungle was issued, containing the album version of "Sweet Child o' Mine"
and most of the Marquee Club recordings. European and Asian single releases were often accompanied by interviews with
Slash or Axl Rose, a common practice in those countries.
The album underwent an artwork change after the original Robert Williams
cover design (a surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist) spawned complaints from
religious groups and caused some record stores to brown bag, obscure, or refuse to sell the album. The revised cover was gleaned
from a tattoo that Axl Rose had recently commissioned featuring skeleton faces of the five
musicians arranged on a cross. Rose later insisted that the Gold and Platinum plaques issued by the RIAA be set using the original cover. The artwork from the original cover can
be found in the booklet of the CD release.
"Sweet Child o' Mine" was the album's second US single co-written by Axl Rose as a poem for
his girlfriend and future wife, Erin Everly. Due to the growing grassroots success of the
band and the cross-gender appeal of the tune, the song and its accompanying music video received heavy airplay on both radio and
MTV, and became a smash hit during the summer of 1988. "Welcome to the Jungle" was
then re-issued as a single, with new pressings of records and tapes and new artwork. The UK re-release was backed with an
acoustic version of "You're Crazy", recorded much earlier than the one featured on the G N' R
Lies EP.
By the time "Paradise City" and its video reached the airwaves, the band's touring
success and fame had catapulted the album to #1 on the Billboard charts. "Welcome to
the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City" were all top ten singles in the U.S. To date, Appetite for
Destruction has sold over 25 million copies.
Touring success and controversy
Guns N' Roses began opening shows for major acts, but as their fame began to take hold, a world tour in support of Appetite
for Destruction was scheduled. The band traveled across the United States, and in spring 1988 were invited to the notorious
Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington
in Leicestershire, England, where they shared the bill
with groups like KISS and Iron Maiden.
At the start of the Guns N' Roses set, the capacity crowd of over 100,000 began jumping and surging forward. Despite
Axl Rose's requests that the crowd move away from the stage, two fans were trampled to death.
The media largely blamed the band for the tragedy, and reported that the band had continued playing even when there were
dangerous crowd conditions. In fact, the final report on the Donington incident filed by the head of security at the venue noted
that the band had not been aware of the extent of fan injuries, had immediately halted their set when requested to do so, and had
attempted to calm the crowd.[9] Nonetheless, events such as
these during the Appetite for Destruction tour earned the group the title of "the world's most dangerous band".
In addition, the behavior of the band members also garnered negative attention from the media. McKagan, Slash, Stradlin and
Adler were often seen intoxicated both on and off stage. Members of the crew at the time stated that Slash often had to be
carried onstage by a group of people and would sometimes pass out after the concert ended. When touring in England in 1987, the
bandmembers were treated poorly by the press with Slash being referred to as "Slosh", "Slug" and "Slush". Also during this tour,
the band recorded five of the six songs that would be released on their live album simply entitled EP, better known as
Live from the Jungle. Ironically, the track "Welcome to the Jungle" does not appear in the track listing. Released in 1987, the album never
attracted much attention, mostly because it was only released in Japan and also because their
full-scale album Appetite for Destruction was released around the same
time.
GN'R Lies
-
The band's next release was the G N' R Lies EP in 1988, which reached #2 in the
Billboard music charts. The album included the four Live ?!*@ Like a
Suicide recordings on one side and four acoustic songs on the other. The song "One in a Million", which included the words "niggers" and "faggots" among other such profanities, led to controversy
in which critics accused the band, and specifically Axl Rose, of racism and homophobia. Rose responded by saying the claims were unfounded,
particularly considering Slash himself is half black. He stated that by the term "nigger" he meant low lives and meant no offense
to anyone. He went on to explain that the song reflected racial and prejudicial problems within society, rather than promoting
them. Rose also cited that he idolized gay singers like Freddie Mercury and
Elton John. The band had played gigs alongside the all-black group Body Count, and lead singer Ice-T said in his book The Ice Opinion that
Axl had been "a victim of the press the same way I am".[10]
After the release of GN'R Lies, Slash and Duff appeared on the nationally televised American Music Awards, visibly intoxicated and using profanities. Geffen Records executives asked
the band to curtail their behavior. The members finally took steps to deal with their addictions after Rose threatened to end the
band if they continued with their heavy drug abuse. He even spoke publicly about the situation, specifically the heroin
addictions, while opening for The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1989.
Fame and fortune (1990-1993)
Use Your Illusion
- Main articles: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II
In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording their most ambitious undertaking yet. During the recording
session of "Civil War", drummer Steven Adler was unable to perform well due to his
struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction. While the band had played "Civil War" with Adler live once with no problems, his
difficulties in the studio caused the band to do nearly 30 takes.[11] As a result, Adler was fired in July 1990, and was replaced by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum. A few months prior, keyboardist Dizzy Reed became the sixth member of the group when he joined as a full time member. The band fired their
manager, Alan Niven, in May 1991, replacing him with Doug Goldstein. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone magazine, Rose forced the dismissal of Niven (against the wishes of some of his
bandmates) by refusing to complete the albums until he was replaced.[12]
With enough music for two albums, the band released Use Your Illusion I
and Use Your Illusion II on September
17 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at #2 and #1 respectively in the
Billboard charts, setting a record as they became the first and only group to date
to achieve this feat. The albums spent 108 weeks in the chart.
Both prior to and after the release of the albums, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month-long Use Your Illusion World Tour to support them. It became famous for both its financial success and
the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows.
Use Your Illusion World Tour
- Main articles: Use Your Illusion Tour and GNR-Metallica Stadium Tour
The tour included a Slash guitar solo incorporating The Godfather theme, a piano
driven Axl Rose cover of "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath and an extended jam on the
classic rock inspired "Move to the City" where Rose showcased the ensemble of musicians assembled for the tour.
Many of the successful performances during the tour were equally matched, and often overshadowed in the press, by riots, late
starts and outspoken rants by Rose. While the band's previous drug and alcohol issues were seemingly under control, Axl was often
agitated by lax security, sound problems and unwanted filming or recording of the performances. He also used the time in between
songs to fire off political statements or retorts against music critics or celebrity rivals.
On July 2 1991, at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland
Heights, Missouri, just outside of St.
Louis during a performance of "Rocket Queen", Rose jumped into the audience and
tackled a fan who was recording the show with a video camera. After being pulled out of the audience by members of the crew, Rose
said: "Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!", slammed his microphone on the ground and left the stage. The
sound the microphone made caused some fans to think he shot someone, so Slash quickly told the audience, "He just slammed his mic
on the floor. We're outta here." The angry crowd began to riot and dozens of people were injured.
The footage was captured by Robert John, who was documenting the entire tour
for the band. Rose was charged with having incited the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, as
the band went overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose but a judge ruled that he did not directly incite
the riot. In his defense, Rose stated that the Guns N' Roses security team had made four separate requests to the venue's
security staff to remove the camera, all of which were ignored, that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles
from the audience and that the venue's security had been lax, allowing weapons into the arena and refusing to enforce a drinking
limit.[13] Consequently, Use Your Illusion's artwork
featured a hidden message amidst the Thank You section of the album insert: "Fuck You, St. Louis!"
During this time, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin quit the band due to differences with both Rose and Slash. He was replaced by
Los Angeles based guitarist Gilby Clarke.
During many shows throughout the tour, Rose introduced Clarke and had him play "Wild
Horses", a Rolling Stones cover. In late 1991, Rose added a touring ensemble to the band which included a horns section
and several background vocalists.
In 1992, the band appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute
Concert, performing a two song set. Slash later performed Tie Your Mother
Down with the remaining members of Queen, while Axl Rose performed
We Will Rock You and duetted with Elton John
on Bohemian Rhapsody.
Later in the year they went on the mini-GNR-Metallica Stadium Tour with
American heavy metal band Metallica. During a show in August 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Metallica frontman
James Hetfield suffered severe burns after stepping too close to a pyrotechnics blast. Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to
the city for another show. After a long delay, during which the audience became increasingly restless, Guns N' Roses took the
stage. However, the shortened time between sets did not allow for adequate tuning of stage monitors, resulting in musicians not
being able to hear themselves. In addition, Rose claimed that his throat hurt,[14] causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led
to another riot by audience members, reminiscent of the rioting that had occurred in St. Louis one year earlier. Rioters
overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires. Local authorities were barely able to bring the mob under
control. This can be seen on video in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.
The Use Your Illusion Tour is also notable for the many videos the band released to support it, including
"Don't Cry", "November Rain" and "Estranged" - some of the most expensive music videos ever made. The hit ballad "November Rain" became the most
requested video on MTV, eventually winning the 1992 MTV
Video Music Award for best cinematography. During the awards show, the band performed the song with Elton John accompanying on piano.
In May 1993, Gilby Clarke broke his wrist in a motorcycling accident and the band needed a replacement for some dates in
Europe. Izzy Stradlin returned briefly for a string of five shows.
The historic tour ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina,
on July 17 1993. The tour set attendance records and lasted for 28
months, in which more than 200 shows were played. The show in Buenos Aires marked the last time original members Slash and
McKagan as well as newcomers Clarke and Sorum would play a live show with Rose.
"The Spaghetti Incident?"
-
Main article: "The Spaghetti
Incident?"
On November 23, 1993, Guns N' Roses released a collection
of punk and glam rock covers entitled "The Spaghetti Incident?". Despite protests from Rose's bandmates, an
unadvertised cover of the Charles Manson song "Look at Your Game Girl" was included on
the album at his request. Years later, Rose said he would remove the song from new pressings of the album, claiming that critics
and the media had misinterpreted his interest in Manson. However, as of 2007, the song is still on the album. The Spaghetti
Incident? did not match the success of the Illusion albums and tension increased within the band.
Decline (1994 – 1998)
Axl Rose began work on a new album of original material in 1993, writing a song called "This I Love".[15] The album's producer was
supposedly Mike Clink. Nothing came out of the rumors, and Guns N' Roses remained on hiatus. In 1994, Gilby Clarke was released
from the band as Axl felt his songwriting skills were inadequate for their future projects. That same year, a cover version of
The Rolling Stones's "Sympathy for the Devil" was recorded for the movie
Interview with the Vampire. The addition of Axl's friend
Paul Tobias in place of Clarke did not sit well with remaining band members. During
recording, Tobias recorded an echo of Slash's solo at Axl's request. Slash was infuriated when he heard the song's final mix and
discovered that Tobias' guitar had been placed on top of his.
In early 1995, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde told Kerrang that he had joined the band for a week's worth of
rehearsal and jamming on Rose's personal request. While Wylde considered the experience as a highly positive one, he was
ultimately frustrated by the time consuming contract negotiations, opting to go on tour with Osbourne.
Slash then drifted in and out of the band for the next year or so, beginning a side project called Slash's Snakepit. In August 1996, the band regrouped with Rose temporarily acting as the rhythm
guitarist. At the time, Sorum hinted that the band were considering a new, unknown player for the slot, possibly referring to
Paul Tobias.[16] After two weeks of jamming and song
writing, McKagan and Sorum began touring with their sideproject, Neurotic Outsiders,
returning to work with Rose and Slash mid-tour for a week in early September. After that, Slash and Rose were left alone to
continue working. The guitarist commented on the situation in October, saying "I have only been back in the band for three weeks
and my relationship with Axl right now is sort of at a stand still."[17] A few weeks later, Rose announced Slash was no longer a part of the band.
Slash was replaced by former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck. The next year, Sorum was fired from the group following a verbal dispute with Rose regarding
negative comments Paul Tobias had made about Slash. In mid 1997, McKagan opted out of his contract and officially left the band
in early 1998. This left Rose as the only remaining member from the groups heyday. Slash, McKagan and Sorum later formed rock
supergroup Velvet Revolver with former Stone
Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and guitarist Dave Kushner. They released their first CD, Contraband, in
2004, to a good reception.
In 1998, Axl formally returned to the studio accompanied by guitarist Robin Finck, rhythm
guitarist Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson
(formerly of The Replacements), drummer Josh
Freese (of The Vandals), keyboardist Dizzy Reed
and effects man Chris Pitman. In that same year, the clean (i.e. any profanity removed)
compilation album Use Your Illusion was released (in the USA only), mainly so
the album could be sold in Wal-Mart and K-Mart stores.
Chinese Democracy (1999 – present)
- Main articles: Chinese Democracy and Chinese Democracy Tour
In 1999, the band released one new song, "Oh My God", which was
included on the soundtrack of the film End of Days. The track
featured additional guitar work by Dave Navarro and Gary Sunshine, Axl's personal guitar
teacher. The song's release was intended to be a prelude to their new album, now officially entitled Chinese Democracy. Geffen also released Live Era:
'87-'93, a collection of live performances from various concerts during the Appetite for Destruction and Use
Your Illusion tours. Also in 1999, during an interview with Kurt Loder for MTV, Axl said that he had re-recorded Appetite
for Destruction with the then-new band, apart from two songs which he had replaced with "Patience" and "You Could Be Mine".[18]
The second official Guns N' Roses logo, used from 2000 to 2005.
In 1999, guitarist Robin Finck departed the band in order to rejoin his former band, Nine
Inch Nails, on tour. In 2000, avant-garde
guitarist Buckethead joined Guns N' Roses as a replacement
for Finck. Drummer Josh Freese was replaced with Bryan Mantia (formerly of Primus). Robin Finck returned to Guns N' Roses in late 2000, to complement Buckethead on lead guitar.
The New Guns N' Roses
The revised lineup finally made a public appearance in January 2001, with two well-received concerts, one in Las Vegas and one at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro. The band played a mixture of old hits as well as new songs from their forthcoming album.
During their Rock in Rio set, Rose made the following comment regarding former members of the band:
- "I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people you came to know and love could not be with us here
today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard (meaning my former friends) to do everything they could
so that I could not be here today. I say fuck that. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along."[19]
The new lineup played a further two shows in Las Vegas at the end of 2001. In 2002, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band
because of his frustrations with life on the road. He was replaced by Richard Fortus
(formerly of The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit
Love). The band then played several shows in August 2002, headlining festivals and concerts throughout Asia and Europe. They made their way to New York for a surprise appearance at the
MTV Video Music Awards in September.
In 2002, the band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized to support
Chinese Democracy. However, the opening show in Vancouver was cancelled by the venue,
and a riot ensued. This tour was met with mixed results. Some concerts did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as
New York sold out in minutes. Due to a second riot by fans in Philadelphia, tour promoter Clear
Channel cancelled the remainder of the tour.
The band went on hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio IV in May 2004.
However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel. Also in
March 2004, Geffen released Guns N' Roses's Greatest Hits,
since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years. Rose expressed his displeasure with this album as its
track listing was established without his consent and went as far as trying to block its release by suing Geffen. This failed,
however, and the album went triple platinum in the USA.
The current Guns N' Roses logo, in use since 2006.
In February 2006, demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher In The Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on the
internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the MP3
files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. Despite this, radio stations began adding "I.R.S." to
playlists, and the song actually reached #49 on the Radio & Records Active Rock
National Airplay chart in the final week of February - the first time an internet leak has done so.
On May 5 2006, Axl Rose appeared on the Friday Night Rocks
with Eddie Trunk radio show (during an interview with Sebastian Bach) and said that
the new Guns N' Roses album would be released before the end of the year. Later in May, the band launched a European tour,
headlining both the Download Festival and Rock In Rio -
Lisbon. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in
New York City and became the band's first live concert dates since the aborted 2002 tour.
The shows also marked the debut of virtuoso guitarist and composer Ron "Bumblefoot"
Thal, replacing Buckethead. During the tour, former bandmate Izzy Stradlin and
ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach
made frequent guest appearances.
Five warm-up shows before a 2006 North American tour were held in September 2006. The tour officially commenced on
October 24 in Miami. Drummer Frank Ferrer replaced
Bryan Mantia, who took a leave of absence to be with his wife and newborn child. Coinciding
with the tour, the song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for Harley-Davidson beginning in October 2006.[20] That same month, Rolling Stone published an article revealing that Andy Wallace would be mixing the final album.
In December 2006, Axl Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as the band's
manager. He revealed that the last four dates of the North American tour would be cut so the band could work on postproduction
for Chinese Democracy. He also set a tentative release date for the album for the first time since the album's
announcement: March 6 2007.
On February 8 2007, the band played a two-song set at the
Rodeo Drive's Walk of Style ceremony, held on February 8 in Beverly Hills, California. The
band, with Chris Pitman on bass, blazed through "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to close the event, which
honored Gianni and Donatella Versace.
On February 23 2007, Del James announced that Chinese
Democracy's recording stage was finished, and the band had now moved onto mixing the album. However, this proved that the March 6
release date would be impossible to achieve, and the album once again had no scheduled release date.[21]
Recent Events
On May 4, 2007 three more tracks leaked from "Chinese Democracy";
an updated version of "I.R.S.", "The Blues" and the title track. All three tracks had previously been played live. Guns N' Roses
embarked on the 2007 leg of the Chinese Democracy World
Tour in Mexico on June, followed by dates on Australia and Japan. The songs Nice Boys
and Don't Cry were played for the first time since the Use Your Illusion Tour. The tour ended on high on the twentieth anniversary of Appetite for
Destruction, in Osaka. During the tour announcement, the band was listed as Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard
Fortus on guitars, Tommy Stinson on bass, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keyboards and Frank Ferrer on drums.
On August 20, 2007, Rose announced that he would be a guest
performer on Sebastian Bach's new album, Angel Down, to be released on
November 20,
