Axl Rose - vocalist,frontman
W.
Axl Rose (born February 6, 1962) is an American hard rock singer and
songwriter, born as William Bruce Rose in Lafayette, Indiana. According to
his account, he had a deeply troubled family life, with abuse at the
hands of his father and stepfather. His biological father, William Rose,
left the family when Axl was two. His mother later married Stephen
Bailey, and his surname was changed to Bailey. The strict discipline and
religious Pentecostal education he underwent as a child was followed by
numerous brushes with law enforcement as an adolescent. He had a strong
interest in music
and as a teenager is said to have formed a band named Axl. Around the
age of 17 Rose made two important choices. First, he changed his name to
W. Rose. Second, he left home and eventually ended up in Los Angeles,
California, where he joined childhood friend Izzy Stradlin (born Jeffrey
Isbell) to pursue a rock music career.
Guns N' Roses/Musical Influence: The music scene in Los Angeles during the early 1980s featured both punk and hair metal/heavy metal bands. Rose wanted to meld the two styles into a unique musical form. Rose moved through a number of bands, including Hollywood Rose, L.A. Guns, Rapidfire, Axl, and Rose. Then, after bringing in his former L.A. Guns band-mates Tracii Guns (who was soon replaced by Slash) and Rob Gardner (who was soon replaced by Steven Adler), Rose formed Guns N' Roses around 1985. With Rose (vocals), Stradlin (guitar), Slash (real name Saul Hudson/lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Steven Adler (drums), Guns N' Roses signed a recording contract with Geffen Records in 1986. The band released its first full-length album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987. Mixing blazing power chords with Rose's shrieking vocals, the album represented a new musical style that took some time to catch on. But catch on it did, and by 1988, Guns N' Roses shot to the top of rock music, helped by the massive popularity (as radio singles and as MTV videos) of the songs "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O' Mine." 'Child' was written for his then girlfriend (later ex-wife) Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers; she was also featured in the video for the song.
Famous first for its music, the band soon gained notoriety for a wild lifestyle fueled by prodigious use of drugs. Instability followed, with concert cancellations and rumors of a breakup. In 1988, the band released G N' R Lies, which also was hugely popular. But criticism also came for the song "One in a Million", which was interpreted as insulting to gays, blacks, and immigrants. After a string of delays, the group released two albums called Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II in 1991. These albums were also huge hits, but the band soon ran into trouble. Rose jumped off stage to attack a fan in St. Louis, Missouri during the 28 month-long Use Your Illusion Tour, and sparked a riot. Another riot was spawned on October 8, 1992 at the Montreal Stade Olympique when Rose, late for the band's stage appearance, walked out after playing only a couple songs. These incidents, along with the appearance of a new stripped-down musical style known as grunge, led to a growing impression of Guns N' Roses as a self-indulgent and out-of-date act. Rose himself came to be seen as erratic and strange when he caused long performance delays and challenged Kurt Cobain to a fight during the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, after Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love, egged him on. Axl Rose was a huge Nirvana fan and asked Cobain to have Nirvana open up for GN'R. Kurt turned Axl down and taunted him in the press. This hurt Axl a great deal. Although most people consider the fight between Axl and Kurt to be due to Axl's violent behavior, all evidence points toward Kurt as being the one who "started" the fight. In an interview during the early 1990s, after turning down the opening gig for GN'R (and prior to their backstage squabble), Cobain claimed that GN'R was the most talentless band in the world and a complete waste of music - despite the fact that prior to becoming famous he was photographed wearing numerous Appetite for Destruction T-shirts, and according to his ex-girlfriend, was a massive fan of the band.
Deterioration of the Band: In 1993 Guns N' Roses issued an album of cover tunes, The Spaghetti Incident?, which received mixed reviews. The album is the lowest-selling album of Guns N' Roses' career.
In 1994, Axl ditched guitar player Gilby Clarke and hired an old friend of his named Paul Tobias. Together with the rest of the band (at this point Slash, Duff and Matt), Axl and Paul recorded a cover of the song Sympathy for the Devil for the Interview with the Vampire soundtrack. Unbenownst to Slash, Rose had Tobias re-record some guitar tracks previously played by Slash.
The band returned to the studio and recorded 13 tracks for a new album (which still exist today but have never been heard by anyone apart from Axl and co.). However due to tensions Slash shortly thereafter left the band, followed by Matt and Duff in 1997. (Matt was technically fired, but planned on leaving by his own choice anyway.)
The Comeback: In 2001, the new incarnation of GN'R was unleashed to Rio de Janeiros when Axl and his new band played in front of 250,000 screaming fans at Rock in Rio III. It was here that he introduced new songs such as Chinese Democracy, Madagascar, The Blues, and Silkworms, as well as playing the classics for enthusiastic fans.
In 2002 Axl made a special surprise appearance at the 2002 VMAs. It was here that Axl officially unveiled the new lineup of GN'R to the rest of the world. Although Axl suffered earphone malfunctions and was not able to hear his own voice as he sang (hence his uneven pitch), the overall energy of the performance was great. It was one of the highest rated musical performances in MTV history. Ozzy Osbourne said that just in terms of the energy it was one of the greatest performances ever.
A North American Tour followed, but fell apart halfway through in December of 2002 due to Axl not showing up at the show in Philadelphia.
In September 2004, a new GN'R track, titled "I.R.S.," was leaked onto the internet by an anonymous source. It was defined as being an authentic poor quality demo tape, obtained through the radio program, Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk, a New York City based program airing on Q104.3 Friday nights 11pm-2am. It was on this program where the song originally had aired earlier. Trunk had received a copy of the track from his close friend Mike Piazza, who had received it anonymously in the mail.
As of October 2005, the album Chinese Democracy has cost over $15 million dollars, making it the most expensive album of all-time. Axl has reportedly recorded over 70 tracks with the new band and has enough material to release at least three CDs, which he plans on doing.
In September 2005 the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place, finally, after many years of waiting. Axl met fans in Malibu and told them the album would be out by early 2006 and a song would be featured on the soundtrack for the Tom Hanks/Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code. Although this rumor was never 100% verified, GN'R manager Merck refused to comment, indicating it bore some truth. Also, rumblings from an inside source at Sanctuary Music Publishings confirmed that the company was beginning to take the early steps of release for the album and was planning on spreading news to reintroduce the band to the world.
Guns N' Roses/Musical Influence: The music scene in Los Angeles during the early 1980s featured both punk and hair metal/heavy metal bands. Rose wanted to meld the two styles into a unique musical form. Rose moved through a number of bands, including Hollywood Rose, L.A. Guns, Rapidfire, Axl, and Rose. Then, after bringing in his former L.A. Guns band-mates Tracii Guns (who was soon replaced by Slash) and Rob Gardner (who was soon replaced by Steven Adler), Rose formed Guns N' Roses around 1985. With Rose (vocals), Stradlin (guitar), Slash (real name Saul Hudson/lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass), and Steven Adler (drums), Guns N' Roses signed a recording contract with Geffen Records in 1986. The band released its first full-length album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987. Mixing blazing power chords with Rose's shrieking vocals, the album represented a new musical style that took some time to catch on. But catch on it did, and by 1988, Guns N' Roses shot to the top of rock music, helped by the massive popularity (as radio singles and as MTV videos) of the songs "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child O' Mine." 'Child' was written for his then girlfriend (later ex-wife) Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers; she was also featured in the video for the song.
Famous first for its music, the band soon gained notoriety for a wild lifestyle fueled by prodigious use of drugs. Instability followed, with concert cancellations and rumors of a breakup. In 1988, the band released G N' R Lies, which also was hugely popular. But criticism also came for the song "One in a Million", which was interpreted as insulting to gays, blacks, and immigrants. After a string of delays, the group released two albums called Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II in 1991. These albums were also huge hits, but the band soon ran into trouble. Rose jumped off stage to attack a fan in St. Louis, Missouri during the 28 month-long Use Your Illusion Tour, and sparked a riot. Another riot was spawned on October 8, 1992 at the Montreal Stade Olympique when Rose, late for the band's stage appearance, walked out after playing only a couple songs. These incidents, along with the appearance of a new stripped-down musical style known as grunge, led to a growing impression of Guns N' Roses as a self-indulgent and out-of-date act. Rose himself came to be seen as erratic and strange when he caused long performance delays and challenged Kurt Cobain to a fight during the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, after Cobain and his wife, Courtney Love, egged him on. Axl Rose was a huge Nirvana fan and asked Cobain to have Nirvana open up for GN'R. Kurt turned Axl down and taunted him in the press. This hurt Axl a great deal. Although most people consider the fight between Axl and Kurt to be due to Axl's violent behavior, all evidence points toward Kurt as being the one who "started" the fight. In an interview during the early 1990s, after turning down the opening gig for GN'R (and prior to their backstage squabble), Cobain claimed that GN'R was the most talentless band in the world and a complete waste of music - despite the fact that prior to becoming famous he was photographed wearing numerous Appetite for Destruction T-shirts, and according to his ex-girlfriend, was a massive fan of the band.
Deterioration of the Band: In 1993 Guns N' Roses issued an album of cover tunes, The Spaghetti Incident?, which received mixed reviews. The album is the lowest-selling album of Guns N' Roses' career.
In 1994, Axl ditched guitar player Gilby Clarke and hired an old friend of his named Paul Tobias. Together with the rest of the band (at this point Slash, Duff and Matt), Axl and Paul recorded a cover of the song Sympathy for the Devil for the Interview with the Vampire soundtrack. Unbenownst to Slash, Rose had Tobias re-record some guitar tracks previously played by Slash.
The band returned to the studio and recorded 13 tracks for a new album (which still exist today but have never been heard by anyone apart from Axl and co.). However due to tensions Slash shortly thereafter left the band, followed by Matt and Duff in 1997. (Matt was technically fired, but planned on leaving by his own choice anyway.)
The Comeback: In 2001, the new incarnation of GN'R was unleashed to Rio de Janeiros when Axl and his new band played in front of 250,000 screaming fans at Rock in Rio III. It was here that he introduced new songs such as Chinese Democracy, Madagascar, The Blues, and Silkworms, as well as playing the classics for enthusiastic fans.
In 2002 Axl made a special surprise appearance at the 2002 VMAs. It was here that Axl officially unveiled the new lineup of GN'R to the rest of the world. Although Axl suffered earphone malfunctions and was not able to hear his own voice as he sang (hence his uneven pitch), the overall energy of the performance was great. It was one of the highest rated musical performances in MTV history. Ozzy Osbourne said that just in terms of the energy it was one of the greatest performances ever.
A North American Tour followed, but fell apart halfway through in December of 2002 due to Axl not showing up at the show in Philadelphia.
In September 2004, a new GN'R track, titled "I.R.S.," was leaked onto the internet by an anonymous source. It was defined as being an authentic poor quality demo tape, obtained through the radio program, Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk, a New York City based program airing on Q104.3 Friday nights 11pm-2am. It was on this program where the song originally had aired earlier. Trunk had received a copy of the track from his close friend Mike Piazza, who had received it anonymously in the mail.
As of October 2005, the album Chinese Democracy has cost over $15 million dollars, making it the most expensive album of all-time. Axl has reportedly recorded over 70 tracks with the new band and has enough material to release at least three CDs, which he plans on doing.
In September 2005 the pieces of the puzzle seemed to fall into place, finally, after many years of waiting. Axl met fans in Malibu and told them the album would be out by early 2006 and a song would be featured on the soundtrack for the Tom Hanks/Ron Howard movie The Da Vinci Code. Although this rumor was never 100% verified, GN'R manager Merck refused to comment, indicating it bore some truth. Also, rumblings from an inside source at Sanctuary Music Publishings confirmed that the company was beginning to take the early steps of release for the album and was planning on spreading news to reintroduce the band to the world.
Slash - lead guitar
Saul Hudson, better known to the world as Slash, was one of the guitarists of hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He is noted for his long, black, afro hair, and his signature top hat.
Hudson was born July 23, 1965 in Hampstead, London to an English father and a black mother. Despite widespread perception to the contrary, he is not Jewish. He was raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire until the age of 11 when he and his mother moved to Los Angeles, California in the United States. His father remained in England. In the U.S., Hudson attended Beverly Hills High School along with other future stars including Lenny Kravitz and Nicolas Cage.
In the mid 70's, his parents split up and he moved in with his grandmother. At this time, he started BMX and even won an award for his riding. At about age 15, Hudson was given a one string Acoustic guitar, with which he was able to learn to play. Slash's early influences include Led Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Queen, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Neil Young. Hudson began to devote at least 12 hours a day to playing guitar, which evidently affected his school work. Eventually, Hudson gave up on school, dropping out in eleventh grade. While a part of the Los Angeles band scene, he met drummer Steven Adler and the two formed the band Road Crew.
Hudson and Adler later met future Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin who played him a tape of Axl Rose singing. Hudson and Adler met Axl shortly thereafter. Later, when guitarist (Tracii Guns) and drummer (Rob Gardner) of Axl's new band, Hollywood Rose, could not make the band's first few shows in Seattle, Slash and Adler volunteered and quickly joined as full time members. Also, they needed a bass player, and Slash put out an ad, and they found Duff McKagan. The band became Guns N' Roses shortly thereafter.. After Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour, Slash became an American citizen.
While serving as GN'R's lead guitarist, Slash was involved in many projects with artists as varied as Lenny Kravitz, BLACKstreet, Michael Jackson and Queen.
Slash quit GN'R in 1996 after he declared that he could not work with Rose. He then focused on a group he had formed in 1994 called Slash's Snakepit, which he later disbanded in July 2001. Slash has currently embarked upon a musical endeavour with old Guns N' Roses musicians Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, called Velvet Revolver. In 2003, he participated in the Yardbirds' comeback record "Birdland" (which consisted mostly of re-recordings of some of their greatest hits, with guest appearances by former member Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Brian May, Steve Lukather, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, John Rzeznik, Martin Ditchum and Simon McCarty), released on the Favored Nations label. He played lead guitar in the track "Over, Under, Sideways, Down".
Slash maintains an impressive collection of guitars, the backbone of which is made up of Gibsons - particularly his trademark Les Paul model. He has at this stage well over 100 guitars, not only Gibsons but Fenders as well and several BC Rich guitars.
Slash was the first musician ever to have a signature amplifier created for him by Marshall.
With his second wife Perla, he has two sons, London and Cash.
Hudson was born July 23, 1965 in Hampstead, London to an English father and a black mother. Despite widespread perception to the contrary, he is not Jewish. He was raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire until the age of 11 when he and his mother moved to Los Angeles, California in the United States. His father remained in England. In the U.S., Hudson attended Beverly Hills High School along with other future stars including Lenny Kravitz and Nicolas Cage.
In the mid 70's, his parents split up and he moved in with his grandmother. At this time, he started BMX and even won an award for his riding. At about age 15, Hudson was given a one string Acoustic guitar, with which he was able to learn to play. Slash's early influences include Led Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Queen, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Neil Young. Hudson began to devote at least 12 hours a day to playing guitar, which evidently affected his school work. Eventually, Hudson gave up on school, dropping out in eleventh grade. While a part of the Los Angeles band scene, he met drummer Steven Adler and the two formed the band Road Crew.
Hudson and Adler later met future Guns N' Roses rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin who played him a tape of Axl Rose singing. Hudson and Adler met Axl shortly thereafter. Later, when guitarist (Tracii Guns) and drummer (Rob Gardner) of Axl's new band, Hollywood Rose, could not make the band's first few shows in Seattle, Slash and Adler volunteered and quickly joined as full time members. Also, they needed a bass player, and Slash put out an ad, and they found Duff McKagan. The band became Guns N' Roses shortly thereafter.. After Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour, Slash became an American citizen.
While serving as GN'R's lead guitarist, Slash was involved in many projects with artists as varied as Lenny Kravitz, BLACKstreet, Michael Jackson and Queen.
Slash quit GN'R in 1996 after he declared that he could not work with Rose. He then focused on a group he had formed in 1994 called Slash's Snakepit, which he later disbanded in July 2001. Slash has currently embarked upon a musical endeavour with old Guns N' Roses musicians Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum, former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and former Wasted Youth guitarist Dave Kushner, called Velvet Revolver. In 2003, he participated in the Yardbirds' comeback record "Birdland" (which consisted mostly of re-recordings of some of their greatest hits, with guest appearances by former member Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, Brian May, Steve Lukather, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, John Rzeznik, Martin Ditchum and Simon McCarty), released on the Favored Nations label. He played lead guitar in the track "Over, Under, Sideways, Down".
Slash maintains an impressive collection of guitars, the backbone of which is made up of Gibsons - particularly his trademark Les Paul model. He has at this stage well over 100 guitars, not only Gibsons but Fenders as well and several BC Rich guitars.
Slash was the first musician ever to have a signature amplifier created for him by Marshall.
With his second wife Perla, he has two sons, London and Cash.
Tracii Guns - lead guitar
Tracii Guns (born January 20, 1966) is an iconic metal guitar slinger who has played with a number of well-known metal bands
and solo artists over the years. Among these are Guns N' Roses, Brides
Of Destruction, L.A. Guns, W.A.S.P., Poison, The Misfits, Killing
Machine, and Johnny Thunders. He was also briefly a touring guitarist for Faster Pussycat. He guested with the band Bang Gang.
In the mid-1980s, as a side project, Tracii put together the legendary Guns N' Roses with Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Rob Gardner. Tracii and Rob later ended up leaving the band and were replaced by Tracii's childhood friend Slash and Steven Adler, respectively.
In 2003, Nikki Sixx and Guns formed the band Brides Of Destruction. Brides Of Destruction has two other members Scot Coogan and London LeGrand.
The first band to be called L.A. Guns was formed in 1983 by bassist Ole Beich, drummer Rob Gardner, guitarist Tracii Guns, and singer Axl Rose (replaced by Michael Jagosz).
Michael Jagosz sang on the Collector's Edition No. 1 EP.
The band broke up and In 1984 Tracii, Axl, and Rob left to form the band Guns N'Roses. Tracii later left Guns n' Roses to form a new band (Faster Pussycat) with (Paul Black, Mick Cripps, and Nickey "Beat" Alexander) and was replaced by the guitarist Slash. Rob Gardner also left Guns n' Roses and was replaced by Steven Adler; Guns n' Roses became very successful and made several platinum albums.
The name L.A. Guns was owned by their friend Raz who offered to financially back this new group featuring Paul Black on vocals (The Mau Maus, The Joneses), Tracii Guns on guitar, Mick Cripps on bass, and Nickey Alexander (Lords Of The New Church and The Weirdos ) on drums if they would play under the name L.A. Guns instead of Faster Pussycat. So the name L.A. Guns, which had been abandoned for over a year, was adopted for this new band. The name Faster Pussycat was dropped and was picked up by their friend Taime Downe to start another great band. Soon after this line up formed they added guitarist Robert Stoddard who also played in Dogs D'Amour under the name Ned Christie and also recorded as a solo artist.The L.A. Guns with Paul Black as the singer (1985 to 1987) is considered to be the original L.A. Guns because it was these members who created the music which was the majority of the first album and earned L.A. Guns their record deal with polygram. Also, the music created during this time remain as the main core of the of the L.A. Gun live set to this day and have carried L.A. Guns revolving door of replacement players ever since. Robert Stoddard and Paul Black left before inking the deal and Nickey "Beat" Alexander was replaced after recording the first record but songs they left behind helped propel a new line up to success, and are lasting classics today. No one in L.A. Guns since has been able to duplicate the success of the first record and the music written by Paul Black, Tracii Guns, Robert Stoddard, Mick Cripps, and Nickey "Beat" Alexander during those few years between 1985 and 1987.
After the departure of Paul Black, Robert Stoddard and Nickey "Beat" Alexander, L.A. Guns Management and Polygram Records went to all the magazines and collected any press, Bios & Pictures they could of these members and claimed they wanted to borrow these documents to copy them and return them. The pretense was that they wanted to document the history of L.A. Guns when in fact these picture and bios were never returned. Video Tapes were confiscated and the master tapes of all their recording sessions disappeared.
The band bios were re-written and the label and Management promoted the band as a new beast which formed in 1988. Manager Allen Jones bought a ticket for his friend Phil Lewis to come to L.A. and sing Pauls songs on the record and Paul Blacks name was even removed from his own songs. Although Paul Black wrote much of the classic L.A.Guns set like "One More Reason To Die" and "Show No Mercy", "Love & Hate" (Which became "Sex Action") "Looking Over My Shoulder" (Which became "Never Enough)" along with many others, all mentions of Pauls Roll in the band after that were merly that of a drug adict who happened to be in the band nothing more.
Paul Black went on to form another great band (Black Cherry) but the vicious politics of the record industry surrounding his lawsuit against Polygram and his former band kept him from signing another deal. Paul, Robert and Nickey faded into relative obscurity.
In the mid-1980s, as a side project, Tracii put together the legendary Guns N' Roses with Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Rob Gardner. Tracii and Rob later ended up leaving the band and were replaced by Tracii's childhood friend Slash and Steven Adler, respectively.
In 2003, Nikki Sixx and Guns formed the band Brides Of Destruction. Brides Of Destruction has two other members Scot Coogan and London LeGrand.
The first band to be called L.A. Guns was formed in 1983 by bassist Ole Beich, drummer Rob Gardner, guitarist Tracii Guns, and singer Axl Rose (replaced by Michael Jagosz).
Michael Jagosz sang on the Collector's Edition No. 1 EP.
The band broke up and In 1984 Tracii, Axl, and Rob left to form the band Guns N'Roses. Tracii later left Guns n' Roses to form a new band (Faster Pussycat) with (Paul Black, Mick Cripps, and Nickey "Beat" Alexander) and was replaced by the guitarist Slash. Rob Gardner also left Guns n' Roses and was replaced by Steven Adler; Guns n' Roses became very successful and made several platinum albums.
The name L.A. Guns was owned by their friend Raz who offered to financially back this new group featuring Paul Black on vocals (The Mau Maus, The Joneses), Tracii Guns on guitar, Mick Cripps on bass, and Nickey Alexander (Lords Of The New Church and The Weirdos ) on drums if they would play under the name L.A. Guns instead of Faster Pussycat. So the name L.A. Guns, which had been abandoned for over a year, was adopted for this new band. The name Faster Pussycat was dropped and was picked up by their friend Taime Downe to start another great band. Soon after this line up formed they added guitarist Robert Stoddard who also played in Dogs D'Amour under the name Ned Christie and also recorded as a solo artist.The L.A. Guns with Paul Black as the singer (1985 to 1987) is considered to be the original L.A. Guns because it was these members who created the music which was the majority of the first album and earned L.A. Guns their record deal with polygram. Also, the music created during this time remain as the main core of the of the L.A. Gun live set to this day and have carried L.A. Guns revolving door of replacement players ever since. Robert Stoddard and Paul Black left before inking the deal and Nickey "Beat" Alexander was replaced after recording the first record but songs they left behind helped propel a new line up to success, and are lasting classics today. No one in L.A. Guns since has been able to duplicate the success of the first record and the music written by Paul Black, Tracii Guns, Robert Stoddard, Mick Cripps, and Nickey "Beat" Alexander during those few years between 1985 and 1987.
After the departure of Paul Black, Robert Stoddard and Nickey "Beat" Alexander, L.A. Guns Management and Polygram Records went to all the magazines and collected any press, Bios & Pictures they could of these members and claimed they wanted to borrow these documents to copy them and return them. The pretense was that they wanted to document the history of L.A. Guns when in fact these picture and bios were never returned. Video Tapes were confiscated and the master tapes of all their recording sessions disappeared.
The band bios were re-written and the label and Management promoted the band as a new beast which formed in 1988. Manager Allen Jones bought a ticket for his friend Phil Lewis to come to L.A. and sing Pauls songs on the record and Paul Blacks name was even removed from his own songs. Although Paul Black wrote much of the classic L.A.Guns set like "One More Reason To Die" and "Show No Mercy", "Love & Hate" (Which became "Sex Action") "Looking Over My Shoulder" (Which became "Never Enough)" along with many others, all mentions of Pauls Roll in the band after that were merly that of a drug adict who happened to be in the band nothing more.
Paul Black went on to form another great band (Black Cherry) but the vicious politics of the record industry surrounding his lawsuit against Polygram and his former band kept him from signing another deal. Paul, Robert and Nickey faded into relative obscurity.
Izzy Stradlin - rhythm guitar
Izzy
Stradlin (b. April 8, 1962, in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American
musician best known as the rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns
N' Roses. He wrote / co-wrote some of the bands biggest hits with lead
singer Axl Rose including Patience, You Could Be Mine ,Used to Love Her,
Bad Obsession, Pretty Tied Up and Paradise City (chorus). Over the
course of the four albums that Stradlin performed on, he teamed with lead guitarist Slash to churn out riffs rivaling the Stones/Aerosmith at their best.
Izzy Stradlin grew up in Lafayette as Jeffrey Isbell. Of Lafayette, Izzy said, "It was cool growing up there. There's a courthouse and a college, a river and railroad tracks. It's a small town, so there wasn't much to do. We rode bikes, smoked pot, got into trouble - it was pretty 'Beavis and Butt-head,' actually."
Izzy's first musical favorites included Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin, but the biggest influence was his grandmother, who had a band together with her friends. Izzy talked his parents into buying him a drum kit. He would stay with the drums until 1983, when he chose to switch to guitar, since it was easier to write songs on,- and songwriters had a better chance of making money. In high school Izzy started playing in a band with some friends. One of them was William Bailey, better known as W. Axl Rose. "We were long-haired guys in high school. You were either a jock or a stoner. We weren't jocks, so we ended up hanging out together. We'd play covers in the garage. There were no clubs to play at, so we never made it out of the garage. Axl was really shy about singing back then. But I always knew he was a singer."
After his graduation Izzy decided that Indiana wasn't enough if he wanted to pursue a musical career. He packed his drum kit into his car and headed for Los Angeles. He tried his luck as drummer with a couple of bands, then switched to bass for a short while. After a few years in Los Angeles, Izzy was joined by Axl, and they ended up playing together in a band they called Rose, which was the first band Izzy played guitar in. In 1984, he briefly left to join Sunset Strip staple, London (whose revolving membership included Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe as well as Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. amongst its ranks). However, he returned to playing with Rose in time for the band to finish the year by playing a show at the 'Dancing Waters' club in Los Angeles.
Rose became Hollywood Rose, and then broke up before re-uniting and morphing into Guns N' Roses. The early history of the band is confusing, but in June of 1985 the classical lineup of Guns N' Roses embarked on their first tour. The infamous "Hell Tour" that took them up along the US west coast to Seattle, hometown of bass guitar player Duff McKagan.
When the "Appetite for Destruction" tour ended, Izzy, along with bandmates Slash, Duff and Steven, went into a period of heavy drinking and drug use. Unlike the other three, Izzy managed to overcome the temptation of continuous intoxication and cleaned up. He has said that touring with Aerosmith in 1988 was a big source of inspiration: "It was like, thank God we got to meet some people that weren't fucked up! I'd go out to watch and they'd sound fucking amazing! I thought, we're gonna have to really pull this shit together to keep up, 'cos they were right, you know? And with us, even then, it was like the music was already taking a back seat to all the other shit..." What finally made him take the decision to give up drugs was an infamous incident on board an airplane in which he was arrested for urinating in the galley of the plane. After that incident, Izzy was subjected to random urine tests for drugs.
Izzy was often seen as the silent one in the "most dangerous band in the world", and this became a lot more noticeable during the 1991 "Get In The Ring Motherfucker" tour. Izzy didn't travel with the band anymore. He, his wife and his dog (as seen in the SCOM video) had a private bus that took them from show to show. He commented further that this had to do with his efforts in remaining being sober while being around people still using.
Izzy left the band in November, 1991. He went back to Indiana and started recording the songs that ended up on his first solo album with his band the Ju Ju Hounds, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds. The music was more laid back and simpler than the Illusions albums (Use Your Illusion I and II), which many people considered to be overproduced. They received fair reviews and went out on a world tour.
In 1993 Izzy's replacement in GN'R, Gilby Clarke, hurt his wrist in a motorcycle accident and the band's upcoming European tour was in jeopardy. A quick solution was needed, and Izzy was able to fill the gap. However, after his tour obligations were met, he promptly returned to Indiana to take time away from the music industry.
During these years off, he travelled a lot and dedicated a lot of time to two strong interests: motors and racing. He even built a track close to his house. In 1998 Izzy returned to the music scene with his second solo album, 117°. As before, he had little interest in promoting the album — he agreed only to do a few interviews — and played few live performances. It turned out that it would be Izzy's last release on the Geffen label. In the big merge of the label into Dreamworks, Stradlin and many others were dropped (along with Duff McKagan). In 1999 his third solo album Ride On, a Japan-only album, was released on the Universal Victor label. This time Stradlin actually did a small tour in Japan as promotion. A fourth album called River came out in 2001.
Several of his former bandmates asked him to join Velvet Revolver when it was in its formative stage but he declined due to his unwillingness to work with a lead singer, and his aversion to the life on the road.
In 2004, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan, his former Guns N' Roses bandmate, appeared on the Mark Lanegan album Bubblegum.
Izzy Stradlin grew up in Lafayette as Jeffrey Isbell. Of Lafayette, Izzy said, "It was cool growing up there. There's a courthouse and a college, a river and railroad tracks. It's a small town, so there wasn't much to do. We rode bikes, smoked pot, got into trouble - it was pretty 'Beavis and Butt-head,' actually."
Izzy's first musical favorites included Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin, but the biggest influence was his grandmother, who had a band together with her friends. Izzy talked his parents into buying him a drum kit. He would stay with the drums until 1983, when he chose to switch to guitar, since it was easier to write songs on,- and songwriters had a better chance of making money. In high school Izzy started playing in a band with some friends. One of them was William Bailey, better known as W. Axl Rose. "We were long-haired guys in high school. You were either a jock or a stoner. We weren't jocks, so we ended up hanging out together. We'd play covers in the garage. There were no clubs to play at, so we never made it out of the garage. Axl was really shy about singing back then. But I always knew he was a singer."
After his graduation Izzy decided that Indiana wasn't enough if he wanted to pursue a musical career. He packed his drum kit into his car and headed for Los Angeles. He tried his luck as drummer with a couple of bands, then switched to bass for a short while. After a few years in Los Angeles, Izzy was joined by Axl, and they ended up playing together in a band they called Rose, which was the first band Izzy played guitar in. In 1984, he briefly left to join Sunset Strip staple, London (whose revolving membership included Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe as well as Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P. amongst its ranks). However, he returned to playing with Rose in time for the band to finish the year by playing a show at the 'Dancing Waters' club in Los Angeles.
Rose became Hollywood Rose, and then broke up before re-uniting and morphing into Guns N' Roses. The early history of the band is confusing, but in June of 1985 the classical lineup of Guns N' Roses embarked on their first tour. The infamous "Hell Tour" that took them up along the US west coast to Seattle, hometown of bass guitar player Duff McKagan.
When the "Appetite for Destruction" tour ended, Izzy, along with bandmates Slash, Duff and Steven, went into a period of heavy drinking and drug use. Unlike the other three, Izzy managed to overcome the temptation of continuous intoxication and cleaned up. He has said that touring with Aerosmith in 1988 was a big source of inspiration: "It was like, thank God we got to meet some people that weren't fucked up! I'd go out to watch and they'd sound fucking amazing! I thought, we're gonna have to really pull this shit together to keep up, 'cos they were right, you know? And with us, even then, it was like the music was already taking a back seat to all the other shit..." What finally made him take the decision to give up drugs was an infamous incident on board an airplane in which he was arrested for urinating in the galley of the plane. After that incident, Izzy was subjected to random urine tests for drugs.
Izzy was often seen as the silent one in the "most dangerous band in the world", and this became a lot more noticeable during the 1991 "Get In The Ring Motherfucker" tour. Izzy didn't travel with the band anymore. He, his wife and his dog (as seen in the SCOM video) had a private bus that took them from show to show. He commented further that this had to do with his efforts in remaining being sober while being around people still using.
Izzy left the band in November, 1991. He went back to Indiana and started recording the songs that ended up on his first solo album with his band the Ju Ju Hounds, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds. The music was more laid back and simpler than the Illusions albums (Use Your Illusion I and II), which many people considered to be overproduced. They received fair reviews and went out on a world tour.
In 1993 Izzy's replacement in GN'R, Gilby Clarke, hurt his wrist in a motorcycle accident and the band's upcoming European tour was in jeopardy. A quick solution was needed, and Izzy was able to fill the gap. However, after his tour obligations were met, he promptly returned to Indiana to take time away from the music industry.
During these years off, he travelled a lot and dedicated a lot of time to two strong interests: motors and racing. He even built a track close to his house. In 1998 Izzy returned to the music scene with his second solo album, 117°. As before, he had little interest in promoting the album — he agreed only to do a few interviews — and played few live performances. It turned out that it would be Izzy's last release on the Geffen label. In the big merge of the label into Dreamworks, Stradlin and many others were dropped (along with Duff McKagan). In 1999 his third solo album Ride On, a Japan-only album, was released on the Universal Victor label. This time Stradlin actually did a small tour in Japan as promotion. A fourth album called River came out in 2001.
Several of his former bandmates asked him to join Velvet Revolver when it was in its formative stage but he declined due to his unwillingness to work with a lead singer, and his aversion to the life on the road.
In 2004, Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan, his former Guns N' Roses bandmate, appeared on the Mark Lanegan album Bubblegum.
Gilby Clarke - rhythm guitar
Gilby
Clarke is a guitarist, born in Cleveland, Ohio, on August 17, 1962. He
spent his childhood playing with musical instruments and neglecting
school. In the early 1980's, he was part of a pop band called Candy,
which released one album before he moved on to a mainstream metal band called Kill For Thrills.
He is best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses. He joined Guns N' Roses in November of 1991, replacing Izzy Stradlin, who quit the band in the middle of a 28-month world tour.
In 1994 he released his debut solo album Pawn Shop Guitars, which also featured several of his friends (including some members of Guns N' Roses). That same year, he was fired from Guns N' Roses. Since then, he has released another solo album and is currently in a band called The Starf*ckers.
In addition, Clarke made a guest appearance on the L.A. Guns album Shrinking Violet, which he also produced.
Clarke started in Guns during the Use Your Illusion Tour. He did not have any parts on Use Your Illusion II, since it was recorded before he joined the group. This is not the only oddity on the album. The first song of the album, "Civil War", does not include Izzy Stradlin or Gilby, but instead has Slash playing all the guitar parts. Also, Stradlin left when Matt Sorum joined the band. His style made the band sound heavier in contrast to the last drummer, Steven Adler, but the only song recorded with Adler cuts out Izzy completely.
Officially, Gilby appeared on "The Spaghetti Incident?" which the band followed by recording a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" for the film Interview with the Vampire, His career with the group did not end there, as he soon enlisted the original Guns N'Roses guitarist Tracii Guns to make an album of the roots of the group known as Hollywood Rose, recording guitar parts with Tracii Guns over the original parts.
He is best known for a 3-year tenure as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses. He joined Guns N' Roses in November of 1991, replacing Izzy Stradlin, who quit the band in the middle of a 28-month world tour.
In 1994 he released his debut solo album Pawn Shop Guitars, which also featured several of his friends (including some members of Guns N' Roses). That same year, he was fired from Guns N' Roses. Since then, he has released another solo album and is currently in a band called The Starf*ckers.
In addition, Clarke made a guest appearance on the L.A. Guns album Shrinking Violet, which he also produced.
Clarke started in Guns during the Use Your Illusion Tour. He did not have any parts on Use Your Illusion II, since it was recorded before he joined the group. This is not the only oddity on the album. The first song of the album, "Civil War", does not include Izzy Stradlin or Gilby, but instead has Slash playing all the guitar parts. Also, Stradlin left when Matt Sorum joined the band. His style made the band sound heavier in contrast to the last drummer, Steven Adler, but the only song recorded with Adler cuts out Izzy completely.
Officially, Gilby appeared on "The Spaghetti Incident?" which the band followed by recording a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" for the film Interview with the Vampire, His career with the group did not end there, as he soon enlisted the original Guns N'Roses guitarist Tracii Guns to make an album of the roots of the group known as Hollywood Rose, recording guitar parts with Tracii Guns over the original parts.
Duff Mckagan - bass guitar
Duff
McKagan (born February 5, 1964) is an American musician and bassist who
is best known for his eight-year tenure in the 1980s hard rock band
Guns N' Roses. Duff's height is 6'2", has blonde hair, and hazel colored
eyes.
Michael McKagan was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of eight children born to Elmer and Alice Marie McKagan. The names and professions of his brothers and sisters, as of December 2002, are: Jon (store manager for QFC food chain), Carol, Mark, Bruce (general manager for Muzak Corp in Seattle), Joan Shelton, Claudia Christiansen and Matt (band teacher for Lindero Middle School).
Duff's father goes by the name Mac, and his mother is Marie. It was his brother Bruce who introduced him to the bass. He describes his home city as "a rowdy rock 'n' roll town with a hip underground."
McKagan headed to California when he was nineteen, and played in thirty-one rock bands around Los Angeles including "Ten Minute Warning" and was replaced by Daniel House of Skin Yard, and a hard-core punk band called The Fartz. Answering an ad for a bass player in a local magazine, he met guitar player Slash and drummer Steven Adler of the band Road Crew at L.A.'s legendary 24 hour deli and rock hangout Canter's. Duff expected some punk with a penchant for '70s rock, but found two long-haired guys instead.
"When I met Slash and Steve Adler for the first time," he said, "it was weird, 'cause I'd never met guys like this before - L.A. locals. We went out that night and got drunk, and then we had this ill-fated band. It was Slash's band, Road Crew."
From the wreckage of the bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin joined Duff, Slash and Steve to form Guns N' Roses. Initially formed to meet booked gigs for the disbanded acts, the new line-up was finalized on June 6, 1985. Duff became the band's bassist, and after two days of rehearsal the newly formed group played their debut gig with GN'R on a Thursday night at the Troubadour.
He brought his punk rock sensibilities to the group, as he is a huge fan of Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols and in general.
He married for the first time On May 28, 1988 to Mandy Brix, a hostess in a Japanese restaurant in L.A. who also had her own all female rap-trio, "The Lame Flames." They were divorced in 1990. He married again in September 1992 to Linda Johnson, (believe she was a playmate) and divorced in September 1995.
Plagued by drug and alcohol addiction, McKagan survived for eight years in the highly volatile band, while Adler and Stradlin departed in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Meanwhile in 1990 Duff and Slash co-wrote and played a few songs on Iggy Pop's "Brick by Brick."
After a half-hearted attempt at drug rehabilitation, he kick-started a solo career with 1993's "Believe in Me". GN'R officially called it quits in 1994. That same year, McKagan underwent emergency surgery on his pancreas. This forced him to give up drinking for good. In the years that followed, McKagan sobered up his act, became a father and concentrated on his solo career. He recruited drummer Abe Laboriel, Michael Barragan and Izzy Stradlin to help him record Beautiful Disease, with a 1999 release on Geffen Records.
In 1995 he collaborated with Slash in his solo project "Slash's Snakepit," co-writing a song called beggars and hanger's on, which he played live at the Palace during a Snakepit show in May of that year. He would go on to form "Neurotic Outsiders," a heavy-metal super-group consisting of GN'R drummer Matt Sorum, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and John Taylor of Duran Duran on bass. They played the L.A clubs circuit in the late 90's, and toured the U.S. in 1996. A self titled album was released in September 1996. After that he put together different bands, like Duff McKagan's "Black Dog," "10 Minute Warning," and "Loaded."
Duff also tried it as an actor in 1997. He had a part in the TV serial Sliders, which aired in May of that year, as a dead rocker vampire.
On August 27, 1997, he had his first child, Grace, with Susan Holmes, they married on August 28, 1999 and on July 16, 2000 they had their second child, another girl, Mae Marie.
Duff was living between Los Angeles and Seattle from 1994 to 1999, because his mother was battling Parkinson's disease and he felt he had to be with her. His mom died in early April 1999 and since then, he lives in Seattle.
He put together another band called "Mad for racket" or also known as "The Racketeers" in 2000, and they played in London in December 2000. Duff did not play on that show. In 2001, he reunited with Loaded for the club circuit in Seattle. He also ran a marathon in 2001 with bib number "11468."
In August 2001, Loaded toured Japan. Duff also toured Japan with Izzy Stradlin to support Izzy's new album River.
Michael McKagan was born in Seattle, Washington, the youngest of eight children born to Elmer and Alice Marie McKagan. The names and professions of his brothers and sisters, as of December 2002, are: Jon (store manager for QFC food chain), Carol, Mark, Bruce (general manager for Muzak Corp in Seattle), Joan Shelton, Claudia Christiansen and Matt (band teacher for Lindero Middle School).
Duff's father goes by the name Mac, and his mother is Marie. It was his brother Bruce who introduced him to the bass. He describes his home city as "a rowdy rock 'n' roll town with a hip underground."
McKagan headed to California when he was nineteen, and played in thirty-one rock bands around Los Angeles including "Ten Minute Warning" and was replaced by Daniel House of Skin Yard, and a hard-core punk band called The Fartz. Answering an ad for a bass player in a local magazine, he met guitar player Slash and drummer Steven Adler of the band Road Crew at L.A.'s legendary 24 hour deli and rock hangout Canter's. Duff expected some punk with a penchant for '70s rock, but found two long-haired guys instead.
"When I met Slash and Steve Adler for the first time," he said, "it was weird, 'cause I'd never met guys like this before - L.A. locals. We went out that night and got drunk, and then we had this ill-fated band. It was Slash's band, Road Crew."
From the wreckage of the bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin joined Duff, Slash and Steve to form Guns N' Roses. Initially formed to meet booked gigs for the disbanded acts, the new line-up was finalized on June 6, 1985. Duff became the band's bassist, and after two days of rehearsal the newly formed group played their debut gig with GN'R on a Thursday night at the Troubadour.
He brought his punk rock sensibilities to the group, as he is a huge fan of Sid Vicious of Sex Pistols and in general.
He married for the first time On May 28, 1988 to Mandy Brix, a hostess in a Japanese restaurant in L.A. who also had her own all female rap-trio, "The Lame Flames." They were divorced in 1990. He married again in September 1992 to Linda Johnson, (believe she was a playmate) and divorced in September 1995.
Plagued by drug and alcohol addiction, McKagan survived for eight years in the highly volatile band, while Adler and Stradlin departed in 1990 and 1991, respectively. Meanwhile in 1990 Duff and Slash co-wrote and played a few songs on Iggy Pop's "Brick by Brick."
After a half-hearted attempt at drug rehabilitation, he kick-started a solo career with 1993's "Believe in Me". GN'R officially called it quits in 1994. That same year, McKagan underwent emergency surgery on his pancreas. This forced him to give up drinking for good. In the years that followed, McKagan sobered up his act, became a father and concentrated on his solo career. He recruited drummer Abe Laboriel, Michael Barragan and Izzy Stradlin to help him record Beautiful Disease, with a 1999 release on Geffen Records.
In 1995 he collaborated with Slash in his solo project "Slash's Snakepit," co-writing a song called beggars and hanger's on, which he played live at the Palace during a Snakepit show in May of that year. He would go on to form "Neurotic Outsiders," a heavy-metal super-group consisting of GN'R drummer Matt Sorum, Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and John Taylor of Duran Duran on bass. They played the L.A clubs circuit in the late 90's, and toured the U.S. in 1996. A self titled album was released in September 1996. After that he put together different bands, like Duff McKagan's "Black Dog," "10 Minute Warning," and "Loaded."
Duff also tried it as an actor in 1997. He had a part in the TV serial Sliders, which aired in May of that year, as a dead rocker vampire.
On August 27, 1997, he had his first child, Grace, with Susan Holmes, they married on August 28, 1999 and on July 16, 2000 they had their second child, another girl, Mae Marie.
Duff was living between Los Angeles and Seattle from 1994 to 1999, because his mother was battling Parkinson's disease and he felt he had to be with her. His mom died in early April 1999 and since then, he lives in Seattle.
He put together another band called "Mad for racket" or also known as "The Racketeers" in 2000, and they played in London in December 2000. Duff did not play on that show. In 2001, he reunited with Loaded for the club circuit in Seattle. He also ran a marathon in 2001 with bib number "11468."
In August 2001, Loaded toured Japan. Duff also toured Japan with Izzy Stradlin to support Izzy's new album River.
Rob Gardner - drums
Rob Gardner is a rock drummer who played in early versions of hard rock bands Guns N' Roses and L.A. Guns.
He played in both bands with Axl Rose and Tracii Guns. He also played in L.A. Guns with Michael Jagosz, who replaced Axl Rose in L.A. Guns. He played on the L.A. Guns EP Collector's Edition No. 1.
He was replaced in Guns N' Roses by Steven Adler in 1985.
He played in both bands with Axl Rose and Tracii Guns. He also played in L.A. Guns with Michael Jagosz, who replaced Axl Rose in L.A. Guns. He played on the L.A. Guns EP Collector's Edition No. 1.
He was replaced in Guns N' Roses by Steven Adler in 1985.
Steven Adler - drums
Steven Adler (born January 22, 1965) in Cleveland, Ohio) was the drummer of the hard rock
band Guns N' Roses from 1985 - 1990. He was fired from the band in 1990
when he was unable to competently record on the Use Your Illusion I
& Use Your Illusion II albums
with the band as a result of his drug addiction. Adler was replaced by
former The Cult drummer Matt Sorum, who is now in Velvet Revolver.
He met future GN'R guitarist Slash as a teenager in California. The two became fast friends, and as Slash took up guitar, Steven took up drums in order to form a band (albeit missing some components), Road Crew. The two eventually joined forces with Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, and Duff McKagan to form GN'R. Steven drummed on two of GnR's albums, Appetite for Destruction and GN'R lies. During his time with GN'R, however, the great difference between his and Axl Rose's personalities and attitudes towards the band grew proportionally to the band's success. While Axl was bent on world domination and found little fun in his struggle to achieve it, Steven was the most easy-going of the band, and sought to enjoy his life and career maximally, of course not without the aid of drugs. When Steven shared a combination of heroin and cocaine with Axl's girlfriend Erin Everly (apparently her first time using hard drugs) and almost killed them both, Steven's relationship with Axl reached a breaking point. A legendary manipulator, (having also obtained the exclusive rights to the band's name and forced other members to quit their addictions, both through ultimatums), Axl rallied the other band members against Steven when it came time to start recording for UYI and Steven was still not past his heroin addiction. Steven was soon fired, his playing remaining only on the first track of UYI II, "Civil War". Axl has said in an interview that "Civil War was recorded a good 60 times" due to problems with Adler. On one hand, this was understandable behaviour by Axl, who had previously threatened in front of thousands to quit the band if the others didn't clean up, and the rest of the band also endorsed his firing at the time. On the other hand, Steven claims it was the medication against heroin addiction that made him unable to perform in the studio, and the unaccomodating attitude of the band, even his lifelong friend Slash, indicated much manipulation by Axl.
GN'R fans are often devided into two camps: one favouring the brighter-sounding early GN'R with Adler, the other preferring the heavier sound GN'R aquired with replacement drummer Matt Sorum (previously of The Cult). Izzy Stradlin, who quit the band (citing Axl's dominance) a short while after Steven was fired, insisted later that Steven's drumming was crucial to the band's sound, and agreed to an interviewer's comment that replacing him with Sorum turned GN'R from a hard rock band to a heavy metal one. Sorum, nonetheless, became an integral part of GN'R, and continues to work with Slash and Duff today in Velvet Revolver.
After being fired, Steven was taken advantage of by many former "friends" and had an overall tough time in the 90's as a poor junkie-slash-burnt-out former rock star. He still couldn't quit drugs and eventually, as the result of a 'hellacious speedball' suffered a stroke which impairs his speech. Now clean, Steven drums for his band Adler's Appetite, formerly Suki Jones. He is still in contact with Izzy, and has repaired his friendships with Slash and Duff.
When Slash and Duff began creating Velvet Revolver, Steven expressed hope that history could repeat itself and that he would be in a band with them once again. VR was created with Matt Sorum instead (Sorum's first band which he would be part of from the beginning as opposed to joining as a replacement, a detail he cherishes), and Steven continues instead with his small-time band, which plays many GN'R classics at GN'R's original type of venue: clubs. Despite his short career in the spotlight and its unpleasant aftermath, Adler was a part of GN'R's cherished early years during the 80's, and is heard on one of rock's all-time best records: Appetite for Destruction. His lively and enthusiastic stage presence and his skilled drumming are undeniably two of the components which made Guns N' Roses so wildly popular.
Quite recently, Steven Adler teamed up with former Guns N' Roses guitarist Tracii Guns and formed a band called Guns N' Roses revisited. After playing a show and preparing for an Asian Tour, the band was shut down. No word has came up as of yet on Guns N' Roses Revisited.
He met future GN'R guitarist Slash as a teenager in California. The two became fast friends, and as Slash took up guitar, Steven took up drums in order to form a band (albeit missing some components), Road Crew. The two eventually joined forces with Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, and Duff McKagan to form GN'R. Steven drummed on two of GnR's albums, Appetite for Destruction and GN'R lies. During his time with GN'R, however, the great difference between his and Axl Rose's personalities and attitudes towards the band grew proportionally to the band's success. While Axl was bent on world domination and found little fun in his struggle to achieve it, Steven was the most easy-going of the band, and sought to enjoy his life and career maximally, of course not without the aid of drugs. When Steven shared a combination of heroin and cocaine with Axl's girlfriend Erin Everly (apparently her first time using hard drugs) and almost killed them both, Steven's relationship with Axl reached a breaking point. A legendary manipulator, (having also obtained the exclusive rights to the band's name and forced other members to quit their addictions, both through ultimatums), Axl rallied the other band members against Steven when it came time to start recording for UYI and Steven was still not past his heroin addiction. Steven was soon fired, his playing remaining only on the first track of UYI II, "Civil War". Axl has said in an interview that "Civil War was recorded a good 60 times" due to problems with Adler. On one hand, this was understandable behaviour by Axl, who had previously threatened in front of thousands to quit the band if the others didn't clean up, and the rest of the band also endorsed his firing at the time. On the other hand, Steven claims it was the medication against heroin addiction that made him unable to perform in the studio, and the unaccomodating attitude of the band, even his lifelong friend Slash, indicated much manipulation by Axl.
GN'R fans are often devided into two camps: one favouring the brighter-sounding early GN'R with Adler, the other preferring the heavier sound GN'R aquired with replacement drummer Matt Sorum (previously of The Cult). Izzy Stradlin, who quit the band (citing Axl's dominance) a short while after Steven was fired, insisted later that Steven's drumming was crucial to the band's sound, and agreed to an interviewer's comment that replacing him with Sorum turned GN'R from a hard rock band to a heavy metal one. Sorum, nonetheless, became an integral part of GN'R, and continues to work with Slash and Duff today in Velvet Revolver.
After being fired, Steven was taken advantage of by many former "friends" and had an overall tough time in the 90's as a poor junkie-slash-burnt-out former rock star. He still couldn't quit drugs and eventually, as the result of a 'hellacious speedball' suffered a stroke which impairs his speech. Now clean, Steven drums for his band Adler's Appetite, formerly Suki Jones. He is still in contact with Izzy, and has repaired his friendships with Slash and Duff.
When Slash and Duff began creating Velvet Revolver, Steven expressed hope that history could repeat itself and that he would be in a band with them once again. VR was created with Matt Sorum instead (Sorum's first band which he would be part of from the beginning as opposed to joining as a replacement, a detail he cherishes), and Steven continues instead with his small-time band, which plays many GN'R classics at GN'R's original type of venue: clubs. Despite his short career in the spotlight and its unpleasant aftermath, Adler was a part of GN'R's cherished early years during the 80's, and is heard on one of rock's all-time best records: Appetite for Destruction. His lively and enthusiastic stage presence and his skilled drumming are undeniably two of the components which made Guns N' Roses so wildly popular.
Quite recently, Steven Adler teamed up with former Guns N' Roses guitarist Tracii Guns and formed a band called Guns N' Roses revisited. After playing a show and preparing for an Asian Tour, the band was shut down. No word has came up as of yet on Guns N' Roses Revisited.
Matt Sorum - drums
Matt
Sorum is a hard rock drummer and percussionist. Sorum has played in
such hard rock bands as Hawk, The Cult and Guns N' Roses. Many years
ago, he played with Tori Amos in Y Kant Tori Read.
Sorum is currently a member of the rock band Velvet Revolver along with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash and Duff McKagen.
He also played drums on a couple of songs with Johnny Crash in 1989 with their one and only album Neighbourhood Threat.
He has a solo album titled Hollywood Zen
Sorum is currently a member of the rock band Velvet Revolver along with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Slash and Duff McKagen.
He also played drums on a couple of songs with Johnny Crash in 1989 with their one and only album Neighbourhood Threat.
He has a solo album titled Hollywood Zen
Dizzy Reed - keyboards
Darren Reed (born June 18, 1963), better known by his stage name Dizzy Reed, is the keyboardist for the hard rock band
Guns N' Roses. He was born in Hinsdale, Illinois, in the United States.
Reed has been a member of Guns N' Roses since 1990. He was also founder
of the band
The Wild and is keyboardist and lead singer for the cover band "Hookers
& Blow." He has been married to his author/teacher wife Lisa for
almost 15 years and they have 2 daughters together.
