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Guns N' Roses | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Guns N' Roses at Glastonbury Festival 2023. From left to right: Dizzy Reed, Richard Fortus, Duff McKagan, Axl Rose, Slash, Melissa Reese and Frank Ferrer | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | GNR |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Discography | Guns N' Roses discography |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | |
| Spinoffs | |
| Spinoff of | |
| Members | |
| Past members | |
| Website | gunsnroses |
Guns N' Roses[a] is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in March 1985 when local bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns merged. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic lineup" consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese.
Guns N' Roses heavily toured the West Coast club circuit during their early years before embarking on the Appetite for Destruction Tour. Their debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987) failed to gain traction, debuting at number 182 on the Billboard 200, until a year after its release when a grassroots campaign for the "Welcome to the Jungle" music video brought the band mainstream popularity. "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" both became top 10 singles, with "Sweet Child o' Mine" becoming the band's only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide, including 18 million units in the United States, making it the country's best-selling debut album and eleventh-best-selling album. With their stylistic mix of punk rock, blues rock and heavy metal, the band helped move mainstream rock away from the glam metal era of the mid-late 1980s. In addition, they are credited with revitalizing power ballads in rock. Their next studio album, G N' R Lies (1988) combined an early EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide (1986), with new acoustic songs and reached number two on the Billboard 200, sold ten million copies worldwide (including five million in the U.S.), and included the top 5 hit "Patience" and the controversial "One in a Million". Adler was fired due to his drug addiction in 1990 and was replaced by Matt Sorum.
Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, recorded and released simultaneously in 1991, debuted at number two and number one on the Billboard 200 respectively and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide (including 14 million units in the U.S.). The Illusion albums included the lead single "You Could Be Mine", covers of "Live and Let Die" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and a trilogy of ballads ("Don't Cry", "November Rain", and "Estranged"), which featured notably high-budget music videos. The records were supported by the Use Your Illusion Tour, a world tour that lasted from 1991 to 1993. Stradlin abruptly left the band near the beginning of the tour in 1991, replaced by Gilby Clarke. The punk covers album "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993) was the last studio album to feature Stradlin and Sorum, only to feature Clarke, and the last for Slash and McKagan before their initial departure. While mostly well received, it was the band's worst-selling studio album to date and was not supported by a tour.
Work on a follow-up album stalled due to creative differences and personal conflicts between Rose and other members; Slash and McKagan left the band while Clarke and Sorum were fired. In 1998 Rose, Reed, guitarists Paul Tobias and Robin Finck, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Josh Freese and multi-instrumentalist Chris Pitman started writing and recording new songs. Guitarists Buckethead, Bumblefoot and Fortus, and drummers Brain and Ferrer all contributed as the band's lineup changed. Their upcoming sixth studio album, Chinese Democracy (2008), was promoted with the expansive Chinese Democracy Tour (2001-2011). With Rose failing to deliver the album on schedule, Geffen released Greatest Hits (2004), which became the 8th longest charting album in the history of the Billboard 200, reaching 631 weeks by July 2023.[1] The long-awaited Chinese Democracy was released in November 2008, featuring the title track as the lead single. At an estimated $14 million in production costs, it is the most expensive rock album in history. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with a generally positive critical reception. Slash and McKagan rejoined the band in 2016 for the quasi-reunion Not in This Lifetime... Tour, which became one of the highest grossing concert tours of all-time, grossing over $584 million by its conclusion in 2019.
In their early years, the band's hedonism and rebelliousness drew comparisons to the early Rolling Stones and earned them the nickname "the most dangerous band in the world". Significant controversy followed the band due to late show starts and riots (notably the 1991 Riverport riot), lyrics perceived as problematic, Rose's outspoken persona, several other members' drug and alcohol abuse issues, lawsuits, and public feuds with other artists. Several members of the band are considered some of the best in their fields, with Rose considered one of the best vocalists, Slash as one of the best guitarists and McKagan as one of the best bassists by various publications. Guns N' Roses (Rose, Stradlin, McKagan, Slash, Adler, Sorum and Reed) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Guns N' Roses have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them one of the best-selling bands in history.
History[edit]
Formation (1985–1986)[edit]
In 1984, Hollywood Rose member Izzy Stradlin was living with L.A. Guns member Tracii Guns.[2][3] When L.A. Guns needed a new vocalist, Stradlin suggested Hollywood Rose singer Axl Rose.[2] This led to Guns N' Roses being formed in March 1985 by Rose, rhythm guitarist Stradlin, along with L.A. Guns founders lead guitarist Guns, drummer Rob Gardner, and bassist Ole Beich.[4] Guns recalled the formation of the band in a 2019 interview, stating: "Axl got into an argument with our manager and our manager fired Axl but we all lived together so it was all really weird. So, that same night he got fired we started Guns N' Roses and I called Izzy the next day and said 'Hey, we are gonna start this new band called Guns N' Roses, do you want in?' It was as simple as that, no paint or cocaine involved."[5] The band coined its name by combining the names of both previous groups; initially it was the name of a label they were going to release music on.[5] Rejected names for the band included "Heads of Amazon" and "AIDS".[6]
After the band's first two rehearsals, Beich was fired and replaced by Duff McKagan.[7][8] The first rehearsal with McKagan was recorded and three songs from it ("Don't Cry", "Think About You" and "Anything Goes") were played during the band's first radio interview, aired two days before their first ever show at the Troubadour on March 26, 1985.[b][9][10][11][12] Around this time, the band planned to release an EP with the three aforementioned songs and a cover of "Heartbreak Hotel".[11] However, Guns left the band after an argument with Rose, and plans for the release fell through.[3] Guns was replaced by a former Hollywood Rose member, Slash.[2] Gardner, the last remaining L.A. Guns member to remain in the band, quit soon after.[13] Steven Adler, another former Hollywood Rose member, filled Gardner's spot.[14][15][c]
We had a singer (Mike Jagosz) that our manager didn't like, so we fired him. So then I asked Axl to join L.A. Guns and he was in the band for about six, seven months. The same manager ended up hating Axl and he wanted to fire him. We're all living together at this point and Axl and I sat down and went 'What are we going to do?' So we both said 'Fuck that', and came up with the name Guns N' Roses, which was going to be just a record label that we'd put singles out on.
—Original guitarist Tracii Guns[2]
The band's "classic" lineup was finalized on June 4, 1985, when Adler and Slash officially joined.[17] After two days of rehearsals, the band played their first show with the lineup on June 6, 1985.[17][18] Two days later, the band embarked on a short, disorganized tour of the West Coast, from Sacramento, California, to McKagan's hometown of Seattle, Washington.[19][20] The band drove in a separate van and had to abandon their gear when both vans broke down on the way to Seattle, forcing them to hitch-hike up the coast and back home to LA with only their guitars.[21][22] The so-called "Hell Tour" settled the band's first stable lineup, with McKagan later commenting, "This trip had set a new benchmark for what we were capable of, what we could and would put ourselves through to achieve our goals as a band."[19] The band then took up residence at a house and rehearsal space dubbed "The Hell House".[d]
Through the band's increasing presence on the Hollywood club scene – playing famed bars such as The Troubadour and The Roxy – Guns N' Roses drew the attention of major record labels.[6][25] The group signed with Geffen Records in March 1986, receiving a $75,000 ($208,470 in current dollar terms) advance.[6] They had turned down an offer from Chrysalis Records that was nearly double Geffen's, due to Chrysalis wanting to change the band's image and sound and Geffen offering full artistic freedom.[26][27]
In December of that year, the group released the four-song EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, designed to keep interest in the band alive while the group withdrew from the club scene to work in the studio.[28][29] The EP release was designed to sooth over the label, who felt the band did not have enough songs to record an album.[30] The EP contained covers of Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" and Aerosmith's "Mama Kin", along with two original compositions: the punk-influenced "Reckless Life" and the classic rock-inspired "Move to the City".[31] Although billed as a live recording, the four songs were taken from the band's demo tapes and overdubbed with crowd noise.[31] Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide was released on the Geffen subsidiary Uzi Suicide, with production limited to 10,000 vinyl copies.[32]
Seeking to record their debut album, producer Spencer Proffer was hired to record "Nightrain" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to test his chemistry with the band.[33] The band eventually recorded 9 songs during these sessions, including "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Cry", "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Shadow of Your Love".[33] The band then recorded demos with Nazareth guitarist Manny Charlton.[33][e] Paul Stanley of KISS was considered as producer, but he was rejected after he wanted to change Adler's drum set more than Adler wanted.[33][f] Robert John "Mutt" Lange and Tom Werman were also considered, but the label did not want to spend the extra money on a famous producer.[33][36] Ultimately, Mike Clink (who had produced several Triumph records) was chosen,[37] and the group recorded "Shadow of Your Love" first with Clink as a test.[33]
After some weeks of rehearsal, the band entered Daryl Dragon's Rumbo Recorders in January 1987 to record their debut album.[33] Two weeks were spent recording basic tracks, with a month of overdubs.[38] The drums were done in six days, but Rose's vocals took much longer as he insisted on doing them one line at a time.[39]
Breakthrough and mass popularity (1987–1989)[edit]
Appetite for Destruction[edit]
Guns N' Roses' debut album Appetite for Destruction was released July 21, 1987.[40] The album underwent an artwork change after the original cover design by Robert Williams, which depicted a surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist, was deemed too controversial.[41][42][43] The band stated the original artwork was "a symbolic social statement, with the robot representing the industrial system that's raping and polluting our environment".[41] The revised cover was done by Andy Engell, based on a design by tattoo artist Bill White Jr., who had designed the artwork for a tattoo Rose had acquired the previous year.[44] The artwork featured each of the five band members' skulls layered on a cross.[41]
The band's first single was "It's So Easy", released on June 15, 1987, in the UK only, where it reached number eighty-four on the UK Singles Chart.[45][46] In the U.S., "Welcome to the Jungle" was issued as the album's first single in October, with an accompanying music video.[47]
Initially, the album and single lingered for almost a year without performing well, but when Geffen founder David Geffen was asked to lend support to the band, he obliged, personally convincing MTV executives to play "Welcome to the Jungle" during the network's after-hours rotation.[48][49] Even though the video was initially only played once at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, heavy metal and hard rock fans took notice and soon began requesting the video and song en masse.[50] The song, written in Seattle, was about Los Angeles. The music video took place in New York. According to Rose, the inspiration for the lyrics came from an encounter he and a friend had with a homeless man while they were coming out of a bus into New York.[51] Trying to put a scare into the young runaways, the man yelled at them, "You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die!"[51][52] The song was featured in the 1988 Dirty Harry film The Dead Pool, starring Clint Eastwood, and members of the band had a cameo appearance in the film.[53][54]
"Sweet Child o' Mine" was the album's second U.S. single, a love song co-written by Rose as a poem for his then-girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.[55][56][57] Due to the growing grassroots success of the band and the cross-gender appeal of the song, "Sweet Child o' Mine" and its accompanying music video received heavy airplay on both radio and MTV, becoming a huge hit during the summer of 1988 and reaching the top of the charts in the U.S.[56] Slash later commented, "I hated that song with a huge passion for the longest time, and it turned out to be our hugest hit, so it goes to show what I know."[55] The song was released in Japan as part of the EP Live from the Jungle, which also featured a selection of live recordings from the band's June 1987 dates at London's The Marquee, the group's first shows outside the United States.[58][59] The song is the highest charting Guns N' Roses song, and is the band's only song to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.[60]
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After the success of "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Welcome to the Jungle" was re-issued as a single and reached No. 7 in the U.S. By the time "Paradise City" and its video reached the airwaves, peaking at No. 5 in the U.S., Appetite for Destruction had reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.[61] To date, the album has sold in excess of 30 million copies worldwide,[62][63] including 18 million units sold in the United States, making it the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S, in addition to being the eleventh best-selling album in the United States.[64][65][66][67]
Guns N' Roses toured extensively in support of their debut album, embarking on the 16-month-long Appetite for Destruction Tour.[68][69] In addition to headlining dates in Europe and the U.S., the band opened North American shows for The Cult, Mötley Crüe, and Alice Cooper throughout the second half of 1987. During the 1987 tour, drummer Steven Adler broke his hand in a fight, and was replaced for 8 shows by Cinderella drummer Fred Coury.[70] Bassist Duff McKagan missed several shows in May 1988 to attend his wedding; Kid "Haggis" Chaos from The Cult filled in.[71] Don Henley of the Eagles played drums for the band during the 1989 AMA show while Adler was in rehab.[72]
The band proceeded to tour the United States, Australia and Japan, while serving as opening acts on North America shows by Iron Maiden and Aeros