Guns N' Roses

About Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses formed in Los Angeles in 1985 when two bands, Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, basically merged. Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin from one, Tracii Guns from the other. Guns left pretty quickly, replaced by Slash. Add Duff McKagan on bass and Steven Adler on drums, and you had the classic lineup that would go on to define late eighties hard rock whether anyone asked for it or not.

Their 1987 debut "Appetite for Destruction" didn't immediately set the world on fire. It came out in July, sold slowly, then MTV started playing "Welcome to the Jungle" and everything changed. By 1988 it was everywhere. "Sweet Child o' Mine" hit number one. "Paradise City" became an arena staple that still won't go away. The album sold something like 30 million copies worldwide, which remains absurd. It caught this moment when hair metal was getting too polished and punk was too underground, and Guns N' Roses just sounded dangerous and sloppy in a way that connected.

They followed with the "GN'R Lies" acoustic EP in 1988, which had "Patience" and also "One in a Million," a song Axl has spent decades trying to explain. Then came the ambitious mess of "Use Your Illusion I" and "II" in 1991, released simultaneously because apparently one double album wasn't enough. These had "November Rain" with its nine-minute runtime and expensive video, "Don't Cry," "Civil War." The albums were bloated but successful, showcasing a band that wanted to be more than just sleaze rock but wasn't quite sure what that meant.

The nineties were mostly chaos. Izzy left in 1991. Adler had been fired in 1990, replaced by Matt Sorum. Gilby Clarke filled in for Izzy. "The Spaghetti Incident?" cover album arrived in 1993 to collective shrugs. Then Slash left in 1996, Duff in 1997. By the end of the decade, Guns N' Roses was essentially Axl Rose with a rotating cast, working on "Chinese Democracy," an album that became a punchline for taking too long.

"Chinese Democracy" finally came out in 2008, fourteen years after their last studio album. It was fine. People streamed it once and moved on. Meanwhile, the original lineup reunion rumors circulated for years until 2016 when Axl, Slash, and Duff actually did it. The "Not in This Lifetime" tour became one of the highest-grossing tours ever, proving that nostalgia pays extremely well.

They're still touring now, playing stadiums and festivals, mostly running through the hits for crowds who want to hear "Sweet Child o' Mine" exactly as they remember it. No new music since 2008, unless you count a few scattered singles. They've become a legacy act, which is fine. Most bands that start in 1985 either break up or become legacy acts. At least these ones still draw.

Axl's a wildcard—could be brilliant or distracted depending on the night. Crowds sing every word to everything. Slash still nails those solos. Shows run long, stadium-size, and people come specifically to hear the hits played exactly as they remember them from their teenage years.

Known for Sweet Child O' Mine, Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, November Rain

See Guns N' Roses Live