Intro (Edit)

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band. They were formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. GNR is led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose. The band has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation. The band has released six studio albums, two EPs and one live album during their career.

The group was formed in 1985 by Axl Rose, who sang, and Izzy Stradlin who played rhythm guitar. L.A. Guns members Tracii Guns played lead guitar, Ole Beich played the bass and Rob Gardner who played the drums were all a part of the first line-up of GNR. Before Guns N’ Roses played any gigs, guitarist Tracii Guns quit to reform L.A. Guns. Slash replaced Tracii, and Duff McKagan replaced Ole Beich who went with Tracii. The new line-up came together quickly. Drummer Rob Gardner quit and was replaced by Slash’s close friend Steven Adler.

After seeing a Guns N’ Roses gig at the Troubadour, Tom Zutaut, a Geffen Records executive, falsely warned other scouts that “they suck” so he could have more time to try to sign them. Alan Niven was hired as the band’s manager. Then they set out to record GNR’s debut album.

Geffen Records released an EP in late 1986, to keep the interest in GNR. They withdrew from the club scene to work in the studio. The four song EP was released on the “Uzi Suicide Records” label. Only 10,000 vinyl copies of the EP were produced.

The EP was called a live recording, but years later, Axl would reveal that it was simulated. The EP contained four songs from the band’s demo tapes with the crowd overdubbed. It contained covers of Rose Tattoo’s “Nice Boys” and Aerosmith’s “Mama Kin.” It also included two original compositions called “Reckless Life” and “Move to the City.”

The original vinyl Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide EP has become valuable and a sought-after collector’s item. The band’s debut, Appetite for Destruction, was released on July 21, 1987. In the US, “Welcome to the Jungle” was issued as the first single with a music video as well. The album and single weren’t popular for almost a year. Geffen Records founder, David Geffen, was asked to lend support to the band. He personally convinced MTV executives to play “Welcome to the Jungle” during their after hours rotation. Even though the video was played once at 4 a.m., rock fans took notice and soon began requesting the video.

Appetite For Destruction’s album cover had to be redesigned because of complaints from reglious groups and stores refusing to sell it. The revised cover was based off of a tattoo that Axl Rose had recently commissioned. It featured skeleton faces of the Guns N’ Roses members on a cross. 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 single. It was a love poem written by Axl to his future wife Erin Everly. The song and its music video received heavy airplay on the radio and on MTV. “Welcome to the Jungle” was then re-issued as a single, due to the success of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

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History (Edit)

By the time “Paradise City” was released as a single, the band’s success had sprung the Appetite For Destruction 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. Guns N’ Roses began opening for other bands on tour. But then their fame took hold of the population, they scheduled a world tour in support of Appetite For Destruction. Events that happened during the Appetite For Destruction tour, like fans getting trampled to death, had gotten Guns N’ Roses the nick name “world’s most dangerous band.” The band also received some negative attention. Members Izzy, Slash, Adler, and Duff had been seen drunk on and off stage.

Their next release was GN’R Lies in 1988. The song “One in a Million”, which included profane words, led to controversy. Cirtics then proceeded to accuse the band of racism and homophobia. Guns N’ Roses returned to the studio and began recording their next album. Adler was fired in July of 1990 due to severe drug addictions. He was replaced by Matt Sorum, a former Cult drummer.

Keyboardist, Dizzy Reed, became the sixth member of GNR when he joined as a member, which happened a few months prior. With enough songs recorded for two full albums, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. The albums debuted at #1 and #2 on the Billboard charts. The albums spent 108 weeks on the chart.

Guns N’ Roses started a 28-month-long Use Your Illusion World Tour. It had great financial success and it became infamous for the many controversial incidents that occurred during the gigs. The tour ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 17, 1993.

Guns N’ Roses released a cover album called “The Spaghetti Incident?” on November 23, 1993. “The Spaghetti Incident?” did not match the fame of the Use Your Illusion albums. During this time tension increased within the band.

In 1998, a new line-up of Guns N’ Roses had been formed. This line
-up included Axl Rose, Tommy Stinson, Dizzy Reed, Christ Pitman and Robin Finck.

In March 2004, Geffen Records released Guns N’ Roses’ Greatest Hits, since Axl Rose had not released a new studio album in more than ten years. The album went triple platinum in the USA.

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Update (Edit)

Chinese Democracy was released on November 22, 2008 in Germany and Australia. In North America the album was released on November 23, 2008 In the United Kingdom the album was released on November 24, 2008. This was GNR’s sixth studio album release.

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