Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current line-up consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Isaac Carpenter, and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese. Guns N' Roses heavily toured the West Coast club circuit during their early years. Their debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987), supported by the eponymous tour, 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. The band's third and fourth albums, 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 and was amongst the most-attended concert tours of all time. 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, the 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, intending to record multiple albums. Guitarists Buckethead, Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and Fortus, and drummers Brain and Frank Ferrer all contributed as the band's line-up changed over the following decade. 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. The long-awaited Chinese Democracy was released in November 2008, featuring the title track as the lead single. Featuring industrial and electronic influences, the album had an estimated $14 million in production costs, making it the most expensive rock album in history. It debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with a generally positive critical reception but undersold industry expectations. After years of publicly feuding with Rose, 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 among 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. The band, specifically Rose, Stradlin, McKagan, Slash, Adler, Sorum and Reed, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Guns N' Roses has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them one of the best-selling bands in history.

Welcome To The 1990s (Live) - 2023-07-19T00:00:00.000000Z

Use Your Illusion (Super Deluxe) - 2022-11-11T00:00:00.000000Z

Use Your Illusion I (Deluxe Edition) - 2022-11-11T00:00:00.000000Z

Use Your Illusion II (Deluxe Edition) - 2022-11-11T00:00:00.000000Z

Ultimate 80s Rock (Live) - 2021-10-01T00:00:00.000000Z

Similar Artists

Led Zeppelin

Stone Temple Pilots

Rush

Men At Work

Huey Lewis & The News

Scorpions

Velvet Revolver

Rick Springfield

Molly Hatchet

Deep Purple