Guns N' Roses began the night a manager fired Axl Rose
In March 1985 a manager sacked singer Axl Rose from L.A. Guns. That same night, guitarist Tracii Guns decided to start a new band with him, fusing the names of their old groups. Two years later its debut, Appetite for Destruction, became the best-selling first album in American history, with more than 30 million copies sold worldwide.
The roots go back to 1983, when Tracii Guns introduced guitarist Chris Weber to Izzy Stradlin, who formed a band with his childhood friend Axl Rose. That group became Hollywood Rose and briefly included Slash before folding in 1984. Rose then joined L.A. Guns. After his dismissal, the new band came together with Rose, Stradlin, Guns, drummer Rob Gardner and bassist Ole Beich. The combined name was first meant for a record label, and rejected alternatives included Heads of Amazon.
By the time the group signed with Geffen in 1986, its classic line-up was Rose, Slash, Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler. Appetite for Destruction, released in 1987, sold slowly at first until the video for Welcome to the Jungle broke through, and Sweet Child o' Mine and Paradise City followed. G N' R Lies in 1988 mixed older tracks with acoustic songs, reached number two and sold ten million copies. In 1990 Matt Sorum replaced Adler, who had drug problems, and keyboardist Dizzy Reed joined.
The record-breaking Use Your Illusion tour ran from 1991 to 1993, followed by an album of punk covers. Then the band splintered: by 1998 only Rose and Reed remained from that era. New recruits, among them the guitarist Buckethead, worked for years on Chinese Democracy, an industrial and electronic-tinged record finally released in 2008 at an estimated cost of 14 million dollars, making it the most expensive rock album ever made.
Volatile shows, public feuds and provocative lyrics earned them the tag of the world's most dangerous band. Musically, their blend of punk, blues and metal helped steer late-1980s rock away from glam. With estimated sales above 100 million records, they rank among the best-selling acts ever, and 2012 brought induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Their debut still appears regularly on lists of the greatest albums.
Source: Guns N' Roses
