Guns N' Roses

In 1985, Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Tracii Guns, Ole Beich and Rob Gardner formed the first incarnation of Guns N’ Roses. After a short time Slash replaced Tracii Guns on guitar, Duff McKagan replaced Ole Beich on bass and Steven Adler replaced Rob Gardner after he quit. This first stable lineup was established on a tour from Sacramento to Seattle, dubbed the Hell Tour.

Their first album, Appetite for Destruction, came out in July 1987 on Geffen Records, with Welcome to the Jungle as the lead single. Sweet Child O’ Mine was the second single, and it received heavy rotation on both MTV and the radio, becoming a huge hit in the summer of 88, reaching the number one spot in the US. After the success of Sweet Child O’ Mine, Welcome to the Jungle was re-released and climbed to number seven as a result.

Paradise City was the next single, which went to number five. By this time, the album had garnered enough attention to hit the top of the album chart, with Guns N’ Roses tour tickets in high demand. Appetite for Destruction has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide and has been certified as 18 times platinum.

A Guns N’ Roses tour in support of the album was scheduled, and they played the notorious Monster of Rock festival at Castle Donington (the birthplace of Download festival). Sadly, during their set the crowd surged forward in excitement and fatally injured two fans at the front. The media blamed the band for the incident, though it was later reported the band responded quickly when they knew fans were in danger, immediately halting the Guns N’ Roses concert. Despite this, the Appetite for Destruction tour earned the group the title of the “world’s most dangerous band”.

Rose had to threaten to end the band when Slash and Adler became too involved with drugs, particularly heroin, publicly denouncing their actions. They returned to the studio but Adler’s struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction led to him being fired from the band, replaced by Matt Sorum. The manager, Alan Niven, was fired in May 1991, and replaced with Doug Goldstein, allegedly by Axl against some other band members’ wishes.

The band released two albums at the same time: User Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II in September 1991 – setting a record as they became the first and only group to have two albums debut at number one and number two at the same time. Popular singles from the albums include Don’t Cry and November Rain – the latter becoming the most requested video on MTV, winning the MTV Video Music Award for Best Cinematography. The Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion tour accompanied the albums, for which Guns N’ Roses tickets sold thick and fast. During this tour, Axl Rose was vocal about his political views and opinions on music critics or rivals, and the Guns N’ Roses concerts often ended in chaos. He also took a distaste to fans filming the shows, criticising the security at the shows and at one point physically assaulting a crowd member. This resulted in a riot and an arrest warrant for Rose for having incited the riot. He was later acquitted of the charges.

After a Guns N’ Roses concert in Germany, Izzy Stradlin left the band, citing personal differences between he and Rose as the reason. Gilby Clarke replaced him on rhythm guitar.

When the Use Your Illusion tour returned to the US, Brian May opened the shows. Axl had wanted Nirvana to open the Guns N’ Roses concerts but was denied by Kurt Cobain, starting a famous feud between the two. A mini tour followed with Metallica, for which Guns N’ Roses tickets sold quickly again, despite the band’s seeming lack of stability.

At the tour’s end, Rose fired Gilby Clarke without consulting other members of the band. In 1996, Slash left the band officially, because of his many grievances with Axl’s decisions. Robin Finck, the Nine Inch Nails guitarist, became a member in 1997, but Matt Sorum was fired and Duff McKagan left around the same time. Thus, the only original member from the Appetite for Destruction era was Rose, who was joined by Buckethead, Finck and Bryan Mantia. The new lineup performed several well-received Guns N’ Roses concerts, for which G’N’R tickets sold well despite the lack of one of the most iconic members, Slash. They went on to perform at several festivals in Asia and Europe, culminating in a surprise set at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2002.

In 1993 a Guns N’ Roses tour was organised in support of the new album, Chinese Democracy. For the New York show, Guns N’ Roses tickets sold out in minutes. A Best Of album went triple platinum in the US.

Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal replaced Buckethead, and joined the lineup for a series of Guns N’ Roses concerts. Frank Ferrer replaced Bryan Mantia. The Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy world tour was organised in support of the album Chinese Democracy, which had been in production for years and fans were clamouring for the album’s release and for more Guns N’ Roses tickets. The album was finally released in November 2008 and the Guns N’ Roses Chinese Democracy World Tour’s wheels were set in motion, with the UK leg looming!

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