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Guns N' Roses

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AboutGuns N' Roses (abbreviated as GN'R) is an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985.[1] Having sold an estimated 90 million albums worldwide. Their 1987 major label debut, Appetite for Destruction, produced by Mike Clink, went on to sell 25 million copies worldwide and reached #1 in the USA a year after its release date. The song "Welcome to the Jungle", the second track released from the album (after "It's So Easy"), gained notoriety after it was used on the soundtrack of Clint Eastwood's 1988 film The Dead Pool.

The band's musical style, onstage presence and bad boy rock image helped usher in a new era in the dominant hard rock scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. While glam metal was the leading genre in record sales, video charts and radio airplay, Guns N' Roses offered a grittier, more traditional take on rock music, which helped to popularize the sub-genre known as sleaze rock and won many fans who admired their apparent authenticity. The band enjoyed worldwide success from 1987 to 1993, but clashing personalities of different band members brought about the end of the original line-up. Today, frontman Axl Rose is the only original member in the band's current line-up; he has now served as lead singer for 22 years.

Band history

Rise to fame (1985 – 1989)

Early history
Guns N' Roses was founded in Los Angeles in March 1985 by Axl Rose and guitarist Tracii Guns, as an informal merger of Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, both of which Axl Rose had been a member, and the second of which Tracii Guns had been a member.[2] The original Guns N' Roses lineup included other members from both bands: from Hollywood Rose, Rose's longtime friend rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, and from L.A. Guns, Guns's former bandmates bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner. The band's unique style integrated rock, hard rock, blues, punk.

When Tracii Guns (L.A Guns) and Rob Gardner could not appear at one of the band's first shows in Seattle, Stradlin and Rose recruited guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler for the performance. In early 1986 the pair joined full-time, fixing the lineup as follows: Axl Rose (lead vocals), Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar), Duff McKagan (bass guitar) and Steven Adler (drums). On the way back to Los Angeles, they wrote the lyrics for "Welcome to the Jungle", which became one of their signature songs.

Discovery
After witnessing a Guns N' Roses show at the Troubadour, Tom Zutaut, a Geffen Records A&R executive, falsely warned other scouts "they suck" so he could have more time and leeway to sign them. Axl Rose demanded, and received, a $75,000 advance from Zutaut before revealing that he had promised an A&R executive from Chrysalis that the band would sign with her if she walked naked down Sunset Boulevard. For three days, Zutaut nervously watched from his office window for a naked A&R executive before he could close the deal. Alan Niven was subsequently hired as the band's manager, and the team set out to record the band's full-length debut album.

Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide

The cover of Guns N' Roses' first record, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide.See also: Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide
In December 1986, the band released a four song self-produced EP entitled Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide on their own UZI Suicide label. It opens with Duff McKagan screaming "Hey fuckers, suck on Guns N' fucking Roses!".

Designed to gauge public opinion of the band outside of Los Angeles, the record contained covers of Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" and Aerosmith's "Mama Kin", along with two original compositions: the punk anthem "Reckless Life" and the classic rock inspired "Move to the City", both of which were co-written by Hollywood Rose's founding member Chris Weber. Despite having the look and sound of a live album, band members have admitted that the tracks were actually studio recordings with a live audience overdubbed.

Only 10,000 vinyl copies of the album were produced, and even though the tracks were re-issued verbatim two years later as part of the GN'R Lies EP, the original Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide has been a valuable and sought after collector's item among fans since the late 1980s.

Appetite for Destruction

The revised cover of Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses' first full-length album.The band's first album, Appetite for Destruction was released on July 21, 1987. In the US, "Welcome to the Jungle" was issued as its first single with an accompanying music video. Initially, the album and single did not perform well, but when Geffen Records founder David Geffen was asked to lend support to the band, he obliged by personally convincing MTV executives to add "Welcome to the Jungle" to their after hours rotation. Even though the video was played at inopportune times, rock and punk fans took notice and soon began requesting the video and song en masse.

In the United Kingdom, "It's So Easy" was released prior to the album itself. The band quickly gained popularity through radio airplay and via a rousing performance at London's famous Marquee Club on June 28, 1987. The 12-inch single for "It's So Easy" included Marquee Club performances of "Shadow of Your Love" and "Move to the City".

Overseas, countries were often treated to material that never saw release to the US market, and went unexposed to US fans. The original UK "Welcome to the Jungle" single was backed with the Marquee Club performance of AC/DC's classic "Whole Lotta Rosie" and a 12-inch single included live renditions of "It's So Easy" and the Bob Dylan classic "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". In Japan, an entire EP entitled Live from the Jungle was issued, containing the album version of "Sweet Child O' Mine" and most of the Marquee Club recordings. European and Asian single releases were often accompanied by interviews with Slash or Axl Rose, a common practice in those countries.

The original banned Appetite for Destruction artwork, designed by Robert Williams.The album underwent an artwork change after the original Robert Williams cover design (a surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist) spawned complaints from religious groups and caused some record stores to brown bag, obscure, or refuse to sell the album. The revised cover was gleaned from a tattoo that Axl had recently commissioned featuring skeleton faces of the five musicians arranged on a cross. Rose later insisted that the Gold and Platinum plaques issued by the RIAA be set using the original cover. Copies of the LP with its original artwork are now rare collectors items. 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 US single co-written by Axl Rose as a poem for his girlfriend and future wife, Erin Everly. Due to the growing grassroots success of the band and the cross-gender appeal of the tune, the song and its accompanying music video received heavy airplay on both radio and MTV, and became a smash hit during the summer of 1988. "Welcome to the Jungle" was then re-issued as a single, with new pressings of records and tapes and new artwork. The UK re-release was backed with an acoustic version of "You're Crazy", recorded much earlier than the one featured on the G N' R Lies EP.

By the time "Paradise City" and its video reached the airwaves, the band's touring success and fame had catapulted the album 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. To date, Appetite for Destruction has sold over 25 million copies.

Touring success and controversy
Guns N' Roses began opening shows for major acts, but as their fame began to take hold, a world tour in support of Appetite for Destruction was scheduled. The band traveled across the United States, and in spring 1988 were invited to the notorious Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, where they shared the bill with groups like KISS and Iron Maiden. At the start of the Guns N' Roses set, the capacity crowd of over 100,000 began jumping and surging forward. Despite Axl's requests that the crowd move away from the stage, two fans were trampled to death. Without knowledge of the extent of fan injuries, the band continued playing and were largely blamed by the media for the tragedy. Events such as these during the Appetite for Destruction tour earned the group the title of "the world's most dangerous band".

In addition, the behavior of the band members also garnered negative attention from the media. McKagan, Slash, Stradlin and Adler were often seen intoxicated both on and off stage. Members of the crew at the time stated that Slash often had to be carried onstage by a group of people and would sometimes pass out after the concert ended. When touring in England in 1987, the bandmembers were treated poorly by the press with Slash being referred to as "Slosh", "Slug" and "Slush". Also during this tour, the band recorded five of the six songs that would be released on their live album simply entitled EP, better known as EP (Live from the Jungle). Ironically, the track "Welcome to the Jungle" does not appear in the track listing. Released in 1987, the album never attracted much attention, mostly because it was only released in Japan and also because their full-scale album Appetite for Destruction was released around the same time.

GN'R Lies

The cover of GN'R Lies, the band's second EP.The band's next release was the G N' R Lies EP in 1988, which reached #2 in the Billboard music charts. The album included the four Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide recordings on one side and four acoustic songs on the other. The song "One in a Million", which included the words "niggers" and "faggots" among other such profanities, led to controversy in which critics accused the band, and specifically Axl Rose, of racism and homophobia. Rose responded by saying the claims were unfounded, particularly considering Slash himself is half black. He stated that by the term "nigger" he meant low lives and meant no offense to anyone. He went on to explain that the song reflected racial and prejudicial problems within society, rather than promoting them. Rose also cited that he was a fan of homosexual/bisexual singers like Freddie Mercury and Elton John. The band had played gigs alongside the all-black group Body Count, and lead singer Ice-T said in his book The Ice Opinion that Axl had been "a victim of the press the same way I am".
After the release of GN'R Lies, Slash and Duff appeared on the nationally televised American Music Awards, visibly intoxicated and using profanities. Geffen Records executives asked the band to curtail their behavior. The members finally took steps to deal with their addictions after Rose threatened to end the band if they continued with their heavy drug abuse. He even spoke publicly about the situation, specifically the heroin addictions, while opening for The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1989.

Use Your Illusion (1990 – 1993)

The cover of Use Your Illusion I, released in 1991. It was the band's second full-length album.In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording their most ambitious undertaking yet. During the recording session of "Civil War", drummer Steven Adler was unable to perform well due to his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction. While the band had played Civil War with Adler live once with no problems , his difficulties now caused the band to do nearly 30 takes . As a result, Adler was fired in August 1990, to be replaced by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum. A few months prior, keyboardist Dizzy Reed became the sixth member of the group when he joined as a full time member. The band fired their manager, Alan Niven, in May 1991, replacing him with Doug Goldstein.

With enough music for two albums, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on September 17, 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at #2 and #1 respectively in the Billboard charts, setting a record as they became the first and only group to date to achieve this feat. The albums spent 108 weeks in the chart.

Both prior to and after the release of the albums, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month-long Use Your Illusion World Tour to support them. It became famous for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows.

Use Your Illusion World Tour
The tour included a Slash guitar solo incorporating The Godfather theme, a piano driven Axl Rose cover of "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath and an extended jam on the classic rock inspired "Move to the City" where Rose showcased the ensemble of musicians assembled for the tour.

Many of the successful performances during the tour were equally matched, and often overshadowed in the press, by riots, late starts and outspoken rants by Rose. While the band's previous drug and alcohol issues were seemingly under control, Axl was often agitated by lax security, sound problems and unwanted filming or recording of the performances. He also used the time in between songs to fire off political statements or retorts against music critics or celebrity rivals.

On July 2, 1991, at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis, Rose jumped into the audience and tackled a fan who was recording the show with a video camera. After being pulled out of the audience by members of the crew, Rose said: "Well, thanks to the lame ass security, I'm going home!", slammed his microphone on the ground and left the stage. The sound the microphone made caused some fans to think he shot someone, so Slash quickly told the audience: "He just slammed his mic on the floor. We're outta here." The angry crowd began to riot and dozens of people were injured. The footage was captured by Robert John (photographer), who was documenting the entire tour for the band. Rose was charged with having incited the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, as the band went overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose but a judge ruled that he did not directly incite the riot. In his defense, Rose stated that the Guns N' Roses security team had made four separate requests to the venue's security staff to remove the camera, all of which were ignored, that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles from the audience and that the venue's security had been lax, allowing weapons into the arena and refusing to enforce a drinking limit. Consequently, Use Your Illusion's artwork featured a hidden message amidst the Thank You section of the album insert: "Fuck You, St. Louis!".

During this time, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin quit the band due to differences with both Rose and Slash. He was replaced by Los Angeles based guitarist Gilby Clarke. During many shows throughout the tour, Rose introduced Clarke and had him play "Wild Horses", a Rolling Stones cover. In late 1991, Rose added a touring ensemble to the band which included a horns section and several background vocalists.

The cover of Use Your Illusion II, the band's third full-length studio album.In 1992, the band appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performing a two song set. Slash later performed Tie Your Mother Down with the remaining members of Queen, While Axle Rose performed We Will Rock You and Dueted with Elton John on Bohemian Rhapsody Later in the year they went on a mini-tour with American heavy metal band Metallica. During a show in August 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Metallica frontman James Hetfield suffered severe burns after stepping too close to a pyrotechnics blast. Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to the city for another show. After a long delay, during which the audience became increasingly restless, Guns N' Roses took the stage. However, the shortened time between sets did not allow for adequate tuning of stage monitors, resulting in musicians not being able to hear themselves. In addition, Rose claimed that his throat hurt (he is rumored to have said this with a cigarette in his mouth and a glass of champagne in his hand[citation needed]), causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to another riot by audience members, reminiscent of the rioting that had occurred in St. Louis one year earlier. Rioters overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires. Local authorities were barely able to bring the mob under control. This can be seen on video in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica.

The Use Your Illusion Tour is also notable for the many videos the band released to support it, including "Don't Cry", "November Rain" and "Estranged" - some of the most expensive music videos ever made. The hit ballad "November Rain" became the most requested video on MTV, eventually winning the 1992 MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography. During the awards show, the band performed the song with Elton John accompanying on piano.

In May 1993, Gilby Clarke broke his wrist in a motorcycling accident and the band needed a replacement for some dates in Europe. Izzy Stradlin returned briefly for a string of five shows.

The historic tour ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 17, 1993. The tour set attendance records and lasted for 28 months, in which more than 200 shows were played. The show in Buenos Aires marked the last time original members Slash and McKagan as well as newcomers Clarke and Sorum would play a live show with Rose.

The Spaghetti Incident?

The cover of The Spaghetti Incident?, the band's latest studio album, released in 1993.On November 23, 1993, Guns N' Roses released a collection of punk and glam rock covers entitled The Spaghetti Incident?. Despite protests from Rose's bandmates, an unadvertised cover of the Charles Manson song "Look at Your Game Girl" was included on the album at his request. Years later, Rose said he would remove the song from new pressings of the album, claiming that critics and the media had misinterpreted his interest in Manson. However, as of 2007, the song is still on the album. The Spaghetti Incident? did not match the success of the Illusion albums and tension increased within the band.

[edit] Decline (1994 – 1997)
In 1994, Gilby Clarke was released from the band as Axl felt his songwriting skills were inadequate for their future projects. That same year, a cover version of The Rolling Stones's "Sympathy for the Devil" was recorded for the movie Interview with the Vampire. The addition of Axl's friend Paul Tobias in place of Clarke did not sit well with remaining band members. During recording, Tobias recorded an echo of Slash's solo at Axl's request. Slash was infuriated when he heard the song's final mix and discovered that Tobias's guitar had been placed on top of his.

In early 1995, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Zakk Wylde told Kerrang that he had joined the band for a week's worth of rehearsal and jamming on Rose's personal request. While Wylde considered the experience as a highly positive one, he was ultimately frustrated by the time consuming contract negotiations, opting to go on tour with Osbourne.

Slash then drifted in and out of the band for the next year or so, beginning a side project called Slash's Snakepit. In August 1996, the band regrouped with Rose temporarily acting as the rhythm guitarist. At the time, Sorum hinted that the band were considering a new, unknown player for the slot, possibly referring to Paul Tobias.[9] After two weeks of jamming and song writing, McKagan and Sorum began touring with their sideproject, Neurotic Outsiders, returning to work with Rose and Slash mid-tour for a week in early September. After that, Slash and Rose were left alone to continue working. The guitarist commented on the situation in October, saying "I have only been back in the band for three weeks and my relationship with Axl right now is sort of at a stand still." A few weeks later, Rose announced Slash was no longer a part of the band.

Slash was replaced by former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck. The next year, Sorum was fired from the group following a verbal dispute with Rose regarding negative comments Paul Tobias had made about Slash. In mid 1997, McKagan opted out of his contract and officially left the band in early 1998. This left Rose as the sole original member of the group. Slash, McKagan and Sorum later formed rock supergroup Velvet Revolver with former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland and guitarist Dave Kushner. They released their first CD, Contraband, in 2004, finding immediate success.

The New Album (1994 – 1999)
Axl Rose first began work on a new album of original material in 1993, writing a song called "This I Love".[11] The album's producer was supposedly Mike Clink. Nothing came out of the rumors, and Guns N' Roses remained on hiatus. In 1998, Axl formally returned to the studio accompanied by guitarist Robin Finck, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias, bassist Tommy Stinson (formerly of The Replacements), drummer Josh Freese (of The Vandals), keyboardist Dizzy Reed and effects man Chris Pitman. In that same year, the clean (i.e. any profanity removed) compilation album Use Your Illusion was released (in the USA only), mainly so the album could be sold in Wal-Mart and K-Mart stores.

In 1999, the band released one new song, "Oh My God", which was included on the soundtrack of the film End of Days. The track featured additional guitar work by Dave Navarro and Gary Sunshine, Axl's personal guitar teacher. The song's release was intended to be a prelude to their new album, now officially entitled Chinese Democracy. Geffen also released Live Era: '87-'93, a collection of live performances from various concerts during the Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion tours. Also in 1999, during an interview with Kurt Loder for MTV, Axl said that he had re-recorded Appetite For Destruction apart from two songs which he had replaced with "Patience" and "You Could Be Mine".

Chinese Democracy (1999 – Present)
In 1999, guitarist Robin Finck departed the band in order to rejoin his former band, Nine Inch Nails, on tour. In 2000, avant-garde guitarist Buckethead joined Guns N' Roses as a replacement for Finck. Drummer Josh Freese was replaced with Bryan Mantia (formerly of Primus). Robin Finck returned to Guns N' Roses in late 2000, complementing Buckethead on lead guitar, and the revised lineup debuted on stage in January 2001, with two well-received concerts, one in Las Vegas and one at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro. The band played a mixture of old hits as well as new songs from their forthcoming album. During their Rock in Rio set, Rose made the following comment regarding former members of the band:

"I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people you came to know and love could not be with us here today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard (meaning my former friends) to do everything they could so that I could not be here today. I say fuck that. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along."
The new lineup played a further two shows in Las Vegas at the end of 2001. In 2002, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band because of his frustrations with life on the road. He was replaced by Richard Fortus (formerly of The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love). The band then played several shows in August 2002, headlining festivals and concerts throughout Asia and Europe. They made their way to New York for a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.

In 2002, the band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized to support Chinese Democracy. However, the opening show in Vancouver was canceled by the venue when Rose failed to show up on time, and a riot ensued. This tour was met with mixed results. Some concerts did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as New York sold out in minutes. Due to a second riot by fans in Philadelphia, tour promoter Clear Channel canceled the remainder of the tour.

The band went on hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio IV in May 2004. However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel their appearance.

Also in March 2004, Geffen released Guns N' Roses's Greatest Hits, since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years. Rose expressed his displeasure with this album as its track listing was established without his consent and went as far as trying to block its release by suing Geffen.

The current Guns N' Roses logo, in use since 2006.In February 2006, demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher In The Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on the internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the mp3 files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. Despite this, radio stations began adding "I.R.S." to playlists, and the song actually reached #49 on the Radio & Records Active Rock National Airplay chart in the final week of February - the first time an internet leak has done so.

The Chinese Democracy North American tour logo.On May 5, 2006, Axl Rose appeared on the Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk radio show (during an interview with Sebastian Bach) and said that the new Guns N' Roses album would be released before the end of the year. (2006 turned not to be that year.) Later in May, the band launched a European tour, headlining both the Download Festival and Rock In Rio - Lisbon. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and became the band's first live concert dates since the aborted 2002 tour. The shows also marked the debut of virtuoso fusion guitarist and composer Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal on lead guitar, replacing Buckethead. During the course of this tour, former bandmate Izzy Stradlin and ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach made frequent guest appearances.

Five warm-up shows before a 2006 North American tour were held in September 2006, two at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, two at Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and one in San Bernardino for KROQ's Inland Invasion 2006. The tour officially commenced on October 24, 2006 in Miami. Drummer Frank Ferrer replaced Bryan Mantia, who took a leave of absence to be with his wife and newborn child.

The song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for Harley-Davidson beginning in October 2006. That same month, Rolling Stone published an article revealing that Andy Wallace would be mixing the final album.

In December 2006, Axl Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as the band's manager. He revealed that the last four dates of the North American tour would be cut so the band could work on postproduction for Chinese Democracy. He also set a tentative release date for the album for the first time since the album's announcement: March 6, 2007.

On February 8, 2007, the band played a two-song set at the Rodeo Drive's Walk of Style ceremony, held on February 8 in Beverly Hills, California. The band, with Chris Pitman on bass, blazed through "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Sweet Child O' Mine" to close the event, which honored Gianni and Donatella Versace.

Two days later, Guns N' Roses announced that they will be hitting the road starting in April. The first leg of the Chinese Democracy World Tour 2007 will see performances in Japan, Thailand, South Africa, South America, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. The band was listed as Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus on guitars, Tommy Stinson on bass, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keyboards and Frank Ferrer on drums. Brain Mantia was not mentioned, leading many fans to believe that he has left the band.

On February 23, 2007, Del James announced that Chinese Democracy's recording stage was finished, and the band had now moved onto mixing the album. However, this proved that the March 6 release date was now impossible to achieve, and the album once again has no scheduled release date.

On May 4, 2007 three more tracks leaked from "Chinese Democracy"; the albums title track "Chinese Democracy", "The Blues" and an updated version of "I.R.S." All three tracks had previously been played live. The track Chinese Democracy, had been partially leaked in March. A chinesedemocracy.com member, going by the alias of Mister Saint Laurent, has confirmed he is responsible for the three recent leaks. Mister Saint Laurent offered thousands of dollars for anyone who possessed unreleased tracks from Chinese Democracy. He acquired 4 songs from two people who claimed to be from Spain and Portugal. An updated version of "There Was A Time" was along the 4 songs sent and was leaked On May 6, 2007. A GN'R fansite had received a cease-and-desist order on May 3, 2007, with regards to leaked tracks.

Music style
The music of Guns N' Roses is a fusion of metal and classic rock and roll, presented in a layered fashion. More recently, Guns N' Roses have showed industrial influences, similar in style to bands such as Nine Inch Nails (former Nine Inch Nails guitarist Robin Finck plays with the band).

In the 1990s, the band integrated keyed instruments (played by either Rose or Reed, and accompanied on tour by Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis) into the band, and for roughly half of the Use Your Illusion tour, added a horn section to the stage. While Reed's keyboard and Rose's piano remain in some of the Chinese Democracy demos, tours since 2002 have not included wind instruments, though the band has employed synthesized horns on some of their new songs.

A heavy influence on both the image and sound of the band was Finnish band Hanoi Rocks (singer Michael Monroe and Rose have collaborated on various occasions). Rose has stated that the band was massively inspired by bands like Queen, The Rolling Stones and AC/DC, and also that the sound of Appetite for Destruction was influenced by Aerosmith and AC/DC[citation needed]. Most of the lyrics in the Guns N' Roses catalog were written by Rose and Stradlin.

Legacy
In the late 1980s, Guns N' Roses brought a more serious, emotional and sometimes political edge to hard rock, in stark contrast to the carefree themes of hair metal bands. The band's rock and roll style from the 1980s became out of step with the tastes of American youth culture in the 1990s, as grunge, alternative rock, electronica, and then hip hop became popular.

Guns N' Roses signed with a major label within nine months of their inception and topped national sales charts merely weeks after garnering late hours airplay on MTV. Appetite for Destruction was the highest-selling debut album of all time.

Their peers in the music industry often spoke highly of the band: Ozzy Osbourne called GN'R "the next Rolling Stones." In 2002, Q magazine named Guns N' Roses in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Also, the television network VH1 ranked Guns N' Roses ninth in its "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" special, and also ranked 11th on "Top 50 bands". Appetite for Destruction appeared in the Rolling Stone Magazine special issue "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Guns N' Roses #92 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[17]

The band has not been free of criticism by the media. The flagrant alcohol and drug abuse by some members of the group, and Axl's fondness of Charles Manson T-shirts, were used by the media to portray GN'R as a poor example and negative influence on their young fans. The long periods of time that the band took to release albums were also a source of heavy criticism.

Frontman Axl Rose has become a source of both controversy and criticism since the other founding members left the group. His constant elusiveness, such as the fact that he has not held a press conference since 1994, has led to several stories claiming he is suffering from bipolar disorder. Music critics have blamed Rose for the break-up of the original group, have criticized him for continuing the band after the original members had departed and have questioned the constant change in band members. They also cite his neurotic behavior and sense of perfectionism as a cause of personal conflict and the long delays between albums. However, Rose still has fans who view him as a sort of musical anti-hero.

Guns N' Roses will be eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame beginning in 2012. Critics and fans alike view this as an opportunity for the band's original lineup to reunite. On the VH1 special Behind the Music, Slash was questioned about the possibility of such a reunion and stated that "no matter how much money they throw in our faces, there's no reason for us to get together... unless there's a mutual respect or understanding... and we're way far from that." In January 2007, former drummer Steven Adler claimed that he had been talking with Axl, Izzy, and Slash about a "classic" line-up reunion.

On April 17, ex-lead guitarist Slash said, on the Brazilian format of MTV, that he was open to a reunion of the "old" Guns N' Roses: "And I'm not saying never. I would say it would be a good idea to get, just for a couple of shows, to get the original STP (Stone Temple Pilots) and the original Guns N' Roses just to do a couple of shows for the fun of it".

With nine years having passed since the last Guns N' Roses concert, the band made a public appearance in January 2001, with two well-received concerts, one in Las Vegas and one at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro. The band played a mixture of songs from previous albums as well as songs from then-unreleased Chinese Democracy. During their Rock in Rio set, Rose made the following comment regarding former members of the band: "I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people you came to know and love could not be with us here today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard (meaning my former friends) to do everything they could so that I could not be here today. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along."

They played a further two shows in Las Vegas at the end of 2001. In 2002, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band because of his frustrations with life on the road and was replaced by Richard Fortus (formerly of The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love). The band then played several shows in August 2002, headlining festivals and concerts throughout Asia and Europe. They made their way to New York for a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.

In 2002, the band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized to support Chinese Democracy, with CKY and Mix Master Mike supporting. However, the opening show in Vancouver was canceled by the venue when Rose failed to turn up (having remained in Los Angeles), and a riot ensued. This tour was met with mixed results. Some concerts did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as New York sold out in minutes. Due to a second riot by fans in Philadelphia when the band failed to show up again, tour promoter Clear Channel canceled the remainder of the tour.

The band went on hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio IV in May 2004. However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel. That same month, Geffen released Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits, since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years. Rose expressed his displeasure with this album as its track listing was established without his consent and went as far as trying to block its release by suing Geffen. This failed, however, and the album went triple platinum in the US.

In February 2006, demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher in the Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on to the Internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the MP3 files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. Despite this, radio stations began adding "I.R.S." to playlists, and the song actually reached #49 on the Radio & Records Active Rock National Airplay chart in the final week of February – the first time an Internet leak has done so.

On May 5, 2006, Axl Rose appeared on the Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk radio show (during an interview with Sebastian Bach) and said that the new Guns N' Roses album would be released before the end of the year. Later in May, the band launched a European tour, headlining both the Download Festival and Rock In Rio - Lisbon. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and became the band's first live concert dates since the aborted 2002 tour. The shows also marked the debut of guitarist and composer Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, replacing Buckethead. During the tour, former band-mate Izzy Stradlin and ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach made frequent guest appearances.

Five warm-up shows before a 2006 North American tour were held in September 2006. The tour officially commenced on October 24 in Miami. Drummer Frank Ferrer replaced Bryan Mantia, who took a leave of absence to be with his wife and newborn child. Coinciding with the tour, the song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for Harley-Davidson beginning in October 2006. That same month, Rolling Stone published an article revealing that Andy Wallace would be mixing the final album.

In December 2006, Axl Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as the band's manager. He revealed that the last four dates of the North American tour would be cut so the band could work on post-production for Chinese Democracy. He also set a tentative release date for the album for the first time since the album's announcement: March 6, 2007.

On February 8, 2007, the band played a two-song set at the Rodeo Drive's Walk of Style ceremony, held in Beverly Hills, California. The band, with Chris Pitman on bass, blazed through "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to close the event, which honored Gianni and Donatella Versace.

On February 23, 2007, Del James announced that Chinese Democracy's recording stage was finished, and the band had now moved onto mixing the album. However, this proved that the March 6 release date would be impossible to achieve, and the album once again had no scheduled release date. January 10, 2008, Axl's personal manager Beta Lebeis announced that Chinese Democracy was finished and that everyone knew that.

On May 4, 2007 three more tracks leaked from Chinese Democracy; an updated version of "I.R.S.", "The Blues" and the title track. All three tracks had previously been played live. Guns N' Roses embarked on the 2007 leg of the Chinese Democracy World Tour in Mexico in June, followed by dates in Australia and Japan. The songs "Nice Boys" and a "Don't Cry" Bumblefoot solo rendition were played for the first time since the Use Your Illusion Tour. The tour ended on the twentieth anniversary of Appetite for Destruction's release date, in Osaka. During this tour, the band featured Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus on guitars, Tommy Stinson on bass, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keyboards and Frank Ferrer on drums.

Rose appeared as a guest performer on three of the tracks on Sebastian Bach's album, Angel Down, which was released on November 20, 2007.

On March 26, 2008, Dr Pepper announced a plan to give everyone in America – except the band's former guitarists Slash and Buckethead – a free can of Dr Pepper if the band released Chinese Democracy before the end of 2008. Rose added, "As some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him." With the announcement from Guns N' Roses regarding a release date in November, Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's Vice President of Marketing for Dr. Pepper, announced a free soda coupon campaign for 24 hours on Sunday, November 23, 2008. Due to "heavy volume" on the server throughout the entire day it was impossible to submit for your free coupon

The next day, on March 27, 2008, the band announced that they had hired a new management team, headed by Irving Azoff and Andy Gould.
On April 5, 2008, a picture of Robin Finck appeared on Nine Inch Nails' web page, under the title "Welcome Back!" starting the rumor of his possible reunion with Trent Reznor. Later, on April 11, 2008, Robin Finck publicly expressed his happiness on playing again with NIN. On April 20, Axl Rose voiced his surprise about Robin Finck's latest news on the Guns N' Roses official website, but made assurance that the band was working with its management on the release of Chinese Democracy and thanked the fans for the continuous shows of support.

Nine tracks purported to be from Chinese Democracy were leaked to an online site on June 19, 2008 and quickly removed due to a cease-and-desist letter from the band's label. Six of the leaked tracks had surfaced previously in some form, while three were new. The leaked songs were fleshed out more than previously heard tracks. On July 14, 2008, Harmonix, in conjunction with MTV Games, officially announced the release of a new song from the upcoming Chinese Democracy album, called "Shackler's Revenge", through their new game Rock Band 2. Also the song "Chinese Democracy" is being played on the bands website.

In late August, speculation about the impending release of the album resurfaced, further fueled by separate reports from both Rolling Stone and Billboard about a November 25 release date as a Best Buy exclusive. This was finally confirmed October 22 when band management, Best Buy, and Interscope Geffen A&M Records officially issued a joint press release confirming the much anticipated release of the album in the US on November 23 as a Best Buy exclusive. Ten days before the official release of the Chinese Democracy album, on November 13, 2008, the "Chinese Democracy" single topped the general iTunes Music Store chart in Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Finland. In addition to being the No. 1 song and No. 1 rock song in these countries, it became the No. 1 rock song on iTunes in the US, Canada, France and the UK.

Chinese Democracy was released on November 22, 2008 in Europe and Australia, in North America on November 23, 2008 and in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2008, becoming the band's sixth studio album and their first since 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?".

On February 6, 2009, Axl gave his first interview in nine years when he sat down with Billboard's Jonathan Cohen. Rose said that there was no chance that he would ever agree with a reunion with Slash:

" What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man."

Rose was however open to working again with Stradlin and McKagan:

" I could see doing a song or so on the side with Izzy or having him out [on tour] again. I'm not so comfortable with doing anything having more than one of the alumni. Maybe something with Duff, but that's it, and not something I'd have to really get down into, as I'd get left with sorting it out and then blamed on top of it. So, no, not me."

In March 2009, the band's website announced that DJ Ashba would substitute for Robin Finck on an "upcoming tour", though the statement was later removed. This led to a lot of rumors about a tour, which eventually would become the Chinese Democracy World Tour 2009/2010.

On December 10, 2009, Axl Rose was on his way to board his flight at LAX for Taipei, Taiwan to start the new set of tour dates when he was involved in an altercation with paparazzi. Axl claimed the paparazzi were hassling one of the women in his party. Axl was filmed punching a man in the head, knocking him to the ground. No police reports were filed, and Axl boarded his flight and went on to perform.

The next day, Guns N' Roses played their first show in Taipei, Taiwan, marking the band's first concerts since before the release of Chinese Democracy. This was only the second public appearance Rose had made since June 2007.

On December 19, 2009, Guns N' Roses played their longest concert ever at the Tokyo Dome - 3 hours, 37 minutes - also breaking the record for longest concert played at the venue. The set list included 13 of the 14 songs from Chinese Democracy, an assortment of songs from previous albums and covers from AC/DC and Dead Boys. It was the last show of the Asian Leg.

On January 13, 2010, the Canadian Leg of the tour began, playing at MTS Centre in Winnipeg to generally positive reviews. Rolling Stone said:

" The frontman and his septet took the stage shortly after 10:40 p.m. - practically a matinee for the notorious Rose. And once they got down to business, they certainly made up for any lost time, treating 7,500 fans at the city's MTS Centre to a high-energy three-hour marathon of new material and classic G n' R hits."

On January 16, 2010, at Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Mike Smith, also known as Bubbles, joined the band to perform "Liquor & Whores" for 9,000 fans.

On January 19, 2010, the band played at Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon. This show marked the first time since 2007 that the song "Paradise City" was not played in the encore, instead being played right before.

On February 4, 2010, at Halifax Metro Centre, Mike Smith again with other Trailer Park Boys cast members, including John Dunsworth, J.P. Tremblay, Robb Wells and Jonathon Torrens, performed "Liquor & Whores" with the band for the encore.

Music video director Dale Resteghini announced that he had been hired by Rose to document and shoot stills for the band's current South American tour. According to a press release from Adrenaline PR (Rage's publicists), Axl wanted to make some videos later in the year in support of Chinese Democracy, on the same grand scope and style of classics such as "November Rain".

On March 13, 2010, the band played at Palestra Itália Stadium for 40,000 fans in São Paulo. Axl Rose was hit by a bottle of water during "Chinese Democracy". He stopped the show for a minute and screamed:

" You wanna fuck up the show for everybody? You wanna fuck with me and my boys? We will leave."

On March 14, 2010, a concert booked in Rio de Janeiro was canceled due to a tornado that broke both laterals of the stage. This concert was almost rescheduled for the next day, but the engineers could not build another stage in such short time. Later the concert was confirmed and rescheduled to April 4, 2010, and took place in the same venue, Apoteose Stadium, for over 30,000 fans. However, some fans who came from other cities and had to leave due to the stage collapse on March 14 could not attend the rescheduled concert and were therefore compensated.

In Lima, March 25, 2010, Axl Rose was hit by a bottle again in the very beginning, after being late for almost 2 hours. He stopped the show just like in São Paulo, but used an interpreter to speak to the crowd. Axl said:

" If you wanna throw shit, we will leave. We would like to stay and have fun with you for a long time tonight. So we're gonna have fun? Let's try that again". "

After the incident, they kept playing for the 30,000 fans at Explanada Sur del Estadio Monumental.

In San Jose, Costa Rica, on April 9, 2010, the day of the concert, the show was canceled due to safety issues with the stage. Hailed in the media as a "stage collapse," and with only a short time to rebuild the stage, the show was canceled. An attempt to reschedule the gig was made after the cancellation of a concert in Guatemala, but that fell through as well. At the time the makeup date was canceled, construction of a stage was already underway at a venue in La Guacima. In the end, both Costa Rica's and Guatemala's shows were canceled, and the band moved on to the final show of the Central American tour leg in Puerto Rico.

On April 16, 2010, Live Nation Norway announced that the European leg of Guns N' Roses 2010 Chinese Democracy tour would start in Bergen, Norway, with a second show in Oslo. Several days later, on April 19, an announcement from Russian promoter SAV Entertainment heralded the first ever Guns N' Roses show in Russia, with a date in Moscow. In addition, the promoter released a promotional poster which also listed the June dates of Guns N' Roses upcoming European tour, featuring an ever first Russian show in St. Petersburg, which took place on June 6. Other countries to be covered during the June 2010 stretch include Italy, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Serbia, Croatia, and the Czech Republic, as well as previously rumored and announced dates in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland.

In May 2010, Axl filed a $5 million lawsuit against former manager Irving Azoff, saying that Azoff sabotaged sales of Guns N' Roses' comeback album and lied about a potential "super tour" with Van Halen (which Azoff manages) as part of a plan to force Rose to reunite with his estranged former band members. Rose said in his suit that Azoff failed to promote his 2008 album, "Chinese Democracy," and deliberately mishandled concert dates, "forcing Rose into a position where he would have no choice but to reunite with the original members of Guns N' Roses for a reunion tour."

Guns N' Roses headlined the Friday night at Reading Festival 2010 and closed Leeds Festival two days later. Guns N' Roses were 58 minutes late coming on to the stage and because of a curfew issued by Reading Council their set had to end at midnight. This meant that they could not complete their set engaging in attempting to play Paradise City without amplification with the audience singing along. Axl Rose orchestrated fan frustration toward the organizers, telling fans that they would not play at the Leeds Festival. But two days later Guns N' Roses played the final night of the Leeds Festival coming onto stage only 30 minutes late.

On September 1, 2010, in Dublin, the band was 90 minutes late arriving on stage. Axl suddenly stopped the band in the middle of the second song, Welcome to the Jungle, and warned the crowd that if any more water bottles were thrown on stage, the band would leave. After the fourth song, a bottle was thrown on stage. The band departed the stage. A PA announced that 'technical difficulties' were being experienced which caused more booing. After 15 minutes the lights went up as thousands milled around, with many leaving. Unexpectedly, after 40 minutes the band re-appeared and Axl completed the set either standing or sitting, but refused to engage with the crowd other than to introduce the band members.

On September 14, 2010, in Paris, Guns N' Roses played a "surprise" acoustic gig at the L'Arc restaurant and bar, similar to gigs stateside earlier in the year, a day after their Paris concert. The show featured both classic Guns tunes and several cuts from Chinese Democracy, including the seldom-played Catcher in the Rye.

On October 14, 2010, Duff McKagan joined Guns N' Roses to perform four songs, "You Could Be Mine", "Nice Boys", "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" and "Patience" (on tambourine), at the O2 Arena, London, England. The appearance was said to be a spur-of-the-moment thing as he and Rose happened to be staying in the same hotel.

On February 5, 2011, Axl Rose said that rumors of any possible reunion are not true. He also stated that Doc McGhee "is no longer involved w/either myself or GN'R." Despite this, Guns N' Roses confirmed on March 20, 2011 that they will headline the final night of the two-week long Rock In Rio 4 festival in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on October 2, 2011. According to DJ Ashba, Guns N' Roses are in talks of playing live in the United States again in 2011

Next albumIn an MTV phone interview with Kurt Loder in 1999, Rose said he and the then-new band had recorded enough material for a double album. In an informal chat with Rolling Stone magazine in February 2006, Rose stated the band had 32 songs in the works. While appearing on various fan message boards in December 2008 (after the release of Chinese Democracy, which was released in November of that year), he stated several working titles for a possible future album. Amongst the working titles confirmed: "Elvis Presley and the Monster of Soul" ("Soul Monster", formerly known as "Leave Me Alone"), "Atlas Shrugged", "Seven", "The General", "Thyme", "Ides of March", "Berlin" (formerly "Oklahoma"), "Zodiac", "Quick Song", and "Down by the Ocean"(co-written by original member Izzy Stradlin). During the chat, he mentioned the bridge of "Soul Monster" as the band's "most Black Sabbath" moment, and referred to it as "the meanest section of anything I've sung to date." In a 2007 interview, Axl Rose's close friend Sebastian Bach stated "The General" had a "heavy" sound with "screaming vocals" and also said it was the sequel to the 1991 classic ballad "Estranged" from the album Use Your Illusion II. Bach also remarked that Chinese Democracy will be the first installment in a trilogy of new albums, and that Rose had told him the third, as yet untitled, album has been slated for 2012.

Recently, guitarist DJ Ashba has said that the next album is currently being discussed, stating that the band "has been throwing around a bunch of ideas" and joked that the next album "won't take as long" to release. On April 20, 2011, Ashba said in an interview at the Revolver Golden Gods Awards that Guns N' Roses have been "working on new songs every day". GN'R guitarist DJ Ashba says a new Guns N' Roses record is on the way and the songs Axl Rose has written are genius.

This is what he had to say to music reporter Nui Te Koha on Triple M Melbourne's Hot Breakfast:

"Axl has a lot of great songs up his sleeve. He probably has three albums worth of stuff recorded. The stuff I've heard, I've been up in his hotel room many nights and he just sits down at the piano and plays. I'm like 'this is amazing, people have to hear this song' and he's like "ah, this is something I'm tinkering on'."

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