At a time when music culture was dominated by dance and pop, the band Guns N’ Roses took raw rock ‘n’ roll to the top of charts such as B. the band Ghost . They weren’t nice boys: nice boys don’t play rock ‘n’ roll. They were ugly, misogynistic and violent. But they were also funny, vulnerable, and even sensitive at times, as evidenced by their breakout hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
While Slash and Izzy Stradlin unleashed heavy Aerosmith- or Rolling Stone-style guitar riffs , Axl Rose roared his tales of sex, drugs, and the apathy he experienced in the city. Meanwhile, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Steven Adler formed a lithe rhythm section that kept the music in a free and powerful dynamic.
Guns N’ Roses ‘ music was basic and gritty, with a solid, hard base. They were dark, dirty, dirty and honest at the same time: everything that good hard rock and heavy metal stood for. There was something refreshing about this band that knew how to provoke – from devotion to hate. There hadn’t been a hard rock band this talented in years. Rose’s primitive anger, the sound of confused and frustrated white scum fighting for their piece of the pie, gave them weight.
In the 80’s and 90’s there simply wasn’t a more interesting hard rock band than them. However, due to friction within the band and the rise of alternative rock, Rose’s second fiddle eventually departed and he spent over 15 years recording solo before 2008’s release of Chinese Democracy .
Today we’re going to bring you 15 facts about this sulphurous band that we’re sure you didn’t know existed! And if you ever feel the desire to join the band and feel like a real rock star, don’t hesitate to get the best skull ring. We even show you how to wear a skull ring .
1) The members of Guns N’ Roses almost died before they were signed.
The band was involved in a serious car accident while returning to Los Angeles after their first tour. All band members were in a Toyota Celica when another car crashed into them at an intersection, leaving drummer Steven Adler with a broken ankle.
2) Axl Rose attacked his neighbor with chicken
“I live next door to a psychopath,” Axl Rose told a TV reporter after he was released from prison for allegedly attacking his neighbor with an empty wine bottle. The same neighbor also accused the singer of throwing a piece of chicken at him.
3) Slash injured himself and escaped naked from a hotel
After highs on heroin and cocaine, Slash recalled seeing “rubber-dreadlocked predators” chasing him with machine guns and harpoons. In an attempt to escape from these creatures, Slash climbed through a glass door and broke it as he jumped through to escape his room. Naked, Slash then used a maid as a “human shield” before running across the entire hotel lobby, eventually hiding behind a lawnmower.
4) Axl Rose beat up rock star David Bowie
Bowie had given Axl’s girlfriend Erin Everly a little too much attention during one of the band’s shoots. Axl Rose then decided to beat up the legendary rock star. Apparently, Bowie apologized and the two friends later went out to a big party with lots of alcohol.
5) The Rockers turned a Los Angeles alleyway into a drug den
The alleyway behind which the Los Angeles rock band lived quickly gained a reputation as a corner selling heroin, prostitution and other drugs.
6) Axl Rose started a riot
Towards the end of a concert in St. Louis , Axl became furious when he spotted an unauthorized paparazzi in the front row. He then decided to try and take the camera away from him, threw himself into the crowd and punched him before going back on stage. “I’m going home because of this miserable security,” he announced before fleeing. Dozens of fans were injured in the ensuing riot, and the band Guns N’ Roses were given a lifetime ban from singing in St. Louis. Axl was even charged with four counts of violence that erupted that day, including one count of criminal damage to property. He was fined $50,000.
7) Slash turned his house into a zoo
Slash bought a new house in Los Angeles and filled it with venomous snakes, lizards, eight cats and a mountain lion cub named Curtis. “I set up a reptile zoo there,” he writes in his autobiography. “Just a few thousand snakes and all sorts of things”.
8) Izzy urinated on a plane in front of pensioners
During a flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin urinated in the plane’s galley. He explained: « I was drunk in the middle of this group of elderly people. I smoked and the stewardess came. I told her to f***** herself ».
9) Axl threatened Kurt Cobain
Axl and Kurt Cobain had already made a name for themselves through numerous unsympathetic affairs between them. That day there was an incident backstage where Courtney Love spotted Axl Rose and jokingly asked him if he wanted to be godparent to her child. As Cobain later recalled, Axl confronted him and snarled, “You better keep your wife locked up or I’ll put you on the sidewalk.”
10) Axl threatened airport security
After several years of silence, Axl Rose surfaced in 1998 for threatening an airport security guard. Apparently Axl didn’t want his luggage searched and is said to have threatened security personnel: “I’m going to take you out here and now”.
11) She used to be called Hollywood Rose
Here’s the origins of their name: Los Angeles rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and guitarist Tracii Guns joined forces with singer Axl Rose to form Hollywood Rose . The band also featured Ole Beich on bass and Ron Gardner on drums. Tracii and Axl decided to change the band’s name by combining their last names. Hence the name Guns N’ Roses . Tracii, Ole and Rob later parted ways with the band and were replaced by Duff McKagan on bass, Steven Adler on drums and most importantly Slash on lead guitar.
Hollywood Rose, who are no longer together, have developed a cult following with fans who are always on the lookout for rare pictures of the original band. What’s interesting is that Tracii Guns never really showed any interest in the band. He used the word “Guns” in his stage name, although Tracii Guns left the band after a falling out with vocalist Axl Rose. So, in reality, Tracii Guns is responsible for an entire pop culture movement . Thank you Traci!
12) Paradise City was written on the back of a van
One of the band’s most popular songs was written on the back of a van: Paradise City! Not only is Paradise City one of Guns N’ Roses’ most iconic songs, it’s also the anthem of all partygoers and revelers, regardless of their origins. This song has topped the charts and is sung like an anthem at every gathering. It’s a banging rock anthem with a touch of country, but still very effective when it comes to tearing yourself up and singing along at the top of your lungs.
However, the origins of this song are just like the song itself: very humble! The band had a rented van in which they drove from concert to concert while touring the United States. On the way back from a concert in San Francisco, the boys sat in the back seat of the van, drinking and playing guitar.
By this time Slash had recorded the intro, and later Duff and Axl joined. First, Axl suggested the phrase “Take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.” Then Slash came up with the following phrase: « where the girls are fat and have big tits! ». In fact, Axl considered using that phrase for the song, but ultimately decided that the first version was better.
It’s really interesting to see how some of the biggest and greatest things in the world, like the hit song Paradise City, can have origins as simple and humble as the fact that they were accomplished in the back seat of a rented van while playing an acoustic guitar and drank beer. By the way: does this van still exist?
13) Drummer Steven Adler was about to join AC/DC!ues de
This could have happened!
By the early 1990s, Steven Adler had left GNR because, according to Axl Rose, he was “a drug addict.” Steven Adler was replaced by Matt Sorum and was invited to join AC/DC. However, after the AC/DC executive found out about Steven’s drug addiction, he rescinded his promise.
Steven Adler then sued the former members of his band. He claimed numerous financial differences and stated that he was, among other things, fined $2,000 for each heroin use. Eventually they settled and Steven Adler was paid $2,250,000 plus 15% royalties for everything he recorded before he left the band.
After all that, Steven Adler had suffered a stroke that left him briefly in a coma after being hit with a speedball (a drug mix). It was a particularly difficult time for the rock drummer as his life continued to go downhill. Thankfully, Steven put aside his differences with the band in recent months and joined them for a performance on their reunion tour. So everything is going great for the drummer!
14) November Rain took 8 years to write
We can’t rush perfection! Since the days of the Hollywood Rose, Tracii Guns, Izzy Stradlin and Axl Rose had started work on an EP in 1983, and one of the key songs on that EP would become November Rain . This musical masterpiece could have turned the then Hollywood Rose into a superstar band , and Guns N’ Roses, whose achievements we know today, technically never would have existed.
After many Hollywood Rose members left the band, the song was initially shelved, but was tentatively edited for eight years. After those eight years, it was finally completed and later became one of the most legendary musical masterpieces of our time!
This song is proof that when you’re striving for perfection, you really can’t afford to rush anything. November Rain is one of the most carefully orchestrated compositions in GNR’s arsenal. It includes everything from piano to rock instruments to a full orchestra. It’s a song that filled concert halls and you could stand in line for 100 years just to hear it because it’s really worth seeing!
15) Sweet Child O’ Mine was written in just 5 minutes!
In fact, it seems possible to rush to perfection!
Well, that’s quite a feat of engineering. Their song November Rain took 8 years to write while Sweet Child O’ Mine was completed in 5 minutes! So can you end up rushing yourself if you’re striving for perfection? We don’t have the answer because both songs are amazing!
According to Slash, Sweet Child O’ Mine was written in about 5 minutes, mainly because it was a simple three chord song. The composition itself was pretty simple, except for the main guitar part. The concept is pretty hard to fathom.
Now it is clear that the two songs are very different. One is a multi-instrument romantic epic and the other is a three-chord power house with the most recognizable guitar part of all time. Guns N’ Roses is surely one of the most surprising bands of all time. You can take eight years to write a song and dream up another in five minutes.
If after all this you still don’t dream of becoming a rock star, we don’t know what could make you do. Or maybe you should take a closer look at our various Hardrockstar skull trinkets !