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Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles formed in 1985. The classic lineup, as signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese, guitarist Richard Fortus and drummer Frank Ferrer. The band has released six studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 100 million records worldwide, including shipments of 45 million in the United States, making Guns N' Roses one of the world's best-selling bands of all time.

History

Formation (1985–1986)

In 1984, Hollywood Rose member Izzy Stradlin was living with L.A. Guns member Tracii Guns. When L.A. Guns needed a new vocalist, Stradlin suggested Hollywood Rose singer Axl Rose. Guns N' Roses was formed in March 1985 by Rose and rhythm guitarist Stradlin, along with lead guitarist Tracii Guns, bassist Ole Beich, and drummer Rob Gardner of L.A. Guns. The band coined its name by combining the names of both previous groups. Rejected names for the band included "Heads of Amazon" and "AIDS". After a short time, during which the band reportedly played two or three shows, Beich was fired and replaced by Duff McKagan. Tracii Guns left the band after an argument with Rose, leading to his replacement by Rose and Stradlin's one-time Hollywood Rose bandmate, Slash. Gardner quit soon after and was replaced by another former Hollywood Rose member, Steven Adler. Slash had also previously played with McKagan and Adler in Road Crew.

Breakthrough and mass popularity (1987–1989)

Appetite for Destruction

Guns N' Roses' debut album Appetite for Destruction was released July 21, 1987. The album underwent an artwork change after the original cover design by Robert Williams, which depicted a surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist, was deemed too controversial. The band stated the original artwork was "a symbolic social statement, with the robot representing the industrial system that's raping and polluting our environment." The revised cover was done by Andy Engell, based on a design by tattoo artist Bill White Jr., who had designed the artwork for a tattoo Rose had acquired the previous year. The artwork featured each of the five band members' skulls layered on a cross.

In the U.S., "Welcome to the Jungle" was issued as the album's first single, with an accompanying music video. Initially, the album and single lingered for almost a year without performing well, but when Geffen founder David Geffen was asked to lend support to the band, he obliged, personally convincing MTV executives to play "Welcome to the Jungle" during the network's after-hours rotation. Even though the video was initially only played once at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, heavy metal and hard rock fans took notice and soon began requesting the video and song en masse. The song, written in Seattle, was about Los Angeles. The music video took place in New York. According to Rose, the inspiration for the lyrics came from an encounter he and a friend had with a homeless man while they were coming out of a bus into New York. Trying to put a scare into the young runaways, the man yelled at them, "You know where you are? You're in the jungle baby; you're gonna die!" The song was featured in the 1988 Dirty Harry film The Dead Pool, starring Clint Eastwood, and members of the band had a cameo appearance in the film.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, touring and Appetite for Democracy (2009–2014)

In 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, Rose stated several working titles of songs for a possible future album. Among the working titles were: "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, 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 would be the first installment in a trilogy of new albums, and that Rose had told him the third, as yet untitled, album had been slated for 2012, although the year ended without seeing a release past Chinese Democracy. The initial plan for Chinese Democracy in 2001 was to record two albums, release Chinese Democracy, tour for a year or two, then release the second album without having to return to the studio.

Regrouping, Not in This Lifetime... Tour and future (2015–present)

On July 27, 2015, guitarist DJ Ashba left the band, citing his commitments to his family and other band, Sixx:A.M. Ashba released a statement saying "I have reached a point in my life where I feel it's time to dedicate myself to my band Sixx:A.M., my adoring wife and family, and to the many new adventures that the future holds for me." Several days later, music journalist Gary Graff reported that a 'confirmed source within the band' had told him that Ron Thal was no longer in Guns N' Roses and had left after the 2014 tour. No official announcement from Thal or the band has been made regarding his status. Tommy Stinson then left the band, citing personal reasons keeping him unable to tour. Frank Ferrer clarified the status of the band in mid-2015, saying "Guns still exist ... [They have] a lot of moving parts, and there's a lot of things in the works ... everything is moving forward."

On December 29, 2015, several days after a Guns N' Roses related teaser was released to movie theaters, Billboard reported that Slash was set to rejoin the band and a "reunited" lineup will headline Coachella 2016. Rose was set to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live! the following week to talk about the future of the band, but his appearance was cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances". Guns N' Roses was officially announced as the headliner of Coachella on January 4, 2016, with KROQ reporting Slash and Duff McKagan are rejoining the band. The Coachella festival confirmed via press release that McKagan and Slash were rejoining. The band's first scheduled concerts with Slash and McKagan took place at the newly opened T-Mobile Arena on April 8 and 9, 2016. On March 25, 2016, the band announced 21 cities as part of a North American tour, dubbed the Not in This Lifetime... Tour.