Formation (1985–1986) ,
Izzy Stradlin,
Axl Rose,
Tracii Guns and
Ole Beich. In 1983, guitarist
Tracii Guns introduced
Chris Weber to
Izzy Stradlin, who soon formed a band with Stradlin's childhood friend,
Axl Rose. After several lineup changes, the group became
Hollywood Rose. On January 1, 1985, Rose and Stradlin briefly reunited as Hollywood Rose for a one-off show with bassist Steve Darrow, Tracii Guns, and drummer
Rob Gardner. Guns N' Roses was formed in March 1985 by Rose, Stradlin, Guns, Gardner, and bassist
Ole Beich. Guns recalled the formation of the band in a 2019 interview, stating: "Axl got into an argument with our manager and our manager fired Axl... So, that same night we started Guns N' Roses... I called Izzy the next day and said, 'Hey, we are gonna start this new band called Guns N' Roses, do you want in?'". The name combined their previous bands names and was initially intended for a record label. Rejected names included "Heads of Amazon" and "AIDS". Their first rehearsal with McKagan was recorded, and three songs - "
Don't Cry", "
Think About You" and "Anything Goes"- were aired during their first radio interview, two days before their debut show at the
Troubadour on March 26, 1985. Plans for an EP featuring those songs and a cover of "
Heartbreak Hotel" were abandoned after Guns left the band following an argument with Rose. The "classic" lineup - Rose, Stradlin, Slash, McKagan, and Adler - was finalized on June 4, 1985. Two days later, they embarked on a chaotic West Coast tour from
Sacramento to McKagan's hometown of
Seattle, Washington. When both vans broke down en route, the band
hitchhiked with only their guitars. McKagan later called the "Hell Tour" a defining moment for the group. They soon moved into a shared house and rehearsal space dubbed "The Hell House". Guns N' Roses gained traction on the Hollywood club circuit, performing at venues like
The Troubadour and
The Roxy. In March 1986, they signed with
Geffen Records, turning down a more lucrative offer from
Chrysalis, which had sought to alter their image. Geffen offered full creative control and a $75,000 advance. ,
Steven Adler,
Axl Rose,
Duff McKagan, &
Slash In December 1986, the band released the EP Live
Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide to maintain momentum while they retreated from the club scene to focus on studio work. The EP included covers of
Rose Tattoo's "Nice Boys" and
Aerosmith's "
Mama Kin", along with two originals: "Reckless Life" and "Move to the City". Though marketed as live recordings, the tracks were studio demos
overdubbed with crowd noise. To test producers for their debut album, the band recorded "
Nightrain" and "
Sweet Child o' Mine" with
Spencer Proffer.
Mutt Lange and
Tom Werman were also approached, but Geffen declined due to cost. Ultimately,
Mike Clink was selected, having previously worked with
Triumph. The band recorded "Shadow of Your Love" with Clink as a test. Drums were finished in six days, but Rose's vocals took significantly longer, as he insisted on recording one line at a time.
Breakthrough and mass popularity (1987–1989) Appetite for Destruction Appetite for Destruction, Guns N' Roses' debut album, was released on July 21, 1987. The album's original cover art, painted by
Robert Williams and depicting a surreal scene of a monster attacking a rapist robot, was deemed too controversial by retailers. The band described the artwork as "a symbolic social statement, with the robot representing the industrial system that's raping and polluting our environment." A revised cover, created by Andy Engell from a design by tattoo artist Bill White Jr., featured skull caricatures of the five band members arranged on a cross. The band's first single, "
It's So Easy", was released exclusively in the UK on June 15, 1987, reaching number 84 on the
UK Singles Chart. In the United States, "
Welcome to the Jungle" served as the lead single in October, accompanied by a music video. For nearly a year, the album and its singles struggled commercially. That changed when Geffen Records founder
David Geffen personally urged
MTV to air the "Welcome to the Jungle" video during late-night rotation. Although initially played only once at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, viewer demand quickly surged. The track later appeared in the 1988 film
The Dead Pool, in which the band made a cameo. "
Sweet Child o' Mine", the album's second U.S. single, originated as a poem Rose wrote for his then‑girlfriend Erin Everly. Its broad appeal and heavy rotation on radio and MTV propelled it to number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 — the band's only chart‑topper. Slash later remarked, "I hated that song with a huge passion for the longest time, and it turned out to be our hugest hit." In Japan, the track appeared on the EP
Live from the Jungle, which also included live recordings from the band's June 1987 shows at London's Marquee Club — their first performances outside the U.S. Following the success of "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Welcome to the Jungle" was reissued and reached number 7 in the U.S. "
Paradise City" peaked at number 5, and Appetite for Destruction eventually reached number 1 on the Billboard 200. The album has since sold more than 30 million copies worldwide, including 18 million in the United States, making it the best‑selling debut album in U.S. history and the eleventh
best-selling album overall. Guns N' Roses supported the album with the 16‑month
Appetite for Destruction Tour. Alongside headlining dates in the U.S. and Europe, the band opened for
the Cult,
Mötley Crüe, and
Alice Cooper in 1987. During the tour, drummer Steven Adler broke his hand in a fight and was temporarily replaced by
Cinderella's
Fred Coury for eight shows. Bassist Duff McKagan missed several dates in May 1988 for his wedding, with
Kid "Haggis" Chaos of the Cult filling in.
Don Henley of the
Eagles played drums for the band at the 1989
American Music Awards while Adler was in rehab. The band continued touring across the United States, Australia, and Japan, and opened North American shows for
Iron Maiden and
Aerosmith. Aerosmith manager Tim Collins later recalled, "By the end of the tour, Guns N' Roses were huge... Suddenly, the opening act was bigger than we were."
''G N' R Lies'' was the band's rhythm guitarist from 1985 until 1991. Guns N' Roses released their second album, ''
G N' R Lies'', in November 1988. The album combined the four tracks from the band's 1986 EP
Live ?!@ Like a Suicide* with four new acoustic songs. Its sole single, "
Patience" reached number four on the U.S. charts, while the album peaked at number two. The cover artwork, designed as a tabloid-style parody, was altered after initial pressings to remove the headlines "Wife-beating has been around for 10,000 years" and "Ladies, welcome to the Dark Ages." The song "
One in a Million", which included the slurs "
nigger" and "
faggot", generated controversy and was widely criticized as racist, xenophobic, and homophobic. Band manager Doug Goldstein said the lyrics were meant as satire reflecting the fears of an inexperienced teenager encountering diversity in Los Angeles, and that Rose defended the song as artistic expression, declining to further explain it. Rose denied being racist and defended his language, arguing that certain terms were not intended to refer to race and citing other musicians' use of similar wording. He later acknowledged that the lyrics reflected his anger following an attempted robbery and conceded that the language was offensive. Addressing accusations of homophobia, Rose described himself as "pro-heterosexual" and attributed his views to negative personal experiences with gay men. Other members of the band expressed reservations about including the song before the album's release, though it ultimately remained at Rose's insistence. During a November 1987 concert in Atlanta, Rose assaulted several security guards and was detained backstage by police, while the band completed the performance with a roadie on vocals. Near-riots occurred at two August 1988 shows in New York. That same month, two fans were crushed to death during the band's performance at England's
Monsters of Rock festival. In October 1989, while opening for the Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Coliseum, Rose warned that the shows would be the band's last if members did not stop using drugs, referencing the song "
Mr. Brownstone". Incidents such as these contributed to Guns N' Roses being labeled "the most dangerous band in the world".
International success and band turmoil (1990–1993) Use Your Illusion I and II In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio. Drummer Steven Adler was briefly fired due to his drug use but was reinstated after agreeing to a contract in which he pledged to stay clean. During the recording session of "
Civil War", Adler was unable to perform well due to his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction, and caused the band to do nearly 30 takes. Adler claimed at the time he was sick from taking opiate blockers to help with the addictions. In 2005, he recalled:
Martin Chambers of the
Pretenders and Adam Maples of
Sea Hags were considered as replacements. Jussi Tegelman, from the Finnish band Havana Black, assisted on drums in studio sessions before a permanent replacement was found. The position was filled by drummer
Matt Sorum, who had played briefly with the
Cult. Slash credited Sorum with preventing the band from breaking up at the time. A few months prior, keyboardist
Dizzy Reed became the sixth member of the group when he joined as a full-time member. In May 1991, Guns N' Roses fired their manager,
Alan Niven, replacing him with Doug Goldstein. The band released the recordings as two albums,
Use Your Illusion I and
Use Your Illusion II, on September 17, 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 respectively in the
Billboard charts, making Guns N' Roses the only act to achieve this feat until hip hop artist
Nelly in 2004 and the first to have the top two albums since
Jim Croce in 1974. The albums sold 770,000 units (
Use Your Illusion II) and 685,000 units (
Use Your Illusion I) in their first week, and spent 108 weeks on the chart. They have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide, including 14 million in the United States. The ballad "November Rain" reached number 3 in the US and became the most requested video on MTV, eventually winning the 1992
MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography. At 8:57, it was at the time also the longest song in US chart history to reach the top ten. During the awards show, the band performed the song with
Elton John accompanying on piano.
Use Your Illusion Tour Before the release of the albums, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month-long
Use Your Illusion Tour. It became famous for both its financial success and for the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows. The tour included 192 dates in 27 countries, with over seven million people attending concerts. The Use Your Illusion Tour is considered the "longest tour in rock history". On July 2, 1991, at the
Riverport Amphitheater in
Maryland Heights, Missouri, Rose discovered that a fan was filming the show with a camera. After asking the venue's security to take away the camera, Rose jumped into the audience, had a heated confrontation with the fan, and assaulted him. After being pulled from the audience by members of the crew, Rose said, "Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!", threw his microphone to the ground and stormed off the stage. The angry
crowd rioted, injuring dozens. Footage was captured by
Robert John, who was documenting the tour. The police were unable to arrest Rose 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, that those requests were ignored, that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles launched from the audience, and that the security staff refused to enforce a drinking limit. Rose was eventually found guilty of property damage and assault. He was fined $50,000 and given two years probation. joined the band as keyboardist in 1990. Rhythm guitarist
Izzy Stradlin abruptly quit the band on November 7, 1991, after a repeat of the St. Louis incident nearly unfolded during a concert in Germany. As reasons for his departure, Stradlin cited a combination of Rose's personal behavior, his mismanagement of the band, and difficulties being around Slash, Sorum, and McKagan due to his newfound sobriety and their continuing addictions. Stradlin later commented, "Once I quit drugs, I couldn't help looking around and asking myself, 'Is this all there is?' I was just tired of it; I needed to get out". The band had three weeks to find a replacement or cancel several shows.
Dave Navarro from
Jane's Addiction was considered, but according to Slash, "he couldn't get it together". Stradlin was eventually replaced by Los Angeles guitarist
Gilby Clarke, whom Slash credited for saving the band. At many shows on the tour, Rose introduced Clarke to the audience, and Slash and Clarke would play "
Wild Horses", a Rolling Stones cover. In 1992, the band performed three songs at the
Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. Slash later performed "
Tie Your Mother Down" with the remaining members of Queen and
Def Leppard vocalist
Joe Elliott, while Rose performed "
We Will Rock You" and sang a duet with
Elton John on "
Bohemian Rhapsody". Their personal set included "Paradise City" and "
Knockin' on Heaven's Door". When the band returned to the US for the second leg of the Use Your Illusion Tour, Rose had wanted the
grunge band
Nirvana as the support act, but lead singer
Kurt Cobain declined. Later that year, Guns N' Roses embarked on the
Guns N' Roses/Metallica Stadium Tour with heavy metal band
Metallica, supported by
Faith No More,
Motörhead, and
Body Count. During a show in August 1992 at
Montreal's
Olympic Stadium, Metallica's lead singer
James Hetfield suffered second-degree burns to his hands and face after malfunctions with
pyrotechnics. Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to the city for another performance. 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 and the band members could not hear themselves. In addition, Rose claimed that his throat hurt, causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to another audience riot, in which 10 audience members and three police officers were injured. Police made at least a dozen arrests related to the incident. The
Use Your Illusion tour ended in
Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 17, 1993. The tour set attendance records and lasted for 28 months, in which 192 shows were played in 27 countries. The show in Buenos Aires marked the last time that Sorum and Clarke played in the band, and the last time Slash performed with the band until 2016. a collection of
punk and
glam rock covers, was released on November 23, 1993. The album features covers of songs of punk artists such as
U.K. Subs,
the Damned,
New York Dolls,
the Stooges,
Dead Boys,
Misfits,
Johnny Thunders,
the Professionals,
FEAR, as well as
T. Rex,
Soundgarden and
the Skyliners. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard charts, and sold 190,000 copies its first week. and recording the songs served as "a purpose to alleviate the pressure of making the
Illusions records". The band wanted to increase the profile of some of their favorite bands and help them financially via royalties with the tracklist selection, and considered naming the album "Pension Fund". The inclusion of the song caused controversy, with law enforcement and victims rights groups expressing outrage. Rose stated "we wanted to downplay it. We don't give any credit to Charles Manson on the album". Label president
David Geffen commented: "[If] Rose had realized how offensive people would find this, he would not have ever recorded this song". Rose stated he would donate all performance royalties from the song to a nonprofit environmental organization. The band was going to remove the song before learning that royalties would be donated to the son of one of Manson's victims. Geffen Records stated their share of royalties would be donated to the
Doris Tate Crime Victims Bureau. Rose said the material was scrapped due to the lack of collaboration between band members: "We still needed the collaboration of the band as a whole to write the best songs. Since none of that happened, that's the reason why that material got scrapped." The album was described by McKagan as consisting of "up-tempo rock songs" with "no ballads". Sorum said that ''
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere'', the debut album from Slash's band
Slash's Snakepit, "could have been a Guns N' Roses album, but Axl didn't think it was good enough". In 1994, all of the then-current members of the band contributed to Gilby Clarke's debut album,
Pawnshop Guitars. In December 1994, GN'R released a cover of the
Rolling Stones' "
Sympathy for the Devil". The song appeared in the films
Interview with the Vampire and
Fallen and was released as a single.
Entertainment Weekly stated that the "note-for-note remake works up a decent lather but seems utterly bankrupt". The recording featured Rose's childhood friend and
Hollywood Rose collaborator
Paul "Huge" Tobias on rhythm guitar. A 2001 interview revealed Slash told his bandmates in September 1996, "I'm going to confront it. Either Paul goes, or [I go]." Clarke was not involved in the recording of 'Sympathy for the Devil': "I knew that that was the ending because nobody told me about it". Clarke later sued the band over the use of his likeness in
Guns N' Roses Pinball. In August 1995, Rose legally left the band and created a new partnership under the band's name. Rose later stated that he took this step "to salvage Guns not steal it". Rose reportedly purchased the full rights to the Guns N' Roses name in 1997. Slash claimed he and bandmates signed over the name under duress: "Axl refused to go onstage one night during the Use Your Illusion tour in 1992 unless the band signed away the name rights to the band. Unfortunately, we signed it. I didn't think he'd go on stage otherwise." Rose denied the claim, saying "(it) Never happened, all made up, fallacy and fantasy. Not one single solitary thread of truth to it. Had that been the case I would have been cremated years ago legally, could've cleaned me out for the name and damages. It's called under duress with extenuating circumstances." The recording of "Sympathy for the Devil", coupled with tension between Slash and Rose, led the former to quit the band officially in October 1996. Rose sent a fax notifying MTV of the departure, and Slash responded: "Axl and I have not been capable of seeing eye to eye on Guns N' Roses for some time. We tried to collaborate, but at this point, I'm no longer in the band." Slash stated, "Axl's whole visionary style, as far as his input in Guns N' Roses, is completely different from mine. I just like to play guitar, write a good riff, go out there and play, as opposed to presenting an image." Finck was originally recommended by Matt Sorum to Rose a year earlier as a possible second guitarist to complement Slash. Sorum later stated that Tobias was the "
Yoko Ono of Guns N' Roses". Rose auditioned multiple potential members, including multi-instrumentalist
Chris Vrenna and guitarist
Zakk Wylde, alongside drummers
Dave Abbruzzese,
Joey Castillo Rolling Stone reported in April 1997 that the lineup of Guns N' Roses was Rose, McKagan, Tobias, Finck & Vrenna. McKagan was the last of the
Appetite lineup to leave, resigning as bassist in August 1997. McKagan had recently become a father and wrote about his decision to leave in his autobiography: "Guns had been paying rent on studios for three years now—from 1994 to 1997—and still did not have a single song. The whole operation was so erratic that it didn't seem to fit with my hopes for parenthood, for stability." After being recommended by Freese, former
Replacements bassist
Tommy Stinson joined in 1998, replacing McKagan. By the end of 1998, a new version of Guns N' Roses had emerged: Rose on lead vocals, Stinson on bass, Freese on drums, Finck on lead guitar, Tobias on rhythm guitar, Reed on keyboards, and multi-instrumentalist
Chris Pitman. In 1998, Geffen released an edited single disc version of the
Illusion albums entitled
Use Your Illusion. In November 1999, the label released ''
Live Era '87–'93, a collection of live performances from various concerts during the Appetite for Destruction
and Use Your Illusion'' tours. Former guitarist Slash described the selection of songs of the album as a "very mutual effort", adding that "the live album was one of the easiest projects we all worked on. I didn't actually see Axl, but we communicated via the powers that be."
New lineups and Chinese Democracy (1998–2008) Background of new album A new Guns N' Roses album had reportedly been in the works since 1994, with Rose the only original member still in the band. By August 1999, the band had recorded over 30 songs for the album, which was tentatively entitled
2000 Intentions. In November 1999, during an interview with
Kurt Loder for
MTV, Rose said that he had re-recorded
Appetite for Destruction with the then-new band, apart from two songs which he had replaced with "
Patience" and "
You Could Be Mine". During the interview, Rose announced the title of the upcoming album,
Chinese Democracy. Rose explained: Band manager Doug Goldstein stated in November 1999 that the band had 'almost finished' recording the music, and the album was due out some time in 2000. Later that month, the band released a new song, the industrial styled "
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, Rose's personal guitar teacher. Rose claimed that former members
Duff McKagan and
Matt Sorum had 'failed to see the potential' of the song and had no interest in recording or playing the piece. In March 2000,
avant-garde guitarist Brian Carroll, more commonly referred to as
Buckethead, joined Guns N' Roses as a replacement for Finck. Also in March 2000, drummer Josh Freese left the band. He was replaced by former
Primus drummer
Bryan Mantia, known professionally as Brain. Robin Finck returned to the band in late 2000, to complement Buckethead on lead guitar. With the album nearing completion in mid-2000, producer
Roy Thomas Baker convinced Rose to re-record it, causing further delays.
Title announcement and touring, tour cancellation and member departures In an interview with
Rolling Stone in February 2000, Rose played several songs of the upcoming album to reporters, including "
Chinese Democracy", "Catcher in the Rye", "I.R.S.", "
The Blues", "
There Was a Time" and "Oklahoma". Rose mentioned that part of the delay of the new album was him 'educating himself about the technology that's come to define rock', stating that "it's like from scratch, learning how to work with something, and not wanting it just to be something you did on a computer." Describing why he continued using the Guns N' Roses name, instead of labeling the upcoming album an 'Axl Rose solo album', Rose stated "there were other people in Guns N' Roses before them, you know. I contemplated letting go of that, but it doesn't feel right in any way. I am not the person who chose to try to kill it and walked away. ... Everybody is putting everything they've got into singing and building. Maybe I'm helping steer it to what it should be built like." Former guitarist Slash claimed that he tried to attend a show and was turned away at the door by security. Due to his frustrations with touring, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band in 2002 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, including
Pukkelpop,
Summer Sonic Festival, and
The Carling Weekend. At the
2002 MTV Video Music Awards on August 29, 2002, Guns N' Roses closed the show in a previously unannounced performance, playing "
Welcome to the Jungle", "
Madagascar", and "
Paradise City". In November 2002, the band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized to support
Chinese Democracy, with
CKY and
Mix Master Mike joining. However, the opening show in Vancouver was canceled by the venue when Rose failed to turn up. According to Guns' management, "Axl's flight from L.A. had been delayed by mechanical troubles". A riot ensued. The tour was met with mixed results, some concerts did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as New York City 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.
Greatest Hits and label conflict, lawsuits In September 2003,
Eddie Trunk played a previously unheard track, "I.R.S.", on his radio show, given to him by baseball player
Mike Piazza. The band management heard about the nationwide leak, and obtained a cease and desist order for all stations that had a copy of the track. Mercuriadis rejected the budget claims made by
The New York Times, claiming the sources had not been involved in the project in several years. The album was frequently described as "the most expensive album ever made". In March 2004, since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years, Geffen released Guns N' Roses'
Greatest Hits. The lawsuit was thrown out and the album went triple platinum in the US, eventually going on to be the third-longest-charting album in the
Nielsen SoundScan era. McKagan and Slash also joined Rose in an unsuccessful effort to prevent the release of ''
The Roots of Guns N' Roses''. The band was scheduled to play at
Rock in Rio Lisboa in May 2004. However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel the show. Buckethead reportedly left the band because of the "inability to complete an album or tour", according to his manager. 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 reached No. 49 on the
Radio & Records Active Rock National Airplay chart in the final week of February. In August 2006, Slash and McKagan sued Rose over publishing and songwriting credits, which Rose's lawyer claimed were due to a 'clerical error' while changing publishers.
Lineup changes and resuming tour Following a recommendation from guitar virtuoso
Joe Satriani, guitarist
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal joined Guns N' Roses in 2006, replacing
Buckethead. Thal made his live debut with the band at the
Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 12, 2006, the band's first live show in over three years. Five warm-up shows before a North American tour were held in September 2006. The tour officially commenced on October 24 in Miami. Coinciding with the tour, the song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for
Harley-Davidson in October 2006. Keyboardist Dizzy Reed stated that the release was an accident, with two versions being made—one 'experimental edit' featuring a demo of "Better" and one with "
Paradise City". In November 2006, shows in Portland, Maine were cancelled, with the band claiming that the cancellations were "due to limitations imposed by local fire marshals". Rose later apologized in a statement, stating "We have chosen to take the public heat for these events in order to have another shot at the future today with a new album." In December 2006, Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as the band's manager. On February 23, 2007,
Del James announced that the recording stage of
Chinese Democracy was finished and the band had now moved onto mixing the album. However, this proved that March 6 release date would be impossible to achieve, and the album once again had no scheduled release date. In February 2007, the 'final' version of "
Better" leaked online to positive reviews. 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 "
Don't Cry" (appearing as an instrumental Bumblefoot solo) were played for the first time since the
Use Your Illusion Tour. The tour ended on the twentieth anniversary of
Appetite for Destruction release date, in
Osaka. During this tour, the band featured vocalist 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.
Album release and promotion In December 2007,
Eddie Trunk reported that the album was done and handed over to Geffen Records, but delayed due to issues with the label. The following month, reports that the delays were disagreements between Geffen and Rose on marketing emerged. In February 2008, Rose's manager, Beta Lebeis, debunked Trunk's suggestion and stated the band is "in negotiations" with the record label, and the album had been finished since Christmas 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 stated he was "surprised and very happy" about the announcement, adding, "As some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him." On March 27, 2008, the day after Dr Pepper's announcement, the band members announced that they had hired a new management team, headed by
Irving Azoff and Andy Gould. Amidst industry rumors in April 2008 that a release was coming soon, nine tracks purported to be from
Chinese Democracy were leaked to a website on June 19, 2008, but were quickly removed due to a cease-and-desist letter from the band's label. On July 14, 2008,
Harmonix, in conjunction with
MTV Games, officially announced the release of a new song from
Chinese Democracy. The song, entitled "
Shackler's Revenge", was released through the new game
Rock Band 2. The song "If the World" debuted October 10, 2008, playing in the end credits of the
Ridley Scott film
Body of Lies. On October 22, 2008, after several months of speculation, band management,
Best Buy, and Interscope Geffen A&M Records issued a joint press release confirming that the much-anticipated release of
Chinese Democracy in the US had been scheduled for November 23, 2008, as a Best Buy exclusive. Several days before its official release, the band streamed the entire
Chinese Democracy album on the group's
Myspace page. The album was streamed over three million times, breaking the Myspace record for most streamed album ever.
Chinese Democracy, the band's sixth studio album and its first since 1993's
"The Spaghetti Incident?" was released on November 22, 2008, in Europe and Australia, on November 23, 2008, in North America, and on November 24, 2008, in the United Kingdom. The album's divided reception led to it being included on several publication's year end worst-of lists, as well of best-of lists.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction and Appetite for Democracy (2009–2014) ,
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal,
Richard Fortus,
Axl Rose,
DJ Ashba,
Chris Pitman, and
Tommy Stinson. Drummer
Frank Ferrer is not pictured. On February 6, 2009, Rose gave his first interview in nine years when he sat down with
Billboard Jonathan Cohen. In June 2009, it was reported that manager
Irving Azoff had been "fired, then re-hired, then fired". A year later, Azoff's company Front Line Management sued Rose, claiming he "violated an oral agreement to pay 15% of earnings, or nearly $2 million, from a lucrative concert tour" and seeking $1.87 million in unpaid fees. Rose filed a $5 million counter-lawsuit against Azoff, saying that Azoff sabotaged sales of Guns N' Roses' comeback album, attempted to force Rose to reunite with his estranged former bandmates, and filed suit for "commissions he didn't earn and had no right to receive". Several years later, Guns N' Roses' management, led by Rose's former personal assistant Beta Lebeis and her family, stated that previous tensions led to an ultimatum of "no more managers". Guns N' Roses headlined the Friday night at
Reading Festival 2010 and closed
Leeds Festival two days later. Guns N' Roses was 58 minutes late coming on to the stage, and because of a curfew issued by Reading Council the band's set ended at midnight. Rose orchestrated fan frustration toward the organizers, citing the strict curfew. Further late showings caused issues; during a concert on September 1, 2010, in Dublin, the band was over an hour late arriving on stage. Rose stopped the band in the middle of the second song, "
Welcome to the Jungle", after multiple bottles were thrown on stage to warn the crowd. The band returned to the stage an hour later to finish the show. Former bassist Duff McKagan joined the band on stage for the first time since leaving the band on October 14, 2010, at
The O2 Arena, in London, England. He performed four songs with the group: "You Could Be Mine", "Nice Boys", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door", and "Patience". The appearance was said to be a spur-of-the-moment decision, as he and Rose happened to be staying in the same hotel. Rose told the audience, "There was this guy at the end of my hallway playing all this loud music and shit. What the fuck? Oh—it's Duff!". Guns N' Roses performed at
Rock in Rio 4 on October 2, 2011, during heavy rain, playing "
Estranged" for the first time since 1993. Guitarist
Bumblefoot stated that due to the conditions, it was the "worst concert he's ever been a part of". Two months later, during a performance in Nashville, Tennessee, "
Civil War" also made a return after an eighteen-year absence. On November 10, 2011, Rose gave his first TV interview in years to
Eddie Trunk,
Don Jamieson and
Jim Florentine of
That Metal Show, discussing his whole career and the band's future. Izzy Stradlin joined the band for a surprise performance at a wedding in
Saint-Tropez, France, in July 2012. Also in July 2012, the band toured
Israel for the first time since 1992.
NME reported that year that the band's tour security said they had been instructed by Guns N' Roses' management that anyone wearing a Slash T-shirt not be allowed into the tour venue.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction On April 14, 2012, Guns N' Roses were inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Slash, McKagan, Adler, Sorum and Clarke reunited for the induction. Clarke, who was not inducted, performed at the request of Sorum. The band performed "
Mr. Brownstone", "
Sweet Child o' Mine", and "
Paradise City", with
Alter Bridge and
Myles Kennedy on lead vocals. Rose did not attend and had asked not to be inducted, writing in an open letter that the Hall of Fame "doesn't appear to be somewhere I'm actually wanted or respected". Stradlin and Reed also declined to attend the induction. At the ceremony, the crowd booed Rose's name and chanted "Fuck Axl".
Up Close and Personal and Appetite for Democracy tours In early 2012, the band announced the upcoming
Up Close and Personal Tour, with shows in the United States and Europe. The shows themselves varied considerably in comparison to the previous Chinese Democracy Tour. All of the North American shows took place in smaller-scale clubs, not large arenas or stadiums. All pyrotechnics were removed from the shows. On November 21, 2012, the band's performance in Vegas was taped in
3D and was screened across theaters in 2014 before being released as
Appetite for Democracy 3D on July 1, 2014. In October 2012, Guns N' Roses performed an acoustic set at
Neil Young's
Bridge School Benefit show. The performance was widely panned by critics, and Rose claimed an onset of
strep throat hampered his vocals. The band launched a South American tour in early 2014, including shows in Brazil and Portugal. For several shows, former bassist Duff McKagan rejoined the band to fill in for Stinson, who had previous commitments to touring with
the Replacements. The group headlined the
Revolver Golden Gods awards show, with McKagan on bass, on April 24, 2014. During the ceremony, Rose was awarded the
Ronnie James Dio lifetime achievement award. From May 21 to June 7, 2014, the band returned to Las Vegas for its second residency at The Joint, titled
No Trickery! An Evening of Destruction.
Progress on a follow-up to Chinese Democracy 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. While appearing on various fan message boards in December 2008, Rose stated several working titles of songs for a possible future album. Former drummer
Brain mentioned working on a '
club remix' of "
Shackler's Revenge", stating that Rose planned to put out a remix album of songs from
Chinese Democracy. In October 2012, Rose said, "All the guys are writing, and we recorded a lot of songs over the years. We'll figure out what we feel best about". In August 2013, a new song entitled "Going Down" was leaked online.
Spin described it as "a country-tinged, mid-tempo lighter-raiser with lyrics about how "you've got nothin' good to say / Keep your mouth shut." In an interview in June 2014, Rose commented on upcoming plans:
Slash and McKagan rejoin, tour and future (2015–present) On July 27, 2015, guitarist
DJ Ashba left the band, citing his commitments to his family and his 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 had left the band after the 2014 tour. No official announcement from Thal or the band was made. Tommy Stinson then left the band, citing personal reasons making him unavailable to tour. 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 were rejoining the band. The Coachella festival confirmed via press release that McKagan and Slash were rejoining.
Not in This Lifetime... Tour On March 25, 2016, the band announced the
Not in This Lifetime... Tour. The tour's name was a reference to a 2012 interview in which Rose, when asked about when a potential reunion would happen, responded "not in this lifetime". A previously unannounced warmup gig at the
Troubadour in Los Angeles took place on April 1, 2016.
Melissa Reese replaced Chris Pitman as the second keyboardist after Pitman quit. During the show at the Troubadour, Rose fell off a monitor and broke his foot. Rose was given
Dave Grohl's customized throne that Grohl had used to perform when he broke his leg at a concert. 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. At the performance at the first weekend of Coachella,
AC/DC guitarist
Angus Young joined the band on stage (Rose was set to join AC/DC as a touring vocalist). During the band's show of July 6, 2016, in Cincinnati, former drummer
Steven Adler joined the band on drums for "Out ta Get Me" and "My Michelle". It was the first time since 1990 that Adler performed with the group. Adler would later join the band at shows in Nashville, Los Angeles, and
Buenos Aires. The tour featured additional guest performers, including
Sebastian Bach, more appearances by Angus Young,
Angry Anderson,
P!nk,
Billy Gibbons and
Dave Grohl. In November 2017, Guns N' Roses was announced as the headline act at the UK
Download Festival in June 2018. In addition, they won Top Tour/Top Draw at the 2017
Billboard Touring Awards. The next year, they were nominated again for Top Rock Tour and Top Touring artist. They also headlined the 2018
Graspop Metal Meeting, alongside
Iron Maiden and
Marilyn Manson. The tour was a financial success, grossing over $480 million by December 2017 and at that time was listed as the
fourth highest-grossing concert tour of all-time. By the end of the tour in December 2018, the tour had grossed $563.3 million, making it the then second-highest-grossing tour, behind
U2's
U2 360° Tour.
Appetite for Destruction remaster On April 30, 2018, billboards in several large cities, as well as a website (GNR.FM), were spotted with the tagline "Destruction Is Coming". The website was updated with a countdown clock to May 4, 2018, and a snippet of the song "
Shadow of Your Love" playing. Journalist Mitch Lafon stated the campaign was for a deluxe edition of
Appetite for Destruction. A video announcement was inadvertently released a day early, detailing the "Appetite for Destruction: Locked N' Loaded" edition. The boxed set includes 73 songs on four CDs (49 of which were previously unreleased), seven 12-inch 180-gram LPs, remastered versions of
Appetite, an EP of B-sides, a 96-page book with unreleased photos, 12 lithographs, and assorted replica memorabilia. "Shadow of Your Love" was released as a single on May 4, 2018, the band's first single in almost a decade. To promote the release, a previously unseen music video for "
It's So Easy" was released on
Apple Music, as well as several promotional singles. The box set was released on June 29, 2018, to universal critical acclaim.
Continued touring, new recordings and Use Your Illusion remaster Rose discussed Slash and McKagan rejoining in a June 2016 interview, stating "It was always looked at as a possibility, but it never seemed right or felt right". During the interview, Rose also reiterated his intention to release new Guns N' Roses music in the future. Slash later commented on the tour, telling
Aerosmith's
Joey Kramer in an interview with
WZLX that "We all were pretty positive (the reunion) would never happen, so it's still sort of blowing our minds. ... But everybody's really getting along great and I think everybody's come a long way, and it's all cool." Since 2017, various band members continued to discuss plans to release a new Guns N' Roses album. In 2020, the band announced a
North American stadium tour, as well as several festival dates, billed as a new tour instead of a continuation of the Not in This Lifetime... Tour. In September 2020, the band's
Greatest Hits album was re-released (with "Shadow of Your Love" added), including a vinyl pressing for the first time. In June 2021, Guns N' Roses announced they would return to the road with the We're F'n' Back Tour, touring the United States from July to October. The tour was later announced to extend into 2022 with legs in Europe, Latin America, and Oceania. On August 6, 2021, after debuting the song onstage at Fenway Park a few days earlier, the band released the single "
Absurd", their first new material released since 2008. On September 24, another single, "
Hard Skool", was released. Both singles are reworkings of songs from the
Chinese Democracy sessions. joined the band in 2025. Later in 2021, Slash stated that the band had been reworking
Chinese-era songs for future release. In 2022, he further confirmed that the band was working on more new songs that might be compiled later, stating "There's new Guns material coming out as we speak, and we'll probably keep putting it out until the entire record's worth of stuff is done". He later said that two more of these singles would probably be released by June. On September 20, 2022, the band announced a remastered deluxe box set of the two
Illusion albums,
Use Your Illusion (Super Deluxe Edition), released November 11, 2022. The box set features both albums remastered, alongside two live concerts from 1991 (New York) and 1992 (Las Vegas), a blu-ray of the New York concert, photographs & memorabilia. The box set was preceded with a live version of "You Could Be Mine" as the lead single. Guns N' Roses continued touring with the
Guns N' Roses 2023 Tour. On June 24, 2023, the band headlined
Glastonbury Festival for the first time. The performance garnered mixed reviews – with some publications calling it one of the worst headlining sets in festival history – prompting the band to respond, claiming technical difficulties resulted in a poor
mix. On August 18, 2023, the band released a new single, the piano-driven song "
Perhaps". The song's '
R-side' "
The General" was released digitally and on the Perhaps vinyl on December 8, 2023.
Ferrer exits, Isaac Carpenter joins In December 2024, the band announced the "
Because What You Want & What You Get Are Two Completely Different Things Tour" scheduled for 2025. On March 19, 2025, longtime drummer
Frank Ferrer departed from Guns N' Roses. A day later, on March 20, the band announced that
Isaac Carpenter was the new drummer. On July 5, 2025, the band performed several
Black Sabbath covers at the
Back to the Beginning farewell show. In October 2025, a remastered version of ''
Live Era '87–'93'' was announced, arriving on vinyl on November 21. On November 24, 2025, the band announced a 2026 world tour, as well as the pending release of two new songs on December 4: "
Nothin'" and "
Atlas". On March 27, 2026, the band announced that Melissa Reese would not be joining them on tour "due to unforeseen personal reasons". == Legacy, style, influence, and controversies ==