Formation and Guns N' Roses (1983–1985) L.A. Guns were first formed in 1983 by guitarist
Tracii Guns and drummer
Rob Gardner. The first lineup included singer Mike Jagosz, bassist
Ole Beich and Gardner. Guns, Gardner and Jagosz met at
Fairfax High School and previously played in a band called Pyrrhus with bassist
Dani Tull. This lineup recorded the band's debut EP, ''
Collector's Edition No. 1'', before Jagosz was replaced by
Axl Rose. Following the breakup of Hollywood Rose, in 1984, singer Rose joined L.A. Guns. However, Hollywood Rose reunited, briefly, with Rose, Stradlin, Weber and Steve Darrow returning while L.A. Guns drummer Gardner also joined the group. Weber, who left to move to
New York City, was soon replaced by Tracii Guns. The group changed their name to Guns N' Roses (combining the names of L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose) with the lineup composed of Axl Rose, Tracii Guns, Izzy Stradlin, Ole Beich and Rob Gardner. Beich was eventually replaced by
Duff McKagan while Guns left the group
Reformation and mainstream success (1985–1992) Later, in 1986, Guns reformed L.A. Guns with Mick Cripps, Paul Black, Nickey Alexander and Robert Stoddard, former
The Dogs D'Amour singer, briefly became guitarist for the group, Initially, the group were to be called Faster Pussycat (later the name of
another band; several of that band's members over the years were also in L.A. Guns) while
Kelly Nickels (formerly of
Faster Pussycat) was added to the lineup. (with Riley credited as L.A. Guns' drummer on the album's liner notes After briefly touring in support of the album, the group returned to the studio to record their new album Although the group (Lewis, Guns, Cripps, Nickels and Riley) wrote the album's material, and the
Billboard Hot 100 the group put together by Alan Kovac. and achieved some moderate success with the single "All the Way from Memphis", before disbanding. Regrouping in the mid-1990s with drummer Michael Gersema, L.A. Guns recorded and released their fourth album, titled
Vicious Circle, in 1994 with the album failing to chart. It was their weakest selling album to date and Cripps departed the group for the recording of the
Wasted EP released in 1998 The group released the album, titled
Shrinking Violet, in 1999 through Perris Records and bassist Muddy. Produced by Gilby Clarke, with
Mötley Crüe bassist
Nikki Sixx. L.A. Guns bassist Hamilton was briefly involved with this group (as keyboardist), releasing the record, titled
Waking the Dead, the same year to positive reviews. That June, the group began touring with
Warrant,
Ratt,
FireHouse and
Dokken as part of the Rock Fest tour. followings Guns departure from the group in October in order to concentrate on his
project with Sixx, though he would argue he never left.
Two L.A. Guns Lineups Phil Lewis' L.A. Guns (2002–2012) Despite the departure of Guns, the group continued and toured in support of
Waking the Dead as the sole guitarist filling the vacancies. Commenting on Blades' addition to the lineup, Lewis stated that "Stacey really is a virtuoso type of guy and player. It was really fortunate that we found him and that he's another Hollywood guy. I've read reviews where they called him a Tracii [Guns] clone, but he's not. He is definitely his own man." In a 2006 interview, singer Lewis stated that he would have preferred releasing the album on a larger label while he also likened the album to a demo. In September of the same year, the group released the live album
Loud and Dangerous: Live from Hollywood before going on to play a selection of shows in California as well as one date supporting Ratt in Pennsylvania. In January 2007, the group announced a string of US tour dates in support of
Tales from the Strip. In March, along with more tour dates, L.A. Guns announced the departure of bassist Hamilton who was subsequently replaced by
Scott Griffin. Further tour dates were announced to take place in Australia, taking place in October, as well as dates in Europe supporting
Hanoi Rocks, taking place in November. They soon announced that the European dates were postponed until 2008, but Hanoi Rocks issued a statement saying that the tour with L.A. Guns supporting "was never officially approved" by the group. On July 5, 2009, bassist Griffin departed the group and was replaced by
Kenny Kweens (formerly of
Beautiful Creatures). In January 2011, Kweens departed the band, with Griffin returning to the lineup. On March 7, 2012, the band announced a new studio album, titled
Hollywood Forever, which was released on June 5 that year.
Tracii Guns' L.A. Guns (2006–2012) Following his decision to put Brides of Destruction on hiatus, in 2006, former L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns formed The Tracii Guns Band with former L.A. Guns members Paul Black and Nickey Alexander as well as Brides of Destruction live bassist
Jeremy Guns. The group announced a tour of the US with plans to perform songs from L.A. Guns, Brides of Destruction and Tracii Guns' solo material Previously, in 2005, Black released the demos, titled
Black List, recorded during his time with L.A. Guns in the '80s. In October of the same year, during the 20-year anniversary party for Cathouse Club, in
Hollywood, Phil Lewis joined Tracii Guns' L.A. Guns onstage, after being invited by singer Paul Black, Despite Black's hopes that this would "relieve the tension between the two line-ups", In 2007, Alexander would be replaced by drummer
Chad Stewart with the group playing shows in South America, Europe as well as numerous tours of the US. In December, the Tracii Guns version of the band's dressing room was robbed during a show at
McGuffy's in
Dayton, Ohio. Items taken included wallets, "a Blackberry and a bottle of
Jack Daniels whiskey." The thief was later caught with the items returned to the band. Guns announced, in January 2008, that the group were to record a new album stating that they were "heading up to Canada in April/May to record the new stuff in a very secluded location so we have no distractions and can actually get it done." They announced dates in the US and South America in February; however, they announced, in March, the South American tour was postponed with them beginning recording on their new album, tentatively titled
Pretty in Black, with producer
Steve Thompson. The same month, they were confirmed as one of the acts of the second
Rocklahoma festival. After being invited by bassist Jeremy Guns, singer
Marty Casey, of
Lovehammers, joined the group, who had signed a deal with Alexus Records, in the studio co-writing material. By July, the group had completed the new album with Casey They also recorded a pilot for
VH1 which, at that point, was being shopped to different networks. Also announced was that the "name of the band will not be L.A. Guns for this TV show and album, but we will do some nostalgia shows and festivals as L.A. Guns." The group toured through 2008 and 2009; however, Casey returned to Lovehammers to record and release their new album
Heavy Crown in 2009. While the group waited for a release date for their new album, as well as deciding on a new name for the group, former L.A. Guns singer Jizzy Pearl returned to group while guitarist Alec Bauer departed the band. In February 2010, L.A. Guns announced they had signed a deal with
Steve Vai's label,
Favored Nations, The band announced a one-off unplugged event, taking place at the
Hotel Café in Los Angeles, California, in February 2011 featuring the band, minus Jeremy Guns, joined by former L.A. Guns members Muddy and
Mick Cripps, along with
Danny Nordahl and Doni Gray. By March, both Jeremy and Stewart had departed the band. Although Nordahl temporarily replaced Jeremy while Stewart still remained in the lineup, both soon rejoined
Faster Pussycat. It was later confirmed that Jeremy returned to the lineup, with Doni Gray joining as their new drummer. By September, it was announced that Pearl had departed the band, on good terms, with former
Rock Star: Supernova finalist
Dilana joining in his place. Session musician
Eric Grossman was also announced as the replacement for Jeremy. But after being in the band for a mere 71 days, Dilana would depart from the band and be replaced by Tony West from Blacklist Union. Former bassist for The Whisky Rebellion, Tim Sterling, reported that upon seeing Dilana do a soundcheck with L.A. Guns, it was "the most arrogant, egotistical behavior I've ever seen from a performer towards their band and crew." However, West's tenure in the group was also short-lived, as he was replaced in January 2012 by
Scott Foster Harris according to the L.A. Guns official Facebook site. Later in 2012, it was announced that Tracii Guns' L.A. Guns would be playing their farewell tour Europe and that they then - in the same lineup - would begin performing under the name '''Tracii Guns' League of Gentlemen'''.
Back to one L.A. Guns lineup (2012–2015) Tracii Guns'
League of Gentleman rebranding of his version of the group in 2012 left only the Phil Lewis-led group performing under the L.A. Guns moniker. On December 12th of that year, guitarist Stacey Blades announced his departure from L.A. Guns, with
Frank Wilsey joining the band as its new guitarist five days later. On January 16, L.A. Guns announced a new video DVD,
Live in Concert, including video of the band's performance at the M3 Rock Festival in May 2012, three music videos and a documentary about the making of
Hollywood Forever. On January 17, 2013, it was announced that Wilsey had left the band; he was replaced by Michael Grant from
Endeverafter. Meanwhile, on March 9, 2014, the group's original singer Michael Jagosz died at aged 48. In September 2014, the band revealed that Griffin had departed and Kweens had returned.
Reunion between Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis / Steve Riley and Kelly Nickels version of L.A. Guns (2016–present) On May 31, 2016, it was announced that
Phil Lewis and
Tracii Guns would perform together for the first time in 14 years under the name "L.A. Guns' Phil Lewis + Tracii Guns" for a handful of shows, including three shows in
South America in July, Hair Nation Rock Fest in
Irvine on September 17 and Rock N Skull Fest in
Joliet, Illinois on October 27. This line-up of L.A. Guns consisted of Lewis and Guns along with bassist Johnny Martin (who had previously been a member of Tracii Guns' version of the band) and drummer Shane Fitzgibbon, along with Michael Grant from the Lewis/Steve Riley line-up touring with the band as second guitarist. In September 2016,
LA Weekly reported that Lewis and Guns plan to record a new album together under the L.A. Guns name for
Frontiers Records, originally intended for a June 2017 release. The album was supported by a world tour, which kicked off with two shows at the
Whisky a Go Go in
West Hollywood in March 2017. In December 2016, Lewis announced he was leaving L.A. Guns, noting "With a heavy heart I have to inform you that as of January 1, 2017 I will no longer be a member of this line up. I feel I have gone as far as I can in this band, and unless I get out and focus on myself and something new that has a future, I'm going to stagnate". It was later clarified that Lewis was in fact merely leaving what was then the only
official lineup of L.A. Guns (with Steve Riley) to continue fronting Tracii Guns' group, who until earlier that year had still been performing under the "Tracii Guns' League of Gentleman" moniker. However, given that they intended to release their upcoming album under the "L.A. Guns" name themselves, this Guns/Lewis lineup, which also included Michael Grant from Riley's version, began branding themselves as a new version of L.A. Guns. This situation meant that the L.A. Guns name was once again split into two factions, as Steve Riley had no plans to dissolve his incarnation, which had already been scheduled to play the M3 Rock Festival in Maryland, in May 2019. It was announced that the Lewis/Guns version L.A. Guns would be entering the studio to record a new album called
The Missing Peace, which was released on October 13, 2017. The Tracii Guns version announced that they would tour Australia and New Zealand in 2018. On March 7, 2018, it was announced that guitarist Michael Grant left L.A. Guns to pursue other interests including his solo project, Michael Grant and the Assassins. Grant later revealed that he was fired from the band and did not voluntarily leave. Grant was replaced by Enuff Z'Nuff guitarist Johnny Monaco, but was later replaced by former bassist Hamilton in June. By September, he too was replaced by
Faster Pussycat lead guitarist
Ace Von Johnson. In July 2018, L.A. Guns announced their 12th studio album,
The Devil You Know, released in March 2019. In January 2020, Guns and Lewis sued Riley over the use of the L.A. Guns name. On April 23, 2021, they settled this dispute in court with Guns and Lewis retaining the L.A. Guns name, while Riley was made to change his versions to Riley's L.A. Guns. Meanwhile, in the interim, Riley's L.A. Guns, by that point featuring returning bassist Kelly Nickels from the classic line-up and still branded simply as "L.A. Guns", released their first single, called "Crawl", on April 20, 2020. This was followed by a studio album,
Renegades, released on November 13, 2020 (again, before the name change had taken effect). Upon the verdict from the lawsuit in April 2021, this version of the band officially changed its name to Riley's L.A. Guns, complete with a new logo indicating the name change. Riley died on October 24, 2023, after suffering from various health issues. At the time of his death, Riley's L.A. Guns had completed work on their second album,
The Dark Horse, which was released on January 22, 2024, in honor of what would have been Riley's 68th birthday. L.A. Guns (feat. Tracii Guns and Phil Lewis) released a new single, "Let You Down", on May 6, 2020. It was released as the first single from their then-upcoming fourteenth studio album,
Checkered Past, which was released on November 12, 2021, and featured producer Adam Hamilton on drums. In May 2022, it was announced that Shawn Duncan had replaced Shane Fitzgibbon as their drummer. The following month, guitarist Ace Von Johnson revealed that L.A. Guns had been working on new material for their next studio album. The resulting album,
Black Diamonds, was released on April 14, 2023. L.A. Guns' sixteenth studio album,
Leopard Skin, was released on April 4, 2025. On February 28, 2025, it was announced that Riley's version of L.A. Guns had disbanded. ==Band members==