THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT GUNS N' ROSES

THE BAND HAS CHANGED THEIR ORIGINAL LINE-UP

TWENTY-TWO TIMES SINCE THEY STARTED OUT

THE BAND WAS FORMED BY ROSE’S BAND, HOLLYWOOD

ROSE, AND TRACII GUNS’S BAND, L.A. GUNS.

THE NAME GUNS N’ ROSES FORMED BY

COMBINING THE TWO NAMES

SOME OF THE NAMES AXL CONSIDERED FOR THE BAND

INCLUDED HEADS OF AMAZON AND AIDS. THANK GOD

HE EVENTUALLY LIKED THE NAME GUNS N’ ROSES BEST

AFTER SEVERAL LINE-UP CHANGES THE BAND

CONSISTED OF AXL ROSE, LEAD GUITARIST SLASH,

RHYTHM GUITARIST IZZY STRADLIN, BASSIST

DUFF MCKAGAN, AND DRUMMER STEVEN ADLER.

THE LINE-UP DEBUTED AT THE TROUBADOUR AND

PROCEEDED TO PLAY THE L.A. CLUB CIRCUIT,

EVENTUALLY BUILDING UP A DEVOTED FAN CLUB

THE BAND’S FIRST TOUR, THE HELL TOUR, WAS

FITTINGLY NAMED. TWO HOURS NORTH OF FRESNO,

THE BAND’S 1977 OLDSMOBILE (PLUS U-HAUL)

GAVE OUT AND LEFT THEM HITCHHIKING FOR

FORTY HOURS TO SEATTLE, CARRYING ONLY THEIR

GUITARS. THEY MISSED SEVERAL SHOWS AND

PLAYED ON BORROWED AMPS WHEN THEY

FINALLY ARRIVED

WHILE RETURNING TO LOS ANGELES AFTER THEIR

FIRST TOUR THE BAND HAD A TERRIBLE ACCIDENT

THAT ALMOST ENDED THEIR CAREERS AND LIVES.

WHILE PILED INTO DUFF MCKAGAN’S TOYOTA

CELICA, ANOTHER CAR TRAVELING 60 MPH

BROADSIDED THEM AT AN INTERSECTION,

MIRACULOUSLY LEAVING DRUMMER STEVEN ADLER

WITH ONLY A BROKEN ANKLE

BACK IN 1986, GUNS N’ ROSES BACKED UP ONE OF

THEIR MAIN INFLUENCES AND IDOLS ALICE COOPER

AT THE ARLINGTON THEATRE IN SANTA BARBARA,

BUT THEY HAD TO PLAY WITHOUT AXL. THE SINGER

WAS REFUSED ENTRY TO THE SHOW BECAUSE HIS

NAME WASN’T ON THE ARTIST LIST

EARLY IN THEIR CAREER, THE BAND LIVED IN A SMALL

APARTMENT IN LOS ANGELES THAT THEY CALLED

HELL HOUSE BECAUSE OF THE ALCOHOL, DRUGS,

GIRLS, AND ALL MANNER OF SIN THAT OCCURRED THERE

DURING THE RECORDING OF “IT’S SO EASY” FOR

APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION, DAVID BOWIE (WHO

DATED SLASH’S MOTHER WHEN SLASH WAS STILL

YOUNG) VISITED THE BAND AND FLIRTED WITH

ERIN EVERLY, AXL’S MODEL GIRLFRIEND AT THE

TIME. IMMEDIATELY, ROSE WENT AFTER BOWIE

AND PUNCHED HIM. EVENTUALLY THEY RESOLVED

THE MISUNDERSTANDING AND WENT OUT DRINKING

AT THE CHINA CLUB