Guns N Roses Caricature

Guns N’ Roses Caricature, shown here with lead vocalist Axl Rose and lead guitarist Slash (with his 1959 Les Paul Tobacco Sunburst) in concert circa 1991. The guitar was originally owned by Joe Perry.

Guns N’ Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985 comprised of Rose, Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler.

Slash (real name: Saul Hudson) was born in Hampstead, London and given the nickname “Slash” by actor Seymour Cassel, because he was “always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another”.

Guns N’ Roses’ debut album, “Appetite for Destruction” (1987), reached number one on the Billboard 200 a year after its release, on the strength of “Sweet Child o’ Mine”, the band’s only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the U.S., “Welcome To The Jungle” was issued as the album’s first single, with an accompanying music video. The song, written in Seattle, was about Los Angeles. 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. 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!”

Famous hits: “Welcome To The Jungle”, “Sweet Child o’ Mine, “Patience”, “Paradise City”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, “Civil War”, “You Could Be Mine”, “November Rain”, and “Live And Let Die” to name a few.

The band’s classic lineup, along with later members Reed and drummer Matt Sorum, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, its first year of eligibility. Guns N’ Roses have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them the 41st bestselling artist of all time.