Guns 'n' Roses History Project

[coolgirlkdd]

ok i need help on this history project im doing,and i need all the information i can get from when they first start out to the very end please
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Too many times I've seen this, rip a whole into our friendship... 4 words to choke apon
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[fallenangel]

Oh... my... god. So you have [i]no[/i] direction at all? Just a straight biography? Do you need individual member backgrounds, too, or just the band itself?

Pick through this. I'll try to write in chronological order, but some will probably be off.

Axl was born William Bruce Rose on Feb 6. 1962 in Indiana. His father, an alcoholic accused of sexually abusing him, skipped out when he was little, and his mother remarried (making him William Bruce Bailey, his stepfather is accused of physically abusing him). He was heavily involved in the church and sang with the choir. He met Izzy (then called Jeff Isbell) when he was a teenager, and they bonded over a love of rock. Izzy left for LA in the early 80s to take a shot at being in a band (joined a group called Naughty Women as their drummer), and Axl followed him.

Meanwhile, Duff Mckagan was born Michael McKagan on Feb 5th, 1964 (youngest of 7) in Seattle, Washington. He got the nickname "Duff" from his parents when he was 2. He played with a variety of punk groups in Seattle, often on drums, until heading to LA in 1985 and becoming a bassist. Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23rd, 1965, in Stoke-On-Trent, England. He moved to LA in 1976 and ran into Steve Adler when he was 14. Together they later formed Road Crew and put an ad in the papers, to which Duff responded.

Upon arriving in LA, Axl wanted to mix the two scenes that were happening at the time, punk and glam. After a few different combinations, Axl, Izzy, and Chris Weber formed Rose (originally called A.X.L.), later called Hollywood Rose. They played dates around LA before breaking up in 1984 after a gig where Slash's band at the time, Black Sheep, were opening. They reunite later with Tracii Guns replacing Chris. Hollywood Rose's demo was recently released.

In March of 1985, the lineup is Axl, Izzy, Tracii Guns, Ole Beich and Rob Gardner. Duff joins and replaces Beich. In June, the original lineup of Gn'R is formed, a mix of Hollywood Rose and Road Crew. Slash doesn't want a second guitarist, but Axl refuses to join if Izzy can't join as well. With Steve Adler on drums, the lineup is born.

After only rehearsing for a few days, they attempted a tour. Nicknamed the "Hell Tour", they attempted to drive to Seattle, but their car broke down 100 down the road. When they finally got there by hitchhiking, most of the shows had been cancelled, and the others were poorly attended. Nobody cared about them. 13 people saw the first show. They continue to play shows around LA for the rest of 1985 and begin to work up a buzz from their unique blend of punk, metal, and glam. Plus one fuck of a show.

In August of '86, they get a manager (Alan Niven). Aerosmith's manager Tim Collins was interested until they ordered drinks on his room bill. By December, they were finished recording Appetite For Destruction. That month Geffen releases 10,000 copies of a four song EP called "Live Like a Suicide" on Gn'R's Uzi Suicide label.

June of '87, they make their European debut, with less than positive results. The crowd was drunk, and the press hyped up their debauchery. The last show went better, and Appetite For Destruction was released in the US on July 21st, 1987. The original cover art was a painting by Robert Williams, depicting a rape scene, and was censored by the label. It became a centerfold in the booklet, and Axl's cross tattoo on his right forearm became the new cover.

In October, Gn'R were on Headbanger's Ball on mtv. As a joke, they were told to tear down the set...but the band actually did it. In November, they tour with Motley Crue. In December, they open for Alice Cooper.

In '88, their followup to AFD was Gn'R Lies. Featuring the popular song "Patience", it also included their most controversial song, "One In A Million". Written about specific incidents in his life, Axl even includes a disclaimer on the album cover about the lyrics. The line "Police n' niggers get outta my way" caused an uproar, and Axl tried to explain numerous times. Axl was also accused of being homophobic due to the line "immigrants and faggots". Nevertheless, any press is good press, and the controversy continued to fuel their reputation.

However, Lies didn't nearly compare to the success of AFD. In 1990, Steve "left" the band due to drug abuse, which he later sued the band a couple years later, claiming they were responsible for his addiction. Knowing it would take something big to follow the success of their debut, Axl decided to release two albums at the same time. Use Your Illusion I and II were released in 1991.

The Illusion albums were a drastic evolution in the sound of Gn'R, mostly due to a change in Axl's writing. Where AFD was inspired by his life on the streets, he was no longer influenced by that by the time UYI came around. Instead, both albums have a distinctly different sound than any other. There was also a different look to their image, with big budget videos and complex musical arrangements. This caused tension between the members who felt they were losing their direction.

Internal problems and a hate of touring drove Izzy out of the band in '91, and he was replaced by Gilby Clarke. By the time UYI was recorded, Matt Sorum had taken over on drums. The following tour was a success, although the other band members remained frustrated over the addition of background singers, orchestras, and things they felt were not what they'd set out to accomplish with their music. Axl's frequent tantrums and power trips didn't help.

Before a major festival show, Axl confronted Duff and Slash and demanded the rights to the Gn'R name, or else he wouldn't perform. Minutes from showtime and desperate for him to go on, they agreed. After that moment, Axl owned all rights to the name "Guns N' Roses".

As early as the days of UYI, plans were being made for a punk cover album, paying tribute to all the groups who had inspired them in the beginning. Duff began to take on more and more singing responsibilities, and he continued to do so on their next release, the lackluster Spaghetti Incident in '93. Lacking anything truly unique, it was a failure. Few of the songs were much better, or much different even, than the originals, and the band had lost the attitude that made them so popular in the beginning. Problems between members were tearing them apart, finally driving Slash out of the band in '94. Duff soon quit as well.

Axl replaced them with a new lineup, leaving him as the only remaining original member, but owner of the name. The new Guns N' Roses began work on Chinese Democracy, an album yet to be released. The songs have been performed live, and tracklists are released every now and then, but no official release has ever happened. The release date continues to be pushed back.

The other members of Gn'R attempted a variety of solo projects. Slash's Snakepit, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds, and Duff's independent projects. In '94, Duff was hospitalized and told he had to stop drinking immediately or his pancreas would lead to his death. After immediate surgery, he cleaned himself up by starting martial arts training. He married his current wife Susan and had two daughters with her. Slash also married and had a child. Izzy remains in Indiana with his family, embarking on a solo project every few years.

Steve suffered a variety of medical problems due to his heavy drug abuse, including a stroke. His speech has improved, but he still slurs. He explained his perspective of the split in 2001.[i] "I went totally off, I was thrown out of the band because they said I was doing heroin, but everyone was, Doug Goldstein (band manager) took me to this doctor, the doc gave me this thing called an opiate blocker, and it works by making you violently sick if you take any opiates. You can absolutely not take it if you have any trace of heroin in your system, because you can die. Now I did have, they put this injection in my buttocks and I have never felt pain like that, I can still remember it now, I was so sick, I will never forget that needle in my ass. I was sick for 6 weeks, and during that time, Slash called up and said that they were in the studio recording Civil War, and I had to get down there. I said s**t, man, I can't, he said, but we can't waste the money, so I got up and went and I was so weak and sick that I had to play the song 25 times if not more, Slash and Duff got fucked up, I was not, but I was so sick. I never said nothing bad, I love those guys, Guns n' Roses was always the five of us. This was something that Axl wanted, there was a whole plan to get rid of me."[/i]

Last year, Slash, Duff and Matt reunited and began searching for a singer for their new project, Velvet Revolver (a slang term for cock, by the way). They were sent thousands of tapes from hopefulls around the world but found no one that fit what they were looking for. Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland was coming off another heroin issue and was currently available. They invited him to try out. Often late, and sometimes not showing up for rehearsal at all, they recognized exactly what they were looking for in Scott. Although he gave them a few scares by either not showing up, or arriving late to their first performance in front of the industry reps, he pulled through, and they got a contract.

However, it was obvious they couldn't make it with the risk of Scott returning to heroin. Duff refused to give up on him and got Scott into a program that taught the same methods he'd used to beat his alcohol addiction. Scott joined the program and has been maintaining his sobriety since. Their debut, Contraband, went platinum and was critically acclaimed and loved by fans of Gn'R and STP alike.

Steven Adler began his own project, Adler's Appetite, and toured with other band members such as Brent Muscat (Faster Pussycat) and Tracii Guns (LA Guns).

Axl remains more or less in hiding, supposedly still perfecting Chinese Democracy. Buckethead has left the group.

Sorry for any typos. :wacko: If you need more, let me know what aspect...
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"I care about people as much as I care about lawn furniture" - Dexter/Michael C. Hall

[coolgirlkdd]

oh thank you fallen ^^. i owe you one...oh and im doing it on the whole group from how they started out,howw their first albumn came along and how it all ended and the little thins in some what. how g n r changed music history.
_________________
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Too many times I've seen this, rip a whole into our friendship... 4 words to choke apon
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[fallenangel]

Ah, alrighty then. Think I covered most of that. ^_^
_________________
"I care about people as much as I care about lawn furniture" - Dexter/Michael C. Hall