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Guns N' Roses are an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, have gone through numerous line-up changes and controversy since their formation. Guns N' Roses have released five studio albums, two EPs, one live album, and three music video DVDs during its career. The band is currently working on the infamous album Chinese Democracy, which has been in production for over a decade. Once released, the album will be the first original recording from Guns N' Roses since the 1991 releases of Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

Guns N' Roses have sold an estimated 90 million albums worldwide, including 39 million in the United States. The band's 1987 major label debut album, entitled Appetite for Destruction, has sold 27 million copies worldwide and reached number one on the United States Billboard 200. In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child o' Mine" which reached number one. 1991's Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone.

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Musical style

The music of Guns N' Roses is a fusion of punk rock, heavy metal and classic rock and roll. In the 1990s, the band integrated keyed instruments (played by either Rose or Reed, and accompanied on tour by Teddy Andreadis) into the band, and for roughly half of the Use Your Illusion tour, added a horn section to the stage. While Reed has remained on some of the Chinese Democracy demos, tours since 2000 have not included wind instruments, though the band has employed synthesized horns on some of their new songs.

A heavy influence on both the image and sound of the band was Finnish band Hanoi Rocks (singer Michael Monroe and Rose have collaborated on various occasions). Rose has stated that the band was massively inspired by bands like Queen, The Rolling Stones, Rose Tattoo and AC/DC, and also that the sound of Appetite for Destruction was influenced by Aerosmith, The New York Dolls, AC/DC and Hanoi Rocks.

Legacy

Guns N' Roses signed with a major label within eight months of their inception and topped national sales charts weeks after garnering late hours airplay on MTV. Appetite for Destruction was the second highest-selling debut album of all time, behind Boston's self-titled debut album.

Their peers in the music industry often spoke highly of the band: Ozzy Osbourne called Guns N' Roses "the next Rolling Stones." In 2002, Q magazine named Guns N' Roses in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Also, the television network VH1 ranked Guns N' Roses ninth in its "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" special, and also ranked 11th on "Top 50 bands". Appetite for Destruction appeared in the Rolling Stone Magazine special issue "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Guns N' Roses #92 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time"..

The band has not been free of criticism by the media. The flagrant alcohol and drug abuse by some members of the group, and Axl's fondness of Charles Manson T-shirts, were used by the media to portray Guns N' Roses as a poor example and negative influence on their young fans. The long periods of time that the band took to release albums were also a source of heavy criticism (the band's second album, GN'R Lies, was actually an EP and an old EP packaged together, and one of the songs was an acoustic cover of one from the band's debut album, it took from 1987 to 1991 to come up with a proper follow up to Appetite for Destruction and it has been 15 years since the band began work on their Chinese Democracy album).

Frontman Axl Rose has become a source of both controversy and criticism since the other founding members left the group. His constant elusiveness, such as the fact that he has not held a press conference since 1994, has led to several stories claiming he is suffering from bipolar disorder. Music critics have blamed Rose for the break-up of the original group, have criticized him for continuing the band after the original members had departed and have questioned the constant change in band members. They also cite his neurotic behavior and sense of perfectionism as a cause of personal conflict and the long delays between albums. However, Rose still has fans who view him as a sort of musical anti-hero.

Discography

• 1987: Appetite for Destruction
• 1988: G N' R Lies
• 1991: Use Your Illusion I
• 1991: Use Your Illusion II
• 1993: "The Spaghetti Incident?"
• TBA: Chinese Democracy

Band members

Current members

• Axl Rose - lead and backing vocals, piano (1985–present)
• Dizzy Reed - piano, keyboards, backing vocals (1990–present)
• Robin Finck - lead guitar (1997–1999, 2000–present)
• Tommy Stinson - bass, backing vocals (1998–present)
• Chris Pitman - keyboards, programming (1998–present)
• Bryan Mantia - drums (2000–present, has been on hiatus since September 2006)
• Richard Fortus - rhythm and lead guitars, backing vocals (2002–present)
• Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal - lead guitar (2006–present)
• Frank Ferrer - drums (2006–present)

References

1. "Axl Rose shoots for a Guns N' Roses comeback". Angence France Presse. 2006-05-28.
2. "RIAA - Gold And Platnium Best Sellers". RIAA.
3. "All Music - Appetite for Destruction - Charts and Awards". Retrieved 2007-07-19.
4. Ressner, Jeffrey (January 9), "Queen singer is rock's first major AIDS casualty", Rolling Stone, no. 621, p. pg.13 {{citation}}: |page= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |date= and |year= / |date= mismatch (help)
5. "AllMusic - Appetite For Destruction". All Media Guide. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
6. "The Immortals: The First Fifty". Rolling Stone Issue 946. March 24, 2004. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Books

1. Sugerman, Danny. Appetite For Destruction: The Days of Guns N' Roses.
2. Stenning, Paul (2004). The Band That Time Forgot: The Complete Unauthorised Biography of Guns N' Roses. Chrome Dreams. ISBN 1-84240-246-3.
3. John, Robert (1993). Guns N' Roses: The Photographic History. Little, Brown & Company. ISBN 0316466956.
4. Wall, Mick (1992). Guns N' Roses: The Most Dangerous Band in the World. Hyperion. ISBN 1-56282-951-3.
5. Slash (2007). Slash. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0 00-725775-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
6. Canter, Marc (2007). Reckless Road: Guns N' Roses and The Making of Appetite for Destruction. www.recklessroad.com . ISBN 978-0-9793418-7-8. {{cite book}}: External link in |publisher= (help)
7. Wall, Mick (2007). W.A.R.:The Unauthorized Biography of William Axl Rose. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0312377670.

External links

• Official website
• Official MySpace page

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• 1980s music groups
• 1990s music groups
• 2000s music groups
• American rock music groups
• Geffen Records artists
• Guns N' Roses
• Hard rock groups
• Los Angeles musical groups
• Musical groups established in 1985
• MTV Video Vanguard Award winners