Few bands have made their mark on rock culture like Guns N Roses.
The group formed in 1985 and comprised of five original members: Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin.
After achieving mild success within the states, the band soared to international fame with the release of their hit debut album Appetite for Destruction in 1987, which featured hit singles Sweet Child O Mine, Welcome To The Jungle and Paradise City.
Cracks began to show within the band’s dynamic by the nineties, with Stephen Adler the first to be removed from the line-up over his prolonged drug use.
(Image: Redferns)
Adler was followed by Izzy Stradlin, Slash and Duff McKagan, who all later left the group and were replaced – with Axl Rose the last original Guns N Roses bandmate standing until recently.
Reuniting with Axl, Slash and Duff McKagan rejoined the group in 2016 and embarked on a three-year long reunion tour which they reportedly plan to resume this summer.
So, what are the original members of Guns N Roses up to now?
Axl Rose
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Axl Rose – born William Bruce Rose Jr – is the lead vocalist of Guns N Roses and the band’s sole constant member since its inception in 1985.
The 59-year-old singer was born in Indiana in 1962 and grew up there before moving to Los Angeles in the 1980s to pursue his passion for music.
A couple of years later, he went on to co-found Guns N Roses.
Axl famously feuded with his bandmate Slash and personally announced his rival’s exit from the band to the world in 1996, leaving him the last surviving member of the band’s original line-up.
(Image: Getty Images)
Today, Axl has made peace with the majority of his former bandmates.
In 2016, he reunited with Slash and McKagan for a three-year Guns N Roses reunion tour. That same year, he also provided lead vocals for AC/DC on their ‘Rock or Bust’ tour.
Alongside Slash and McKagan, Axl will soon release a Guns N Roses four-track mini-album which is to include two previously unreleased Axl Rose songs.
Having previously been married to Erin Everly, Axl has not been married since, nor has he had any children.
He also retains legal rights to the Guns N Roses band name.
Slash
(Image: Redferns)
Slash, aka Saul Hudson, was the lead guitarist of the original Guns N Roses line-up and is today considered among the greatest guitarists of all time.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent in England in 1965, the 56-year-old infamously departed the band after clashing with Axl Rose in 1996.
The musician also had a well-known fondness for alcohol in the band’s glory days and previously revealed that he drank so much that he was once given six weeks to live.
Speaking about those hard-parting days last year, Slash told Kerrang: “The whole time from 1987 and all the way into the ‘90s, and God knows when, there was a lot of drinking and a lot of craziness and partying, and just excessive… you know.
(Image: Getty Images for Gibson)
“You’ve heard stories, I’m sure. I don’t think I could say one particular party stands out. And I’ve never been one to go, ‘Oh, I’ve got a story about this person…’ I keep that stuff pretty close to the vest, but it was a very colourful time.”
Today, Slash is focusing on his music.
The guitarist joined Axl and McKagan to tour with Guns N Roses in 2016, reuniting with Axl onstage for the first time in 23 years, with the group soon to release their mini-album.
Later this month, Slash will also release a solo album titled ‘4’, featuring singer Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.
He has been married and divorced twice.
Duff McKagan
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Michael Andrew ‘Duff’ McKagan was not in fact the original bassist in mind for Guns N Roses, but eventually replaced bassist Ole Beich in the band’s OG line-up in 1985.
He toured with the band for 12 years before becoming the final original band member – besides Axl Rose – to exit the group.
The 57-year-old musician departed the band in 1997 but reunited with Axl and Slash and rejoined the band in 2016.
He will also feature on the group’s soon-to-be-released four-track mini-album .
(Image: WireImage)
Today, Duff is happily married to his wife of 22 years, Susan Holmes McKagan.
The pair married in 1999 after four years of dating and share daughters Grace, 24, and Mae, 21.
On their successful marriage, Duff recently told People: “There was something when we met, there was a deeper thing and I knew I was going to love her. I knew it.
“And then four weeks went by, I’m like, ‘I’m completely overwhelmingly in love.’
“I’m not a hippie woo-woo person, but there was something old soul about us meeting. I felt something timeless about us when we met. Timeless is the word.”
Steven Adler
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Steven Adler – born Michael Coletti – was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1965.
The 57-year-old drummer famously became the first original Guns N Roses member to be ejected from the band after just five years over his drug use.
He was replaced in the line-up by Matt Sorum, with his substance abuse ongoing through the late 2010s.
Adler has since tried to patched up his relationship with the four other original Guns N Roses members.
(Image: GC Images)
Speaking last year, Adler revealed he is in regular contact with former bandmates Slash and Duff McKagan.
He also confirmed that he hadn’t been able to get in contact with Izzy Stradlin and wasn’t on speaking terms with Axl Rose, which he regretted.
He told Classic Rock: “Slash and Duff are part of my life again. Izzy is like a gypsy, he just travels the world, but I’ve been trying to get hold of him. More than anything, I want to be part of Axl’s life again.
“We’re brothers. And what do brothers do? They fight.
“Just because you don’t like your brother sometimes doesn’t mean you don’t love him.”
Izzy Stradlin
(Image: Redferns)
Izzy Stradlin was the original rhythm guitarist for Guns N Roses.
He left the group in 1991, becoming the second original member to exit after Steven Adler.
Despite appearing as a special guest in a number of Guns N Roses shows between 2006 and 2012, many fans were shocked when Izzy failed to join the 2016 reunion tour alongside Axl, Slash and Duff.
Of the band’s failed talks with Izzy regarding the tour, Slash previously told Louder: “We wanted it to work out, but we couldn’t seem to meet eye to eye on the whole thing.
“So it just never happened.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
