Guns N' Roses - Did You Know?
January 5, 2019Music facts, music trivia, interesting stories and much more. Introducing the "Did You Know" page about American hard rock band, Guns N' Roses.
Enjoy!
Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band that was formed in 1985 in Los Angeles, California. currently, the band consists of band members Axl Rose, Slash, Duff McKagan, Dizzy Reed, Frank Ferrer, Richard Fortus and Melissa Reese.
Here are a few interesting facts about Guns N' Roses:
1. "Axl Rose" is actually an anagram of "Oral Sex."
2. Guitarist Slash got his nickname from a family friend because he was always in a hurry.
3. Before taking up guitar, Slash was mainly interested in BMX riding and even competed at a professional level.
4. Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin (who's no longer part of the band) were the ones who formed the band and decided to take the name Guns N' Roses from two bands they used to play in: L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose.
5. Before Axl Rose joined the band, he needed cash so bad, the he joined a UCLA medical study, where he was paid $8 an hour in order to smoke cigarettes.
Appetite For Destruction, the band's debut album that was released in 1987 topped the Billboard 200 only a year after it was released. The album has sold 30 million copies all over the world, including 18 million units in the US alone, making it the country's bestselling debut album and eleventh-bestselling album.
Their next studio album, G N' R Lies that was released in 1988, reached the No.2 spot on the Billboard 200. Their next albums, Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were recorded simultaneously and released in 1991. The albums debuted at No.2 and No.1 on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 35 million copies all over the world, including 14 million units in the US.
In 2012, Guns N' Roses were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on its first year of eligibility.
The band's "Not in This Lifetime...Tour" was one of the biggest in history, becoming the second-highest-grossing concert tour of all time, as it grossed more than $562 million by December 2018.
Overall, Guns N' Roses have sold over 100 million records all over the world, including 45 million in the US, which makes the band the 41st-bestselling artist of all time.
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The song "Don't Cry" by Guns N' Roses actually pre-dates the band. Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin wrote the song after they each fell for the same girl. The girl wouldn't make a choice and told Axl Rose while he was sitting on a park bench, "don't cry Bill," which provided the title of the song.
Shannon Hoon, who was lead singer of Blind Melon, sang backup on this song. She and Axl Rose both grew up in Lafayette, Indiana. She also sang on the song "November Rain."
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The song "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses is about the city of Los Angeles, and exposes the dark side of the city, that many people encounter when they go there to pursue fame.
Guns N' Roses knew this side of Los Angeles well, as in 1985, they lived in a place on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles that they used to call "hell house."
This house was often filled with alcohol, drugs and groupies.
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The lyrics to the song "Sweet Child O' Mine" by Guns N' Roses came from a poem that Axl Rose was working on. He wrote the song about his girlfriend, Erin Everly, the daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.
Slash came up with the riff when he was playing around on his guitar. He thought it was silly and wanted nothing to do with it, but Axl loved it and had him keep playing it. Izzy Stradlin added some chords, and the song came together.
According to the autobiography of Duff McKagan, Slash actually consideres this song to be the worst of the band.
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