5 Shocking Facts You Didn’t Know About Guns N’ Roses!

#5 – They Used To Be Called Hollywood Rose!

The Origins Of Their Name!

Guns N’ Roses when rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and L.A. Guns guitarist Tracii Guns banded together with singer Axl Rose to form Hollywood Rose. The band also consisted of Ole Beich on bass and Ron Gardner on drums. Tracii and Axl decided to change the name of the band by combining their last names. Hence the name Guns N’ Roses. Tracii, Ole, and Rob later would disband from the group and be replaced by Duff McKagan on bass, Steven Adler on drums, and most notably Slash on lead guitar.

Hollywood Rose, whom are no longer together, have developed a cult following with fans always on the hunt for rare footage of the original band.

The interesting thing is that Tracii Guns never really showed any distain for the band using the word ‘Guns’ in their name, despite Tracii Guns leaving the band after an argument with singer Axl Rose. So in reality, Tracii Guns is responsible for an entire movement of pop culture. Thank you Tracii!

#Paradise City Was Written In Back Of A Van!

In The Back Of A Van Lies Paradise City!

Paradise City is not only one of Guns N’ Roses most iconic songs, but it is anthemic amongst party goers and tailgate occasions all across the board. The song was a chart topper and sung like a hymnal at every get-together. It is a feel good rock anthem with a country like twist, but still delivers the goods when it comes to shredding and high octave vocals. However the origins for this of this song are everything like the song itself. Very humble! The band had a rental van in which they were commuting from gig to gig. On the way back from a gig in San Fransisco, the boys were in the back of the van drinking and playing guitar.

At this point, Slash had come up with the intro, and soon Duff and Axl joined in. At first, Axl came up with the line “Take me down to the Paradise City, where the grass is green and the girls are pretty.”. The alternatively, Slash came up with the line “Where the girls are fat and they’ve got big titties!” True fact, Axl actually considered using that line for the song, but decided that the first line was better.

I’ve always found it interesting how some of the biggest and grandest things in the world like the hit song Paradise City can have such simple and humble origins like being in the back of a van just jamming on an acoustic guitar and drinking beers. just out of simple fun came a hit for the ages! I wonder if the van still exists?

#3 – Drummer Steven Adler Was About To Join AC/DC!

What Could’ve Been!

In the early 1990s, Steven Adler had departed from GNR because according to Axl Rose, “He was a drug addict”. Steven Adler was replaced by Matt Sorum and was asked to join AC/DC. However, after the manager of AC/DC found out about Steven’s drug addiction, he retracted his offer.

As a result of this, Steven Adler sued his former band members. He claimed many financial discrepancies and said that he was fined $2,000 every time he did heroin among other things. They eventually reached a settlement, and Steven Adler was awarded $2,250,000 plus 15% of the royalties for everything he recorded prior to his departure.

After all of that had transpired, Steven Adler had suffered from a stroke that had briefly put him in a comatose state as a result of doing a Speedball. Times were particularly tough for the rock drummer with his life spiraling downwards. Luckily in recent months, Steven has put his differences with the band aside and joined them for a show on their reunion tour. So all is well with the rock drummer now!

#2 – ‘November Rain’ Took 8 Years To Write!

You Can’t Rush Perfection!

Dating all the way back to the previously mentioned Hollywood Rose days, Tracii Guns, Izzy Stradlin, and Axl Rose had begun working on an EP back in 1983, and one of the main songs on this EP was going to be November Rain. This musical masterpiece could’ve taken what was then Hollywood Rose to superstardom and Guns N’ Roses WE know may never have existed, technically.

After the departure of many of the Hollywood Rose members, the song was shelved, but worked on randomly for 8 years. It was finally finished after 8 years and would later become one of the most legendary musical masterpieces of out time!

This song is proof that you truly can’t rush perfection. November Rain is one of the most carefully orchestrated compositions in GNR’s arsenal. It has everything from piano, to rock instruments, to a full orchestra. It’s a packed song that delivers the goods and we’d wait 100 years to hear it, because it’s truly worth the wait!

And finally, in quite the contrast to to November Rain…

#1 – Sweet Child O’ Mine Was Written In Just FIVE Minutes!

It Turns Out, You CAN Rush Perfection!

Well that’s quite a just jump in time frames. Their song November Rain took 8 years, and Sweet Child O’ Mine was written in five minutes!?! So I’m confused now, can you rush perfection or not? I don’t know anymore, both songs are amazing!

According to Slash, Sweet Child O’ Mine was written in about 5 minutes mainly because it was simple three chord song. The composition itself is fairly simple excluding the lead guitar part. That’s kind of a hard concept to wrap our heads around.

Now let it be clear that the two songs are very different. One is a romantic epic with multiple instruments and the other is a three chord power house with the most recognizable lead guitar part ever. GNR is certainly one of the most surprising bands ever, they can take 8 years to write songs and write another in 5 minutes. This is all very fascinating stuff! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to purchase some tickets to their next concert!