Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The classic lineup, as signed to Geffen Records in 1986, consisted of vocalistAxl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. Today, Axl Rose is the only remaining original member, in a lineup that comprises Use Your Illusion–era keyboardist Dizzy Reed, lead guitaristsDJ Ashba and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, lead and rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Chris Pitman. The band has released six studio albums, accumulating sales of more than 100 million albums worldwide including shipments of 45 million in the United States.

A year after its release, Guns N' Roses' debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987) reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, on the strength of the hit "Sweet Child o' Mine", their only single to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide, including 18 million units sold in the United States, making it the best-selling debut album of all time in the U.S The success of their debut was followed by the eight-song album G N' R Lies (1988). The twin albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II (1991) debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide,including 14 million units sold in the United States alone. The cover album "The Spaghetti Incident?" (1993) was the band's last studio album to feature Slash and McKagan. After more than a decade of work and many lineup changes, Guns N' Roses released the long-awaited album Chinese Democracy (2008) which, at an estimated fourteen million dollars in production costs, made it the most expensive album to ever be produced in music history. It debuted at No. 3 on theBillboard 200 but underwhelmed industry expectations, despite mostly positive critical reception

Guns N' Roses have been credited with reviving the mainstream popularity of rock 'n' roll, at a time when popular music was dominated by dance music and pop metal.Their late 1980s and early 1990s years have been described as the period in which they brought forth a "hedonistic rebelliousness" reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones, a reputation that had earned them the nickname "The Most Dangerous Band in the World". The band's classic lineup, along with later members Reed and drummer Matt Sorum, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, their first year of eligibility.

Style and influence

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 is the highest-selling debut album of all time in the United States.^[3] Their peers in the music industry often spoke highly of the band. Joe Perry said that they were the first band to remind him of Led Zeppelin.^[85] Ozzy Osbourne called Guns N' Roses "the next Rolling Stones." The music of Guns N' Roses is a fusion of punk rock, blues-rock, heavy metal and glam rock. 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.^[7] 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).^[7] Rose has stated that the band was massively inspired by groups like Queen,^[86] AC/DC,^[4] The Rolling Stones, and Rose Tattoo^[4] and that the sound of Appetite for Destruction was influenced by AC/DC, Led Zeppelin,Aerosmith, Black Sabbath, the New York Dolls, and Hanoi Rocks.^[87] Guns N' Roses has influenced many modern rock bands such asAvenged Sevenfold, Mother Love Bone (which would eventually become Pearl Jam), Buckcherry, Dir En Grey, X Japan, Hinder, The Darkness, Limp Bizkit and Manic Street Preachers, among others.

In 2002, Q magazine named Guns N' Roses in their list of the "50 Bands to See Before You Die". 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 Rolling Stone magazine's 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". "Welcome to the Jungle" had also been voted "Best Hard Rock Song" out of 100 others by VH1.^[89] Guns N' Roses were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in April 14, 2012, along with Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Faces/The Small Faces and the Beastie Boys, although Axl Rose refused to attend the event