Biography
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Years Active
1983 – present (41 years)
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Founded In
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
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Members
- Ace Von Johnson (2018 – present)
- Adam Hamilton (2001 – present)
- Alec Bauer (2008 – 2009)
- Axl Rose (1984 – 1984)
- Brent Muscat (2000 – 2003)
L.A. Guns is a sleaze metal band that has had a "revolving door" policy, as the band has experienced numerous line up changes throughout it's storied career. They are notable for being one of the few bands associated with the glam metal movement to have consistently released new material despite their style of music falling out of favor with the rise of grunge in the early 90's.
L.A. Guns was formed in the early 80's with Axl Rose on lead vocals and Tracii Guns on lead guitar. Axl Rose left the band sometime before 1983 to form HollyWood Rose with Izzy Stradlin, while singing duties were filled by Michael Jagosz. The band dissolved later that year when drummer Rob Gardner and Tracii both joined Axl and Izzy's newly formed Guns N' Roses.
Tracii and Rob eventually left Guns N' Roses and Tracii went on to form a new band called Faster Pussycat. Tracii recruited Nickey "Beat" Alexander on drums, Mick Cripps on bass, and Paul "Mars" Black on vocals. After their friend Raz offered to financially back the band if they changed their name back to L.A. Guns, friend Taime Downe took the name Faster Pussycat and started his own band.
Tracii Guns was fired from L.A. Guns for a short time in their early days after agreeing to do a few shows in New York for a friend. He was replaced by Dogs D'Amour guitarist Robert Stoddard. When Tracii returned from New York, he joined the band again and they had two guitarists from that point on.
After a blow out in the band, Paul Black and Robert Stoddard both quit before the band inked a deal with Polygram Records. Former Girl vocalist Phil Lewis stepped in and they recorded their first album, filled with improved versions of Paul Black's original material. After the recording of the first album, drummer Nicky Alexander quit and was replaced by W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley. The line up of Lewis, Guns, Cripps, Nickles, and Riley would go on to record their next three albums with little change in line up besides Riley being replaced for a few songs by Michael Gershima during the "Vicious Circle" recordings.
Numerous line up changes later, including Phil Lewis leaving the band for a few records with Chris Van Dahl, Ralph Saenz, and Jizzy Pearl all failing to replace him before coming back, the band has continued to stay together. Lewis returned for 2001's "Man in the Moon," which due to better production (along with the following albums), would capture their sleaze rock sound better. Tracii Guns quit the band after 2002's "Waking the Dead," opting to form Brides of Destruction with former Motley Crue bassist Nikki Sixx. Guns was intially replaced with various touring guitarists, including W.A.S.P. guitarist Chris Holmes, Keri Kelli, and Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat. Guns was finally replaced by former Roxx Gang guitarist Stacey Blades, who has filled in on the covers album "Rip Off the Covers," as well as the studio album "Tales From the Strip" and the live album "Loud & Dangerous."
In 2006, Tracii Guns decided to tour under the L.A. Guns name with Paul Black on vocals, Nicky Alexander on drums, and his son Jeremy Guns on bass. The band was originally to be billed the Tracii Guns Band but changed it to L.A. Guns before preforming any shows. This line up preforms mostly songs of the debut album and a few from before the band was signed. This has caused some controversy among L.A. Guns fans who have argued in favor of each line up. Fans of the Black fronted L.A. Guns argue that they're the real L.A. Guns because Black's the original vocalist and the current line up of L.A. Guns features no original members, while Lewis fans argue that the majority of L.A. Guns best recordings were Phil Lewis fronted, as well as pointing out the fact that L.A. Guns has always changed line ups, even in the days before being signed. Having two different bands under the same name has also caused confusion for some fans who were expecting to see on line up but saw the other on accident.
Current L.A. Guns line ups
Phil Lewis - Vocals / Rhythm Guitar
Stacey Blades - Lead Guitar
Adam Hamilton - Bass
Steve Riley - Drums
Paul "Mars" Black - Vocals
Tracii Guns - Guitar
Jeremy Guns - Bass
Nicky "Beat" Alexander - Drums
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