Guns N' Roses has existed since 1985.
As one might assume from a group that has rocked for three and a half decades, there
have been a few lineup changes over the years.
So who are these ex-Roses, and what are they up to?
Let's take a look at what every former member of Guns N' Roses is doing today.
Fans of hard rock are probably quite familiar with Tracii Guns.
He was the original Guns N' Roses guitarist, and also the Guns in the band's name, with
the Roses obviously being Axl Rose.
Guns left the band early on to form his own group, L.A. Guns, which has operated more
or less consistently until this very day.
Guns' three and a half decades as a musician have left him with his own share of hard-rocking
hits and no less than 12 studio albums with L.A. Guns.
Apart from that, Guns has also worked with several notable artists, including Motörhead,
Johnny Thunders, Poison, and WASP.
Successful as Guns became in his own right, Guns N' Roses weren't exactly stabbed in the
heart by the talented guitarist's departure.
After all, he was soon replaced with a certain frizzy-haired top hat-wearing guitarist known
as Slash.
Rob Gardner was the first drummer of Guns N' Roses.
His train to stardom, however, was quickly derailed when love intervened.
According to Tracii Guns, Gardner's girlfriend did not much care for him being in the band,
so she forced him to quit early on.
Unfortunately, she subsequently left him, and Gardner has not found his way back in
the limelight since, despite Guns pointing out that he was a, quote, "great drummer."
Out of all original members of Guns N' Roses, the Danish bassist Ole Beich is perhaps the
most tragic figure.
Tracii Guns, who played with Beich in both Guns N' Roses and L.A. Guns describes his
old bandmate as a metal guy who had already played with Mercyful Fate and possibly King
Diamond.
As such, Beich soon grew frustrated with the glam-tinted hard rock direction Guns N' Roses
were taking, and he was the first, but far from the last, member to leave the band.
According to Guns, Beich was about a decade older than him, and a nice, helpful guy who
was quite serious, yet had a wonderful sense of humor.
Unfortunately, Beich went on to lead a rather painful life.
He struggled with depression, and ultimately met a sad end when he drowned in his native
Denmark in the 1990s.
Beich's family believes that he took his own life, although that assessment has never officially
been proven.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline​ at​ 1-800-273-TALK (8255)​.
Izzy Stradlin was a founding member of Guns N' Roses, but over time felt as if his role
in the band was diminishing.
The public first discovered the situation in 1991, when the "Don't Cry" music video
featured a sign that asked, quote, "Where's Izzy?"
instead of the man himself.
Stradlin left the band soon after this.
Slash has stated that his former band member grew weary of touring and left the rest of
the band hanging.
Meanwhile, Stradlin says he was frustrated with the lax attitude of his band members,
and his old friend Axl Rose's increasingly bad attitude in particular.
Regardless of what his real reasons were, the rhythm guitarist has remained a semi-elusive
figure ever since.
Stradlin's only band after his GN'R tenure was the short-lived Izzy Stradlin & The Ju
Ju Hounds, after which he released 10 solo albums, the last of which came out in 2010.
More recently, he has been in the spotlight because of his negotiations to rejoin the
classic Guns N' Roses lineup keep falling apart.
Even Rose has remarked that Stradlin is a notoriously tough guy to negotiate with.
Drummer Steven Adler joined Guns N' Roses in time for their disastrous 1985 tour that
involved a broken van and a stint at hitch-hiking.
He was around during the band's rise to success, but developed an addiction to both cocaine
and heroin, and started having problems with his playing.
For his drug problems, he was ultimately fired in 1990.
Adler, however, argued that the band deliberately made him play a song he hadn't rehearsed.
As a result, Adler's drumming sounded bad, which gave the band a reason to throw him
out.
Adler has made bitter comments about his dismissal as recently as 2019, and reportedly considered
suing at one point.
However, he has remained friends with Slash, and even took the stage with the band for
a few gigs in 2016.
Throughout the years, Guns N' Roses has gone through enough drummers to make Spinal Tap
proud.
Matt Sorum sat behind the drum kit after Steven Adler was fired, and was eventually shown
the door in 1997, courtesy of Axl Rose.
However, Sorum wasn't about to start resting on his laurels.
He has played with Velvet Revolver, The Cult, and Hollywood Vampires.
In 2018 he also founded a crypto-based concert hosting platform called Artbit.
Apart from his various ventures and successes, Sorum has also seen his share of the shadier
side of life, which he wrote at length about in his 2020 book Double Talkin' Jive.
Sorum claims his autobiography is, quote, "the juiciest of the juiciest of the GN'R
books."
As he told Spitfire Audio,
"We just stayed out on the road forever which eventually, practically killed us all."
Gilby Clarke took guitarist Izzy Stradlin's spot in 1991 after the founding member left
the group.
However, in 1994, Clarke discovered that he was no longer a part of the band when his
paychecks stopped coming in.
Slash assured Clarke that he was still in the band but the paychecks never returned.
So Clarke took the hint that he was fired.
Despite the odd manner of his dismissal, Clarke says he holds no grudges.
Rhythm guitarist Paul "Huge" Tobias replaced Gilby Clarke in Guns N' Roses, which had huge
implications for the band.
Slash was not thrilled with Axl Rose's insistence on bringing Tobias on board and his views
about the new man's abilities were less than enthusiastic.
This controversy played a part in Slash's departure from GN'R in 1996.
"Huge" and Rose were childhood friends, which may have been a factor in the singer's insistence
to bring him in despite Slash's protests.
Unfortunately for Tobias, even old friendship couldn't make him a permanent fixture in the
band.
In 2002 he was replaced by current GN'R member Richard Fortus.
Robin Finck first played guitar for Guns N' Roses from 1997 to 1999.
He was part of a peculiar recording lineup that included Axl Rose, Paul Huge, Dizzy Reed,
Josh Freese, and Tommy Stinson.
Though Finck's time with the group was comparatively brief, a spokesperson of their label said
that he recorded several albums' worth of material with Guns.
Indeed, Ultimate Guitar also tells us he was one of the main contributors on 2008's Chinese
Democracy.
Finck later rejoined the band, only to leave again in 2008.
His departure apparently came as something of a shock to Guns N' Roses, though he had
a pretty decent reason to leave Rose's troops behind.
That's because Finck also happened to be a long-serving guitarist for a little band called
Nine Inch Nails, who were about to commence on a tour.
As of 2020, he's still playing the six-string for Trent Reznor during Nine Inch Nails concerts,
so it seems like he made the right call.
For some people, playing with Guns N' Roses is the highlight of their life.
For Josh Freese, it was a Tuesday.
Freese is a noted session drummer who had a two-year contract with GN'R from 1998 to
2000.
Freese chose not to renew his contract because the band was pretty much buried in the studio
abyss at the time.
Instead of devoting his professional career to Axl Rose, Freese chose to work with...pretty
much everyone else.
He has been a prominent member of A Perfect Circle, and has at various points of his career
drummed for Queens of The Stone Age, Bruce Springsteen, Weezer, The Replacements, Selena
Gomez, Katy Perry, and Miley Cyrus, among others.
Freese also has several world tours with Sting under his belt, and keeps up with his punk
side as a member of The Vandals.
Oh and just in case the hat didn't tip you off, he's also a longtime member of Devo.
Tommy Stinson held the bass player position in Guns N' Roses from 1998 to 2014, when he
semi-accidentally quit the band due to his failing marriage and hectic home life, which
forced him to withdraw from touring.
However, he says that he doesn't particularly miss his time with the band.
Though he was just fine with the people involved, he says that he's happy to have moved on.
To be fair, Stinson has had his fair share of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, even without
the whole GN'R gig.
He is arguably better known for his lengthy tenure with alt-rock icons The Replacements,
where he played from the ripe old age of 11.
Since moving on from that group as well, he has resurrected another old band, Bash and
Pop.
Chris Pitman joined Guns N' Roses as a backing vocalist, second keyboardist, and second bass
player in 1998.
However, he fell out with the band over money.
By 2012, Rose reportedly owed Pitman about $125,000 for a year's worth of work.
When Rose failed to pay on time, Pitman took him to court.
They eventually reached a settlement in 2016, though the money Pitman actually received
was significantly less than what he was seeking.
Though Pitman was supposedly set to rejoin the band on its 2016 tour featuring classic
era members Duff McKagan and Slash, his place was ultimately taken by current member Melissa
Reese.
This may or may not have something to do with the various acidic and extremely public remarks
Pitman made about the 2016 tour, in which he referred to it as a, quote, "money grab."
Buckethead, the prolific guitarist who famously wears a mask and a KFC bucket hat onstage,
spent four years as a Guns N' Roses member.
He left to do his own thing in 2004, which reportedly may have had something to do with
his frustration with the band's inability to complete an album.
The masked guitar slinger has gone through some pretty tough times since.
In 2017, the man, whose real name is Brian Carroll, gave a surprisingly honest out-of-character
interview for the Coming Alive podcast.
He revealed that he had gone through a roller coaster of difficulties, involving the death
of his parents, a nasty back injury, and a condition that caused his heart to beat out
of rhythm.
Fortunately, Buckethead seems to be more or less back on track, seeing as he's been collaborating
with his musical hero, the legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins.
In October 2019, they released a manic funk-metal cover of "Monster Mash," of all things.
Drummer Bryan "Brain" Mantia is one of those guys who have played with pretty much everyone.
He tends to work with cult characters such as Tom Waits, Primus, Godflesh, Praxis, and
Buckethead.
However, his accolades also include a six-year stint with Guns N' Roses.
Axl Rose invited the drummer in the band in 2000, and he performed with them until 2006.
Though Brain is well-known for his tenure with GN'R, it by no means characterized him.
A drummer's drummer and one of the premiere drummers in contemporary music, he is an advanced
music theory enthusiast who has released instructional DVDs and written columns for Drum!
Magazine.
Oh, and you've almost certainly heard his work, even if you've never knowingly listened
to any artist he's played with.
Along with current Guns N' Roses keyboardist Melissa Reese, he's a member of Brain and
Melissa, who have created music for movies, video games, commercials, and sporting events.
Guitarist Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal first joined Guns N' Roses in 2006.
Thal has said in interviews that he doesn't want to dwell on the negative sides of the
job, but did find it difficult to fit into the group and even had to get a bit violent
to initially gain respect in the band.
He remained with the band until 2014, and though his departure was never officially
announced, he says that the decision to leave was an extremely difficult one and at least
partially fueled by the knowledge that some of the best-known band members were planning
a reunion.
After leaving the GN'R ship behind, Thal's official website reveals that he has focused
on solo work, running music camps, and playing in a supergroup called Sons of Apollo.
Interestingly, he also has a line of award-winning hot sauces.
Chowhound ranks his ginger-ginseng-caffeine sauce among the spiciest in the world.
DJ Ashba joined Guns N' Roses in 2009 and quit his tenure with the band in 2015.
He said that he wanted to spend more time with his family and his other musical ventures,
though it may be worth noting that Slash's return to the band was announced the very
same year.
After he left the GN'R solo guitar spot open for the more famous hat-wearing shredder's
grand comeback, Ashba has remained quite busy.
He plays guitar in Mötley Crüe member Nikki Sixx's side gig Sixx:A.M.
Ashba's official website reveals that he has several other side gigs going on also.
Apart from the occasional TV appearance and his upcoming band Pyromantic, he owns a company
called Ashba Media, which specializes in building thematic designs for entertainment and hotel
industries.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Grunge videos about your favorite bands are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.