Guns N' Roses

Guns N' Roses is a hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California. The band's classic lineup included vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. Known for energetic performances, media controversies, and a musical style that blends punk, blues, and metal, Guns N' Roses played a significant role in shifting late-1980s rock away from glam rock. The group developed a reputation as "The World's Most Dangerous Band" due to volatile performances, media feuds, and provocative lyrics.

The debut album, "Appetite for Destruction," is a cornerstone of the band's legacy. Initially struggling to gain traction, the album achieved commercial success following the "Welcome to the Jungle" music video, eventually selling over 30 million copies worldwide and becoming the best-selling debut album in U.S. history. The album produced hits such as "Paradise City" and "Sweet Child o' Mine." The ballad "November Rain" reached number 3 in the United States and became the most requested video on MTV, winning the MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography. "Sweet Child o' Mine" holds the record for the most views on YouTube for a 1980s music video, while "November Rain" became the first 1990s music video to reach 1 billion views.

The band released two albums simultaneously, "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II," which debuted at number two and number one on the Billboard 200, respectively, and sold a combined total of approximately 35 million copies worldwide. This achievement made Guns N' Roses the only act to accomplish this until hip hop artist Nelly, and the first to have the top two albums since Jim Croce. The group experienced lineup changes throughout the 1990s, and Axl Rose spent over a decade working on the industrial and electronic-influenced album "Chinese Democracy." With an estimated production cost of $14 million, it became the most expensive rock album ever produced and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200.

Guns N' Roses was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in its first year of eligibility. The band also received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards and was named World's Best-Selling Hard Rock Artist by the World Music Awards. The "Not in This Lifetime... Tour" reunited Rose, Slash, and McKagan, marking their first performance together since the Use Your Illusion Tour. The tour grossed $584.2 million from more than 5 million tickets sold across six continents, ranking as the No. 3 highest-grossing tour in Billboard Boxscore history.

Guns N' Roses has released six studio albums, selling more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making the band one of the best-selling artists of all time. Emerging from Los Angeles with "Appetite for Destruction" and adding a punk edge to aggressive, tuneful rock, the band evolved in the 1990s with "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II," incorporating piano, strings, and ballads. Decades after its formation, Guns N' Roses continues to tour globally and release new music, including reworkings of songs from the "Chinese Democracy" era such as "Absurd," "Hard Skool," "Perhaps," "The General," "Nothin'," and "Atlas." The band's influence on hard rock, live performance, and popular music endures.