Absolutely Insane Behind-The-Scenes Guns N' Roses Stories

When you think "rock 'n' roll," wild Guns N' Roses stories probably spring to mind. The band seemed primed to be unstoppable after they formed in Los Angeles in 1985. They released their first album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987, and it almost instantly smashed records: it sold 30 million copies worldwide, and became one of the best-selling debuts of all time. By 1988, GnR was basically the biggest band on the planet. Guns N' Roses songs are some of the most massive hits of the '80s, and a number of their albums are considered rock classics.

But early success doesn't always guarantee staying power. GnR's big hits came with big personalities, and clashes within the band led to countless lineup changes and prolonged breakups fans feared would be permanent. But Guns N' Roses couldn't keep off the stage - even though the guys performing under the name weren't the same.

Even GnR newbies can appreciate the gnarly tales from Guns n' Roses that have popped up over the years. Rumors tell of countless trashed dressing rooms, mountains of consumed drugs, and even a few brushes with death. The craziest things Guns N' Roses ever did are the stuff of rock legend - what other band dabbled in everything from fights with other musicians to petty theft from groupies?

In the spring of 1987, GnR was recording "Rocket Queen," a charming little ditty about doing the nasty. Nineteen-year-old Adriana Smith was dating drummer Steven Adler, but he had recently cheated on her. For revenge, she decided to get drunk and have sex with Axl Rose - and to add insult to injury, they decided to record the audio and use it as a sample on the track. You can hear Smith's contributions at around 2:30 on the track.

Axl apparently had notes on her vocal performance, though, telling her, "Come on, Adriana, make it real. Stop faking!" Smith later said she regretted the stunt.

On March 26, 1986, Guns N' Roses was set to sign their first deal with Geffen Records - but Axl Rose almost blew the whole thing by throwing a tantrum. Apparently, he couldn't find his contact lenses, and after accusing his bandmates of stealing them, told them to "go [to the signing] without him."

The other GnR members "eventually found him sitting on top of the Whisky A Go Go." Slash told Axl they had found his contacts, and convinced him to come down. They showed up to the Geffen meeting several hours late and penned the deal.

On August 27, 1989, GnR rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin was on a flight from Los Angeles to Indianapolis. Apparently, he had been drinking pretty excessively, and had to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, none were available:

"I was drunk in the middle of this bunch of senior citizen types. I was smoking, and the stewardess came over. I told her to f*ck herself. I was drinking so much I had to take a piss. The people in the bathroom... man, it seemed like I waited an hour. So I pissed in the trash can instead... Next thing I know we've landed, I'm walking out and I see 10 policemen... And I remember thinking: 'Uh-oh! I think I f*cked up again.'"

On a layover in Pheonix, police met Stradlin at the gate and charged him with "public disturbance for smoking in a non-smoking section, making obscene gestures to passengers and verbally abusing a stewardess."

After their 1989 world tour, Guns N' Roses took a break from the road. Apparently, the routine of touring was all that was keeping Slash's addiction problems from spiraling out of control. As he wrote in his memoirs, "It turned out to be the start of a long and nightmarish obsession with heroin that lasted from 1989 through 1991."

After one particularly gnarly binge on heroin/cocaine cocktails, Slash started tripping pretty hard at an Arizona golf course. He remembers "Predators with rubbery-looking dreadlocks chasing after him with machine guns and harpoons."

Fearing for his life, Slash punched through a glass door to escape. The totally nude musician even grabbed a maid as an impromptu "human shield." He recalled the story to the police in great detail: "I was still high enough that I told the story without a shred of self-consciousness."

Just two days before Christmas in 1987, Guns N' Roses was out on the road with Alice Cooper and Mötley Crüe. GnR guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler were snorting fistfuls of cocaine with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe that night. According to Adler, he stepped out of the room to shoot up, and when he returned the door was blocked by Sixx's unconscious body.

Adler tried to revive Sixx with cold water, and when that didn't work, he "started smashing the him in the face with his cast" (he had broken his hand punching a streetlight). The blows eventually resuscitated Sixx.

The next day, when Adler stopped by the hospital to see Sixx, he asked, "Stevie, what the f*ck happened to me last night? My face is killing me!"

Slash apparently developed a fondness for exotic pets. By the early '90s, he had collected a number of venomous snakes and lizards in his Los Angeles home, as well as a mountain lion he named Curtis. But when the Northridge earthquake hit in January of 1994, Slash's house was damaged. He temporarily moved to a Four Seasons hotel in Marina del Rey - and Curtis came too.

Even Guns N' Roses' pad developed a reputation. Former rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin recalls the debauchery the band got up to in the summer of 1985, while they were crashing in a spot called "The Hell House." The band was so strapped for cash that they resorted to desperate measures:

"We sold girls. If one of the guys was f*cking a girl in our sleeping loft, we'd ransack the girl's purse while he was doing her."

They were apparently selling drugs as well. Soon, that behavior caught up with them; the LAPD caught wind of the illegal activity, and the GnR guys had to hide out from the authorities for a while.

When GnR returned to Los Angeles from their first tour in June of 1985, they got into a nasty car accident. The guys were in bassist Duff McKagan's car, and another vehicle broadsided them at an intersection going 60 miles per hour. Miraculously, the band walked away with minimal injuries, though drummer Steven Adler broke his ankle.

Slash wrote about the incident in his autobiography: "Duff's car was totaled and we could have been too. That would have been a sick twist of fate: the band dying together after we'd just gotten together."

Guns N' Roses had a rough night on October 23, 1986. They were scheduled to open for Alice Cooper at the Arlington Theater, but Axl Rose didn't make it. He showed up late and security turned him away, so the band had to improvise. Guitarists Izzy Stradlin and Slash made up lyrics and asked audience members to come up and sing to cover for their missing frontman. Out of frustration, "the band trashed the dressing room and broke all the mirrors."

It's rare to find someone who had beef with David Bowie, but Axl Rose managed it. In 1989, Bowie dropped by the set where Guns N' Roses was filming the music video for "It's So Easy." Axl didn't like the way Bowie was talking to his girlfriend, Erin Everly, and hit Bowie and threw him out.

Ever the class act, Bowie apologized, and the two made up with a long night of clubbing.