L.A. Guns
L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, Ace Von Johnson, Johnny Martin, Adam Hamilton and Shawn Duncan. The first incarnation of the group was formed by Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner in 1983 and merged with fellow Los Angeles group Hollywood Rose to form Guns N' Roses in March 1985. After only a brief tenure in that band, Guns reformed L.A. Guns with a new lineup, consisting of Paul Black, Mick Cripps, Robert Stoddard, and Nickey Alexander. Black would soon be replaced by former Girl singer Phil Lewis while former Faster Pussycat bassist Kelly Nickels was added to the group. Later, Alexander would be replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley with this being known as the "classic lineup" of L.A. Guns. They achieved moderate chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, the group went through numerous lineup changes and failed to regain mainstream attention.
The "classic lineup" of the group would reunite in 1999 and began recording new material. However, the group continued to change lineups and Guns eventually left to form the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe in 2002. L.A. Guns continued without Guns, bringing in guitarist Stacey Blades; however, following his decision to put Brides of Destruction on hiatus in 2006, Guns formed The Tracii Guns Band. The group's lineup consisted of former L.A. Guns members Black and Alexander as well as Jeremy Guns, with the group eventually changing their name to L.A. Guns. Both groups continued to record and tour under the L.A. Guns moniker until 2012, when the Tracii Guns-led version of the group disbanded. Riley died in 2023, and the Riley-led version of the group disbanded in 2025.
In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included them in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time".
History
Formation and Guns N' Roses (1983–1985)
L.A. Guns were first formed in 1983 by guitarist Tracii Guns and drummer Rob Gardner. The first lineup included singer Mike Jagosz, bassist Ole Beich and Gardner. Guns, Gardner and Jagosz met at Fairfax High School and previously played in a band called Pyrrhus with bassist Dani Tull. This lineup recorded the band's debut EP, Collector's Edition No. 1, before Jagosz was replaced by Axl Rose. Originally released on vinyl, the record was produced and engineered by Blues/Rock guitarist Chuck Rosa and came out on Raz Records. The same material would later be released as a bonus disc with the compilation album Hollywood Raw in 2004.Rose fronted the group Rapidfire before going on to form Hollywood Rose, a group formed following the introduction of guitarists Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber to each other by Guns. Following the breakup of Hollywood Rose, in 1984, singer Rose joined L.A. Guns. However, Hollywood Rose reunited, briefly, with Rose, Stradlin, Weber and Steve Darrow returning while L.A. Guns drummer Gardner also joined the group. Weber, who left to move to New York City, was soon replaced by Tracii Guns. The group changed their name to Guns N' Roses with the lineup composed of Axl Rose, Tracii Guns, Izzy Stradlin, Ole Beich and Rob Gardner.
Beich was eventually replaced by Duff McKagan while Guns left the group, being replaced by Slash. McKagan went on to book shows taking place between Sacramento and Seattle, which was dubbed "The Hell Tour". During this time, Gardner quit the group and was replaced by Steven Adler with this line-up becoming known as the "classic lineup" of Guns N' Roses.
Reformation and mainstream success (1985–1992)
Later, in 1986, Guns reformed L.A. Guns with Mick Cripps, Paul Black, Nickey Alexander and Robert Stoddard, former The Dogs D'Amour singer, briefly became guitarist for the group, co-writing the song "Nothing to Lose" that appeared on L.A. Guns' debut album. Initially, the group were to be called Faster Pussycat but soon re-adopted the L.A. Guns moniker. After writing material and playing shows, the group signed with PolyGram. Black was soon replaced by former Girl singer Phil Lewis while Kelly Nickels was added to the lineup.They recorded their debut album, titled L.A. Guns, with producer Jim Faraci. The album featured six songs co-written by former singer Paul Black while, after album completion, drummer Alexander was replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley. The album was released in 1988, through PolyGram/Vertigo Records, peaking at number 50 on the Billboard 200. After briefly touring in support of the album, the group returned to the studio to record their new album with producers Duane Baron, John Purdell and Tom Werman. Although the group wrote the album's material, "Never Enough" featured additional contributions from Paul Black, Gregg Tripp and Phil Roy. Robin Zander and Rick Nielsen, both of Cheap Trick, also make an appearance on the album.
Released in 1989, L.A. Guns' new album, titled Cocked & Loaded, peaked at number 38 on the Billboard 200 while the single "The Ballad of Jayne" peaked at number 25 and 33 on the Mainstream Rock Chart and the Billboard Hot 100 respectively. The album went on to become RIAA certified Gold and eventually Platinum. They released their third album, titled Hollywood Vampires, in 1991 which peaked at number 42 on the Billboard 200. The singles "Kiss My Love Goodbye" and "It's Over Now" would peak at number 16 and 25 on the Mainstream Rock Chart respectively while It's Over Now" also peaked at number 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. Drummer Riley was fired from L.A. Guns in 1992 following the group's tour of Europe with Skid Row for allegedly assaulting Lewis.
''Vicious Circle'' and lineup changes (1993–1999)
Due to the rise in popularity of Seattle's grunge movement, the group waited a number of years before recording new material. During this time, Guns participated in the short lived supergroup Contraband, the group put together by Alan Kovac. The group featured singer Richard Black, Michael Schenker, Share Pedersen and Bobby Blotzer. They released one self-titled album in 1991, which peaked at number 187 on the Billboard 200, and achieved some moderate success with the single "All the Way from Memphis", which peaked at number 12 on the Mainstream Rock Chart, before disbanding.Regrouping in the mid-1990s with drummer Michael Gersema, L.A. Guns recorded and released their fourth album, titled Vicious Circle, in 1994 with the album failing to chart. It was their weakest selling album to date with the group's first major lineup change coming afterwards. Former drummer Riley was invited to rejoin the group for the subsequent tour; however, both Lewis and Cripps departed the group with singer Chris Van Dahl replacing Lewis and Johnny Crypt replacing Cripps on rhythm guitar. PolyGram soon dropped the group, who had already begun sessions for a follow-up album, following the low sales of Vicious Circle. Nickels subsequently left the band as well, at which point Crypt switched to bass. The now four-piece lineup completed recording of the Pantera-influenced album American Hardcore, released in 1996 through CMC International with the album failing to chart also.
The group changed singers once again, recruiting Ralph Saenz, formerly of The Atomic Punks, for the recording of the Wasted EP released in 1998 before eventually adding former Love/Hate singer Jizzy Pearl to the group in 1999. With the lineup consisting of Pearl, Guns, Crypt and Riley, the group recorded their new album with former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke producing. The group released the album, titled Shrinking Violet, in 1999 through Perris Records before going on tour supporting Poison.
Reunion and the departure of Tracii Guns (1999–2002)
A compilation album of re-recorded songs and new material, titled Greatest Hits and Black Beauties, was released in the summer of 1999. Despite the Pearl-led lineup having just released new material, Shrinking Violet, during this time, the "classic" lineup of L.A. Guns reunited with Phil Lewis, Mick Cripps and Kelly Nickels returning to the group in the fall, touring in support of the compilation album. They recorded a live album during this time, titled Live: A Night on the Strip, which was released the following year. That same year, they re-recorded and re-released Cocked & Loaded, retitled Cocked & Re-Loaded, on Deadline Records. Both Cripps and Nickels would leave the group on the eve of a 2000 summer tour, replaced by Faster Pussycat guitarist Brent Muscat and bassist Muddy.For the recording of their new album, Cripps returned to the lineup, replacing Muscat, and recorded keyboards on the album. Produced by Gilby Clarke, the group released Man in the Moon in 2001 through Spitfire Records while former Pretty Boy Floyd guitarist Keff Ratcliffe was added to the group. Sometime afterwards, Muddy would depart the group, along with Ratcliffe and Cripps, with Adam Hamilton becoming the group's new bassist. with Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx. L.A. Guns bassist Hamilton was briefly involved with this group, which was rounded out by singer London LeGrand and Adema drummer Kris Kohls. John Corabi, formerly of Mötley Crüe and The Scream, was to fill in for Guns, during the latter's involvement with Cockstar, on L.A. Guns' tour with Alice Cooper. However, Corabi himself would soon join Cockstar, replacing Hamilton. Cockstar would change their name to Brides of Destruction.
Meanwhile, L.A. Guns completed the recording of their new album in late April 2002, releasing the record, titled Waking the Dead, the same year to positive reviews. That June, the group began touring with Warrant, Ratt, FireHouse and Dokken as part of the Rock Fest tour. However, they were soon dropped from their label. They also pulled out of touring with Alice Cooper followings Guns departure from the group in October in order to concentrate on his project with Sixx, though he would argue he never left.