Early days (1985–87)

Foundation - L.A. Guns/Hollywood Rose merge

Guns N' Roses was founded in Los Angeles in March 1985 by Axl Rose and guitarist Tracii Guns, as an informal merger of Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, both of which Axl Rose had been a member, and the second of which Tracii Guns had been a member.^[5] The original Guns N' Roses lineup included other members from both bands: from Hollywood Rose, Rose's longtime friend rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, and from L.A. Guns, Guns's former bandmates bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner.

When Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner could not appear at one of the band's first shows in Seattle, Stradlin and Rose recruited guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler for the performance.^[6] In early 1986 the pair joined full-time, fixing the lineup as Axl Rose (lead vocals and keyboards), Slash (lead guitar), Izzy Stradlin (rhythm guitar), Duff McKagan (bass guitar) and Steven Adler (drums). On the way back to Los Angeles, they wrote the lyrics for "Welcome to the Jungle", which became one of their signature songs..^[7]

Discovery

After witnessing a Guns N' Roses show at the Troubadour, Tom Zutaut, a Geffen Records A&R executive, falsely warned other scouts "they suck" so he could have more time and leeway to sign them. Axl Rose demanded, and received, a $75,000 advance from Zutaut before revealing that he had promised an A&R executive from Chrysalis that the band would sign with her if she walked naked down Sunset Boulevard. For three days, Zutaut nervously watched from his office window for a naked A&R executive before he could close the deal.^[8] Alan Niven was subsequently hired as the band's manager, and the team set out to record the band's full-length debut album.