03. 1962-1984 - BEFORE GUNS N' ROSES

Axl was born William Bruce Rose, Jr. ("Bill Rose") in Lafayette in Indiana, USA (a "hellhole in the Midwest" as he would later describe it [Hit Parader, April 1987]), on February 6, 1962. Axl's biological parents were Sharon E. and William B. Rose [Kerrang, April 1990]. His parents married early, when Sharon was still in high school [Rolling Stone, April 2, 1992].



Just before Axl's third birthday, Sharon and William Rose divorced [Journal and Courier, January 28, 1965]. About a year later Sharon married L. Stephen Bailey [Journal and Courier, January 27, 1966], resulting in the new couple changing Axl's surname to Bailey, making his new name William Bailey.



Sharon and William had one additional child, Amy [Journal and Courier, January 28, 1965], and Sharon and Stephen got one child, Stuart. This means that Amy was Axl's sister and Stuart his half-brother. Curiously, in Popular 1 from April 1988, Axl would be quoted as saying he has two brothers and two sisters [Popular 1, April 1988], but this is almost certainly a mistake made by the magazine.





Axl grew up under the belief that Stephen Bailey was his real father and not his stepfather, and would only much later learn the truth about his biological father, William B. Rose [Rolling Stone, November 1989; Rolling Stone, April 2, 1992]. See later chapters about this and how it affected Axl.





Axl would later imply he was beaten by Stephen [Daily Press, August 1986] and he would talk about how he had been at odds with his stepfather and that he later saw "the pain that [his stepfather] has to go through in dealing with the way he raised me" [Rock Scene, October 1989]. In the early 90s Axl would open up and claim that he had suffered abuse from both his biological father (William B. Rose) and his stepfather (Stephen Bailey), as well as neglect from his mother. Axl's claims about childhood abuse is discussed in a later chapter.



The household of Stephen and Sharon Bailey was very religious and as a child Axl was not allowed to listen to the radio:











Axl's fifth grade teacher at Oakland Elementary School, Billy Johnson, would say that Axl was "very intelligent, very personable, always had a smile" and that Axl "was always a step or two ahead of you in class, if you weren't careful, he'd take the class away from you" [Indianapolis Daily Star, October 1991].



Sue Ristau, who taught art at Jefferson High School, described Axl this way:



Bill Lane, Axl's ninth grade science teacher would say that Axl "was one of those kids, as they say, has ants in his pants" and that he "was constantly up-down-up-down around the room, like a little ant" [Indianapolis Daily Star, October 1991].





When asked about his performance at school, Axl himself would say "on the placement tests in school, I was always in the top three percent" [Rolling Stone, August 1989]. It is claimed that Axl's restlessness and rebellious nature resulted in poor grades at school [Juke Magazine, July 1989], although Axl himself would said he got straight A's [Daily Press, August 1986; Record Mirror, July 11, 1987]:




But Axl would also say he "dropped out in the eleventh grade, went back as a senior, then dropped out again" [Rolling Stone, August 1989] because:



He also told Metal Edge that he couldn't "handle" school [Metal Edge, June 1988].

One of the reasons Axl might not have enjoyed school that much, might have been problems with other kids.



Axl would describe himself as "never really popular" when he grew up [Rolling Stone, August 1989]. An old friend of his, Monica Gregory, would say Axl got "hassled a lot, for a variety of reasons" [Spin, September 1991]. His eight grade cross-country coach would say that his teammates once "taped his mouth shut" and another time "stuffed him in a locker" [Indianapolis Daily News, October 1991; A Current Affair, November 1991]. Axl would confirm that when he was in 7th grade, a bunch of 12th graders taped his mouth shut because he "wouldn't take their crap" [Rockline, November 27, 1991].

After Axl became famous, members of the Jefferson High School Class of ’80 reunion committee tried to contact him about a 10-year reunion, to which he sent them an "acid" letter telling them "he never was part of the class and that they should de­stroy his address" [Journal and Courier, May 1991].



In addition to becoming a musician, in early years he also considered becoming a lawyer [Metal Edge, June 1988]:





Axl would certainly get experienced with the workings of the law and litigation later on in life.

Izzy Stradlin was born Jeffrey Dean Isbell on April 8, 1962, and had two brothers [Rockline, January 25, 1992]. His father, Richard Clyde Isbell, an Alcoa plant worker, and his mother, a telephone operator, filed for a marriage license in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, on August 10, 1961 [LA Weekly, October 22, 2016]. They divorced in 1973 [LA Weekly, October 22, 2016]. There are indications that his father at some point moved to Pasco County, Florida [LA Weekly, October 22, 2016].

Izzy got his nickname early on, possibly while in junior high [MTV Documentary, November 1989]:



Izzy had his first years in Florida. His father was an engraver, his mother worked for the phone company [Musician, November 1992]. His parents divorced when Izzy was in third grade [Musician, November 1992] and he moved with his mother to Indiana [Guitar World, March 1989], "so far out in Bumfuck I could drive to somebody's house for 10 miles all on dirt road" [Musician, December 1988]. In an interview in 1998, he would interestingly claim to have been born in Lafayette, Indiana [Rock & Folk, April 1998]. He would also say his father was an insurance salesman [Rock & Folk, April 1998], so possibly his father changed professions.

His family was not particularly religious and Izzy would describe finding church experience "bizarre" [Rock & Folk, April 1998].

Like Axl, in the beginning Izzy didn't have much nice things to say about Indiana:



Although years later, when he had moved back to Indiana, he would excuse these comments with being drunk during the interview:





Izzy's parents split up when he was a teenager and he moved with his mother to the slightly larger city of Lafayette [Musician, December 1988]. Talking about growing up in Lafayette:








According to Musician, Izzy did not enjoy school, he "built a wall of fog around himself with marijuana and managed to graduate in 1979 with a D average" [Musician, November 1992]. Actually, Izzy graduated from high school in 1980, not 1979 [Courier and Journal, May 19].





On the autobiographic song 'Train Tracks' off his first record with the Ju Ju Hounds, Izzy would describe hanging out at the trains tracks drinking and smoking weed [Rockline, January 25, 1993].

Talking about other drug experiences:

Michael "Duff" McKagan was born on February 5, 1964. Born and raised in the University District of Seattle ("The same city Jimi Hendrix was from; and I went to the same high school as him, only twenty years later!" [L'Unità, May 16, 1992]), in an Irish neighborhood [Much Music, September 22, 1993], near the University of Washington [Circus Magazine, November 1991], Duff was the youngest of eight siblings. His parents were divorced and his mother supported the family as a typist [Circus Magazine, November 1991].





Already at the age of two, his parents started to call him "Duff" [MTV Documentary, November 1989].




In 1991 Duff would say he hated the "Duff" nickname [Circus Magazine, November 1991]. He also had the nickname "Rose":





Duff attended Roosevelt High School but dropped out of tenth grade [Circus Magazine, November 1991]:






After quitting school he worked as a cook in a restaurant and played clubs at night [Circus Magazine, November 1991]. He would later talk about trying to find a job:



But eventually he became a pastry chef to earn a living:



Talking about the various jobs he had:



Apparently while living in Seattle Duff knew the serial killer Ted Bundy [Raw, September 1993; Okej, November 1993].

One hobby he had was skiing which he picked up as a teenager, and he did well enough to be picked out for the K2 ski team [The Gazette/Orange County Register, September 26, 1992]:




Another hobby of his was car-theft, and according to Life Magazine he stole a total of 133 cars [Life Magazine, December 1992].




Duff started experimenting with drugs at a young age and "smoked pot by Grade 4 and snorted cocaine by Grade 7" [Music West by 3-D, 1997].




Later he would claim to have been a junkie:

Slash was born Saul Hudson in Hampstead near Stoke-On-Trent in England on July 23, 1965 [The Independent, July 17, 2011], and has a 5 years younger brother called Ash (born Albion [Let There Be Talk, August 29, 2013]), to parents Anthony and Ola Hudson [Guns N' Roses Interview Disc, June 1988]. He was named after illustrator and cartoonist Saul Steinberg [Zeit Online, March 17, 2019].



Ola made her living in Los Angeles and the couple travelled back and forth between USA and England, resulting in Slash growing up with his grandparents Sybil and Charles Hudson in Blurton [The Independent, July 17, 2011].

Slash's uncle, Ian Hudson, would talk about Slash in his early years:





Slash would reminisce about growing up in England:











And also his early music inspirations:




In 2008, Slash would talk about his British family:



Talking about what he remembers from England:



Slash' father, Anthony, was British and white, while his mother, Ola, was American and black [Musician, December 1990].










Anthony was a graphic designed who designed album covers, including Joni Mitchell's 'Court and Spark' [Musician, December 1990] and John Lennon [Rolling Stone, January 1991].



Ola was a clothing designer who made David Bowie's suits for 'The Man Who Fell to Earth' [Musician, December 1990] as well as outfits for Lennon, Diana Ross, the Pointer Sisters [Rolling Stones, January 1991] and Chaka Khan [Blast! April 16, 1988].





Because of his family Slash got to meet many artists early on:



Slash would describe his mother as "a real happy-go-lucky, San Francisco hippie" [Musician, December 1990; The Howard Stern Show, February 1, 1995].




But his parents' dedication to the ideals of hippie-life could result in embarrassing situations for the young Slash:



When Slash was 6, the family moved to Los Angeles [The Irish Examiner, August 15, 2014], and his parents split up when he was 10 or 11 [The Irish Examiner, August 15, 2014].




Slash would later be asked about his relationship with England and his family there:







Transitioning to Los Angeles wasn't easy for the young Slash:







In Los Angeles, his mother would date famous artist David Bowie for "pretty close to a year" [Rolling Stone, January 1991; Dutch TV, June 5, 1995].




A few days after that latest quote, Slash felt the need to comment upon what he had said:



For more on David Bowie and Guns N' Roses, see later chapter.

Recalling driving along the cliff of the Big Sur in California with his mother and her friend when he was a small kid, the grown-ups stoned on pot and him just absorbing it all: "It was the time of 'free love,' and there was no saying no. It's one of the things that's made me comfortable with myself as a person and at the same time has probably made me...not necessarily the way I should be, in certain areas. But my parents were always supportive and I love them for it [Musician, December 1990]. And "I come from a very loving and supportive family, thank God. I could be a lot worse than I am now" [Rolling Stone, January 1991].

Slash was an artistic kid with a talent for athletics. Some of his hobbies would be drawing and biking, and these are discussed in a later chapter.



Slash did not enjoy school much and did not fit in:





Being asked if he wanted to be more like other kids:



Talking more about mathematics:








In 1988, Slash would say his family gave him a lot of freedom and that he "used to not come home for weeks" [Rolling Stone, November 1988].




In 1995, he would claim he grew up on "drugs, parties, alcohol and women" [Metal Hammer, February 1995]. He would reveal his first sexual experience:



In 1991, Slash's mother would soften the image of Slash more or less living on the streets:



Slash would also comment on this:



His main interest became guitar playing, and this is discussed in a later chapter.



Slash's last grade was "the 11th grade" [Circus Magazine, May 1988; Netscape Online Chat, July 30, 1996] and that he then "quit school to work full time so I could support my guitar addiction" [Circus Magazine, May 1988] and also that he was "crap in school" [Guns N' Roses Interview Disc, June 1988].





But as he started to play the guitar he went from being a "loner who never had many friends" to become more popular [Rolling Stone, January 1991].

Some of the jobs he had to take to sustain himself was in "theatres, newsstands" and "in a place that made clocks" [Circus Magazine, May 1988; Metal Edge, January 1989], and as a "recording studio assistant" [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988].









Describing himself in late 1988:



In October 1987 as GN'R was touring in England, they passed near where Slash's grandparents were living and they hadn't seen him since he was 11. When asked if they'd be shocked to see him, Slash replied, "Probably not, cause the rest of my family is pretty wackos" [Super Channel, October 1987].



After leaving his family in Stoke Slash didn't maintain his relationships with them, yet in October 1988 he would discuss considering visiting them:



Although his reason for considering spending the Christmas of 1988 in England could also be to visit his girlfriend at the time's family.

Steven Adler, birthname Michael Coletti, was born in 1965, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Michael Coletti and Deanna.

Steven's parent divorced when he was three months old:



He had an older brother, Kenneth/Kent, and a younger brother, Jamie [Metal Edge, January 1989; Circus Magazine, October 1991]. Deanna remarried to Mel Adler, and Michael was renamed Steven Adler.

The family moved to Los Angeles in 1972 [Kerrang! March 1989; Circus Magazine, October 1991].



Talking about seeing Kiss in concert:



But becoming a musician hadn't been his first choice:







Steven was thrown out of his house when he was eleven:



And at 16, Steven was living with a foster family:



Talking about his relationship with Slash:



According to Steven, both he and Slash would have sex with women for drugs and alcohol, and Steven would also occasionally prostitute himself to men:



Steven started out playing the guitar, but shifted to singing when that didn't work out, in one of Slash's garage bands. That didn't work out either, and he shifted to drums and played with Slash in Road Crew [Kerrang! March 1989].



Talking about early drumming practising:



And learning from watching other drummers perform:



Steven was a fan of the oldies goldies and would say in 1988 that Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons was his favorite band  [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988].




Steven was completely self-taught and his drumming idols were Roger Taylor of Queen, John Bonham of Led Zeppelin, Keith Moon of The Who and jazz drummers Gene Krups and Buddy Rich [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988].



If Steven wasn't a musician he would have loved to become an actor [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988].

Before the success of GN'R, Steven would have lots of "goofy" jobs: Mopping bowling alley lanes, sweeping floors, washing dishes, waiting on tables, warehouse worker, paperboy [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988]. He would also list "dishwasher, bowling alley janitor, busboy, pizza maker, lawn mower, and warehouse worker" [Metal Edge, January 1989].

As young, Axl quickly became interested in music and found the emotions expressed in music alluring, despite his family's religious limitations on what was regarded as acceptable music.



He found ways around his stepfather, though:



At the age of five, he started playing piano because his stepfather regretted not having learnt it when he was a child:




Instead of practicing his piano lessons, Axl would get sheet music for Elton John and The Queen and practise their songs without his family realizing it:






That Axl preferred making up his own stuff is corroborated by Gary Branson, Axl's high school choir teacher:



Axl also sang gospel songs while attending church ceremonies:










Axl was not allowed to own a radio but he won one in fifth grade which he hid from his stepfather:





Talking about his influences:




A few years later, Axl decided he wanted to get involved with music:









In 1991, when talking about his three favorite songs, Axl would list 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love', Led Zeppelin's 'D'Ya Maker' and Elton John's 'Bennie and the Jets [Mick Wall, GUNS N' ROSES: The Most Dangerous Band in the World, Sidgwick & Jackson, U.K. 1991, 1993], the latter song would also make him want to become a performer:




Axl would later exploit his ability to sing in different voices for recording with GN'R, and he would later say that he had been "working on those different voices for a long time" [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988]:



Despite his fondness for music and choir experience, Axl didn't want to become a singer because, as he would say, "he didn't like his voice" [Spin, May 1988; Hit Parader, June 1989].



Also in 1987 he claimed to not being able to stand his own voice [Record Mirror, July 11, 1987].



Alan Santalesa, who got to know Axl in 1984 when they both worked at Tower Record in Hollywood, would say that Axl told it to him, too:



This insecurity in regards to his singing would stay with Axl for a long time, like when he in December 1988 talked about the challenge of being a frontman:



Despite not believing in his own voice, Axl wanted to become a musician:



His first concert was with Johnny Winter and Triumph at the age of 17 [Metal Edge, June 1988].




In 2002 on stage in Pittsburgh, Axl would jokingly refer to his background singing in a church choir:

Music was an important part of Izzy's family and childhood:













Talking about his musical heroes when he was young:



In September 1992, Izzy would talk about getting his first guitar:




And later he would talk about learning how to play:

Duff's family was musical, his father "sang harmonies in a Barbershop Quartet" and "almost all his elder brothers and sisters had sung or played in numerous bands at some point" [Kerrang! March 1989].



















John Conte, a fellow musician who knew Duff back then, would reminisce about Duff:







Duff's main musical interest was punk, his favorite song was Fear's 'I Don't Care About You' [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988], a song the band would later cover for their The Spaghetti Incident record, although his favorite band was AC/DC [Superstar Facts & Pix, No. 16, 1988].

Talking about what made him want to become a musician:



Talking about getting into punk:



Duff's brother Bruce would teach him to play bass [Popular 1, September 1993]:




Learning how to play the bass, guitar and drums:



But he would not take any lessons or tutoring:



Duff would quickly change instrument from bass to guitar and then to drums [Kerrang! March 1989] after a local band spotted him playing drums and asked him to join them [Raw Magazine, July 1989]:



Later he would say the first band he played drums in were The Fastbacks:




Summarizing his start in music:




Eventually, Duff would play in 29 bands punk rock bands before leaving for Los Angeles, some of which will be detailed in subsequent chapters:

Slash was given his nickname by a friend's father, Seymour Cassel:





Looking back at Cassel:

Axl and Izzy became friends while living in Lafayette, in 1975 or 1976 when they were about 13-14 years old:












Izzy and Axl were into punk, and Lafayette's bars only had room for country and cover bands - "which we hated at the time. When you're 16 you hate everything you see when you live out there" [Musician, December 1988].

Already back in England Slash fell in love with horror movies:



One of Slash's hobbies were biking.



The rapper Tone Loc would remember Slash being somewhat of a bike prodigy:








Slash's friend, Marc Canter, would confirm:






Talking about why he got into BMX bikes:



And the bikes he had:



And how successful he was:





In 2018, he would mention he was still following the sport:



Slash also "contributed a series of animal illustrations to The Bestiary, an unpublished book of verse written by Joni Mitchell, who was a neighbor" [Rolling Stone, January 1991]. As his mother would recall:




Later on Slash would be involved in drawing flyers and posters for the various bands he would be in, many of which are shown in Marc Canter's book Reckless Road.

Being asked what he would have done if he hadn't become a musician:



Talking about his artistic side:



Another hobby of Slash was reading:



Slash's love of animals and snakes in particular, will be discussed in a separate chapter.

Axl had numerous run-ins with the police when living in Lafayette. As Rolling Stone would describe it: "[Axl] was the local juvenile delinquent in Lafayette, Indiana, and was arrested, by his count, "over twenty times," serving as long as three months in jail and representing himself at trials "'cause I didn't trust the public defenders for shit" [Rolling Stone, November 1988]. He would later claim to always having been "in trouble with someone, somewhere. I've totally blackened out the early years of my life" [Hit Parader, March 1992].









Jim Padach, who owned a record store in Lafayette, would remember Axl this way:



Police Chief Tom Leach would later claim that Axl was exaggerating in the press:



Journal and Courier would check Axl's police records in Indiana and found the following:



The most serious misdemeanor was a charge of battery for slapping a neighborhood woman he knew [Indianapolis Daily Star, October 1991]. This would not be the last time Axl got in trouble after an altercation with a neighbor.

Other charges were:



After pleading guilty to consumption of alcohol, he was evaluated by a counselor with the New Directions Court Referral Center. The counselor would describe Axl as "an insecure, immature young man. Trying to change from loud mouth. Trying too hard to impress others" and "having trouble growing up. Trying real macho image-anything to be liked and accepted" and "estranged from family. Confusion regarding career direction" [Indianapolis Daily Star, October 1991].

His grandmother, Anne Lintner, would say Axl was harassed by the police:





At age 16 Axl was kicked out from home [Unknown UK source, June 1987] and lived with his maternal grandmother during high school [Jefferson Daily Star, October 1991]. Axl would describe being kicked out from home this way:





After having spent time in therapy, Axl would in 1991 muse on whether his rebellion was connected to his relationship with his stepfather:

With both his parents involved in the music business, Slash grew up in a music-oriented home:













Growing up in Los Angeles in the 70s also met you had instant access to varied music:



Recounting his first concert:



Coming from a musical family meant his parents were supportive of him later becoming a musician:

One of Slash's friends in Hollywood was Steven, whom he met at Bancroft Junior High [Metal Zone, December 1993]. They met when Steven fell of his skateboard and Slash approached him to see if he was hurt [Metal Edge, January 1989].




Steven would talk about having met prior to this:



Slash and Steven would become good friends and they would later recall a story where Slash as underage had managed to get into the Rainbow to party with Steven:




At some time, Slash also ended up in jail after shoplifting a Boston album to give to Steven on his birthday:



A turning point in Slash' life came when he was visiting Steven and Steven put on a Kiss record, a band that Slash "always hated":














Another occasion where Slash was mesmerized by music:

Inspired by Steven, Slash then decided to learn to play and went to a music teacher, but without an instrument or even an idea of what instrument he wanted to play:










His first guitar was a one-stringed Spanish guitar that he got from a "garage sale or something":






Then he got a more complete guitar:




Later Slash would mix these stories up:



Or say she found it in a closet:



The guitar he got from his grandmother was an Explorer copy [Guitar Player, December 1991]. His next guitar was a Memphis Les Paul copy, that he "ended up sticking it through a wall neck first" because he "couldn't keep the fucking thing in tune" [Guitar Player, December 1991].



Talking about one of his guitar-playing revelations:



After the Les Paul copy his grandmother bought him yet another guitar, a B.C. Rich Mockingbird:





With the guitar he got from his grand mother Slash would go back to his music teacher:








In 2017, Alan Santalese, who was in Shire together with Izzy, would recount a story about meeting Slash and Steven in 1979, while Slash took guitar lessons:





So eventually Slash quit the tuition and just practised by himself:




Slash grew obsessed with playing and quit school [Guitar World, March 1989]:




According to Circus Magazine, Slash's last grade was "the 11th grade" and that he then "quit school to work full time so [he] could support [his] guitar addiction" [Circus Magazine, May 1988]. Later he would say he learned to play the guitar when he was 15 [Online Chat, October 16, 1996].





But as he started to play the guitar he went from being a "loner who never had many friends" to become more popular [Rolling Stone, January 1991].

Describing what he would have done if he didn't become a musician:




It was probably through the job in this music store he was able to get good deals on guitar and equipment, and bought his first decent guitars, like "a B.C. Rich, then a real nice '59 Stratocaster and then a '69 Les Paul Black Beauty, which I really liked" [Guitar World, March 1989].

The B.C. Rich Mockingbird would stay with him through various bands and become a favorite instrument, but which he would later regrettably sell off for drugs [Guitar Player, December 1991; Guitar World, February 1992].







Slash's decision to become a musician wasn't deliberate.










Talking about his musical influences when he started out:

Izzy started a garage band with a neighbour:



After having befriended Axl, Axl joined Izzy's garage band [Unknown UK Source, June 1987]. This was around the same time as Slash started playing guitar in Los Angeles.











Later Izzy would say that he and Axl started playing together in 1978 or 1979 [TuneCore Podcast, November 12, 2006].

In addition to Izzy [discussed above], Axl had friends in Indiana who would become important to his later life and also to Guns N' Roses. One of them would contribute song writing and play with Guns N' Roses in the future, Paul Huge. The following quotes are likely about Huge.




In 2018, Raz Cue would talk about Kevin Lawrence from Rapid Fire and suggest that Axl, around 1985, had been talking about Lawrence having the best guitar tone, but it could possibly have been about Huge or other of Axl's friends from Indiana:



Other Indiana friends were Mike Staggs, Dave Lank and Roger Miley. These three came up with "AXL" as a possible band name:



At the time when they came up with "AXL" they hadn't started playing music themselves [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020]. When Axl later left for California he would start a band called "AXL" despite his friends' protest [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020; and see later chapter]. Staggs, only 14 at the time, tried protecting the name through a half-written legal document which he still keeps [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020].

It is likely that it is Lank that is featured in the Hard and Heavy video from April 1989, and whom Axl refers to as "my oldest friend in the world":





Mike Staggs would move to California himself and eventually play in the band Dumpster that would open for Guns N' Roses in 1991, at the Warfield and Pantages, as part of the warm-up tour. He spent time with Axl during the recording of Use Your Illusion and The Spaghetti Incident? and recorded guitar for Ain't It Fun at 4am in the morning after partying with Axl and Mike Monroe [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020]. Staggs would also be a neighbour of Axl and spend time with him in Los Angeles [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020]. When Izzy left the band in 1991, Staggs and Axl would discuss having Staggs join the band but eventually Gilby got the part [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020]. Staggs and Axl would lose contact in around 1994 [Mike Staggs, personal communication, February 17, 2020].

Paul Huge would also move to California and play a pivotal role as the Use Your Illusion lineup broke-up and become a member of the band as as Guns N' Roses transitioned to its more modern version in the early 2000s [see later chapter for more information].

Duff played in "over 30 bands" [The Seattle Times, July 1991] or "31 bands" [Circus Magazine, November 1991; Kerrang! March 1989], alternating between playing bass, guitar and drums [Circus Magazine, November 1991]. Although a lot of the bands were just party bands that played together only once [Circus Magazine, November 1991].





Duff's first band of note was Vains in which he played bass and called himself Nico Teen:









Talking about the trip to Washington Hall with the Veins:

In 1980, Izzy received a letter from a guitarist friend who had left for the California earlier, touting the advantages of Californian life together with some sample of Californian pot [The Daily Spectrum, April 11, 1993]. Izzy subsequently left for California that summer [Courier and Journal, May 19, 1980; Rolling Stone, November 1988; Courier and Journal, February 23, 1993] at the age of 18 [Guitar World, March 1989; Journal Courier, February 21, 1993].





According to Musician, December 1988, he first tried his luck in Chicago and Indianapolis, before throwing his drum kit and P.A. ("this little-bitty P.A. system some nutbag had stolen from a church and left in my garage" [Press Kit for 117 Degrees, January 1998]) in the back of an old Chevy Impala and heading for Los Angeles where he settled in Huntington [Los Angeles Daily News, March 20, 1998].

At the age of 19, likely in 1981, Izzy had an experience that would later inspire the lyrics to 'Pretty Tied up':



At some point he worked in a guitar shop [Metal Edge, January 1989]. He and Axl also took a job as cigarette smokers for UCLA:



He also worked as a carpenter at some point but lost the job after doing magic mushrooms at work:



In the early days he went by "Izzy Bell" [Appetite for Distortion, 2017]. Around 1984-1985 Izzy would call himself "Izzy Stranded" [Newsletter #1, December 1985], because he "had no job, no car, no money", but eventually decided that this name was too depressing [Star Tribune, February 26, 1993] so he changed to "Izzy Stradlin".



While playing with Shire [see later chapter], Izzy met Tracii Guns and would move in with Tracii:

In fact, Izzy ended up moving in with Tracii:



At some later point, Izzy would move in with his girlfriend Desi Craft to an apartment on Orchid Street. This would be the hub for the band Hollywood Rose, because, as Craft would say, "they kept the beer there." Craft and Izzy would also be selling heroin out of that apartment, and Craft would be supplying heroin to the band [Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007].

In 1988, Izzy would describe himself this way:



In September 1992, after having quit Guns N' Roses, Izzy would look back at his decision to buy a guitar and not go to college:

Within three days of leaving Lafayette for Los Angeles, Izzy found himself in a band [Popular 1, November 1992], The Naughty Women.



They rehearsed for a week in the bassist's parents' home in Orange County [Musician, November 1992] before playing their first gig in downtown Los Angeles [Musician, November 1992].










According to Tracii, the name of the band was The Babysitters and Izzy wore a dress and received a beating [Spin, July 1999].



Izzy's tenure in The Naughty Women only lasted for two months after which he joined the band The Atoms which was "more of a Johnny Thunders/Rolling Stones cast" [Press Kit for 117 Degrees, January 1998]. While in The Atoms, Izzy had parts of his drum kit stolen and thus switched to bass guitar [Press Kit for 117 Degrees, January 1998].

One of the more known bands Duff played in while in Seattle was The Fastbacks with Kim Warnick, Kurt Bloch and Lulu Gargiulo. Duff was one of many drummers the band has had.






The Fastbacks recorded a record and were featured on the first Seattle Syndrome LP [Circus Magazine, November 1991].







When Guns N' Roses did their 'Hell Tour' in June 1985, playing one show in Seattle, they opened for Fastbacks [see later chapter]. And at some point, likely much later, Duff gave one of his basses to Kim Warnick [Nardwuar CITR Radio Show, October 12, 2007].

At the age of 17, Axl travelled extensively. This was likely partly caused by his growing problems with the law in Lafayette, conflict with his family, problems fitting in, and a desire to become something. Axl first travelled to California where he spent two weeks in Huntington Beach before setting out to hicthhike around the States, and then settling in Los Angeles [Hard Magazine (France), February 1988].







While hitchhiking across the USA, Axl would encounter an unpleasant experience in the St. Louis area:



It was likely during these travels, while in New York, that Axl experienced something that would later inspire the lyrics to 'Welcome to the Jungle':



Maybe it was these experiences that resulted in Axl not establishing himself in New York, something he had considered (and would later consider after Guns N' Roses blew up, see later chapters):





Axl had been invited to come join Izzy who had already left for Los Angeles [Journal and Courier, February 21, 1993], so in 1981 Axl decided to travel to California to look for him. We know this since Izzy moved to Los Angeles after graduating in 1980, and met Axl there the following year [see chapter about Izzy]. As in the music video for 'Welcome to the Jungle', and the lyrics to 'One in a Million', Axl would arrive by a Greyhound bus [Metal Hammer (Germany), September 1989]

The cultural shock of coming to Los Angeles was heavy on Axl:



In the Easter of 1981, Axl found Izzy:



At the time Izzy was living in an apartment in Huntington Beach [Popular 1, November 1992]. It is possible Axl spent two weeks living with Izzy in Huntington Beach before setting off to hike around the country.



Izzy would summarize this and say that Axl quickly went on another hitchhiking trip before returning to LA:




By 1981, Axl claims to have moved permanently to Los Angeles:



As seen from the previous discussion, this is likely not entirely correct. Izzy moved to LA in 1980 and Axl hooked up with him there in 1981, at the earliest. In the summer of 1982, he was back in Lafayette and started to date the local girl Gina Siler.





According to Siler, Axl had "already bussed or hitchhiked out to LA and back twice" [Spin, September 1991]. Siler would describe Axl this way: "He had on a long trench coat, dark glasses, collar pulled up, and said he was trying to stay away from the police" [Spin, September 1991]. Siler and Axl would do "stupid things" together, like "smash windows along Main Street" [Spin, September 1991]. Siler would recall Axl being hassled by the police one time he was back in Lafayette:



Also in the summer of 1982, possible before Axl returned to Lafayette and started to date Siler, Axl was in Hollywood and visited Izzy as he was practising with his band Shire [see later chapter]. Izzy's band mate in Shire, Alan Santalesa, would remember Axl and two friends, one of which was likely Paul Huge, coming to their rehearsal and playing an early version of the song Shadow Of Your Love:



Describing Axl's voice:





On December 19, 1982, after Siler graduated from high school early, they moved to Los Angeles and lived together in Hollywood "on or off until 1985" [Spin, September 1991].

Izzy would confirm this:





Axl and Siler's first apartment was, according to Siler, "some shit hole" at 1921 Whitley Avenue in Hollywood, where they lived together for five months before Siler moved out. Later Izzy would move in with Axl in that apartment [Spin, September 1991].

Raz Cue would mention Siler from 1984 when Axl was in LA Guns:



Later in life, Axl would have a contentious relationship with his hometown Lafayette and Indiana. Indiana University rock-music professor Glenn Gass would remember having met Axl and Izzy after they performed with Rolling Stones in 1989:



At a concert in Indianapolis in May 1991, Axl would liken living in Indiana to be "prisoners in Auschwitz" [Onstage at Deer Creek Music Centre in Noblesville, May 1991] and talk about how parents and teachers "can rob young people of their individuality and aspirations" [Los Angeles Times, July 1991].

Axl would explain what he meant about those comments:



Despite this, there would be a few media reports where Lafayette citizens were confronted with Axl's statements resulting in negative comments towards him, like when Axl's high school principal, Dennis Blind, would say, "At this point, we’ll probably have no reason to invite him back and I don’t know whether or not he would even come back" [A Current Affair, November 1991].

And while reflecting on his upbringing:



Explaining why he settled for Los Angeles:

_________________________________________________

Recounting his first bands:




And his first gig:



Marc Canter talking about hearing Slash play the guitar for the first time in this period:









Slash's first band was formed when he was about 15 [Total Guitar, January 1997] and was called Tidus Sloan.



Explaining the name:



This band started with Adam Greenberg (drums) and Ron Schneider (bass), whom he met at Fairfax High School in 1981 [Marc Canter, "Reckless Road", 2007]. Greenberg would reminisce:





Around the same time as Tidus Sloan, Marc Canter would offer Slash a job at Canter's:



Being asked if Slash was a good worker:

In 1982, the English punk band The Angelic Upstarts toured North American and passed through the Seattle area. Duff was then asked to join the band as their drummer but declined [Popular 1, September 1993]

After The Atoms, Izzy joined the "Scorpions-like" band Shire where he played bass, together with David Anthony (Jagosz; vocals) and Alan Santalese (guitar).

Santalesa would remember that Izzy was found through the Recycler magazine where they had placed an ad looking for a bassist [Appetite for Distortion, October 2, 2017] and that Izzy looked like Nikki Sixx at the time:



Izzy wanted to help write songs while in Shire, but wasn't allowed to:



To appease Izzy, they would play the Ramons song Commander at live shows:







Raz Cue, who would later become a friend of the band and LA Guns' first manager, would mention seeing Izzy for the first time when he was playing in Shire:



In Shire, Izzy would play with Johnny Kreis who would later join Hollywood Rose on drums:



According to Hard Magazine from February 1988, the last band Izzy played in before joining up with Axl in Rose, was "The Shadow" [Hard Magazine (France), February 1988]. This is likely a mistake, the band's name was Shire.

Cue would speculate that Izzy only agreed to join Shire playing bass in the hopes that he would eventually be promoted to second guitarist, and that he was only in the band for a short time:



According to Santalesa, Izzy only played 5 or 6 shows with Shire [Appetite for Distortion, October 2, 2017] and had left by 1983 [Press Kit for 117 Degrees, January 1998]. Talking about Izzy leaving Shire:





It was while playing in Shire that Izzy met Tracii Guns for the first time:




Tracii would mention Izzy talking about Axl:




Rob Gardner, drummer with Tracii in Pyrrhus, would also meet Izzy while he was playing with Shire because David Anthony was the brother of the singer in Pyrrhus, Mike Jagosz, and Rob would later talk about how Izzy was in this period:



Rob most likely met Izzy when Shire was practicing in Jagosz' garage [see later chapter]:



Marcelle Sirkus, and old friend of many musicians in Hollywood, would talk about getting to know Izzy when he played in Shire:

Tracii Guns, born Tracy Richard Irving Ulrich on January 20, 1966, grew up in Hollywood, Los Angeles.



Tracii got his name "Guns" from a girl who used to call him Mr. Guns:




Axl would suggest it had been his idea:





One of Tracii's first bands was Pyrrhus together with the drummer Rob Gardner [Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 110]. Rob originally came from New York:



And learned to play the drums:



Talking about his influences:



Rob moved to LA and did high school there where he met Mike Jagosz:



At high school Rob would meet Tracii:





By then Rob was also good enough to play drums in a band:



Dani Tull was recruited to play bass and Jagosz to sing:






At some point Tull was replaced with Ole Beich [Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 133].





Talking about the writing process:



And Raz Cue, who was a friend of the band and would later go on to manage the descendant of Pyrrhus, LA Guns, would describe how they sounded:



For more on Cue and his involvement with Guns N' Roses, see a later chapter.





Pyrrhus ended in the summer of 1983 when Tracii fired Mike Jagosz for refusing to bleach his hair [Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 142]. Tracii would claim Jagosz had been fired by Raz Cue:







But out of the embers of Pyrrhus, just two weeks after Mike Jagosz was fired, Tracii's new band, L.A. Guns, formed. This was in the summer of 1983 [Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 142-150]. The band included Ole Beich and later Rob Gardner [Raz Cue, "The Days of Guns, & Raz's", 2015, p. 142-150].



But the band did not have a singer...

The garage of Mike and David Anthony Jagosz in the Hollywood Hills would be a focal point for musicians that would become important to the history of Guns N' Roses in the early to mid-1980s. David Anthony Jagosz was the singer in Shire with Izzy (bass) and Johnny Kreis (drums), and Mike Jagosz was the singer of the band Pyrrhus with Tracii Guns (guitar) and Rob Gardner (drums), and they would also meet and practise in Jagosz' garage. Because of Axl's friendship with Izzy, Axl would end up staying in the garage, too.

It was also in this garage that Axl together with two friends would play Shadow of Your Love [see previous chapter].



Kreis would talk about how there was a tight knit group of musicians that hang with each other:



Kreis would be asked about Axl and his relation to Shire and mention that Axl was at a time living in Jagosz' garage: