YEAR
2012
INDUCTED BY
Green Day
CATEGORY
Performers
Mainstream hard rock wasn’t the same after the members of Guns n’ Roses sank their teeth into it.
The band’s sound combined a reverence for classic rock titans (to name a few, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Aerosmith and Queen) with metal’s abrasive snarls and punk’s sneering dislike of authority.
HALL OF FAME
ESSAY
By David Fricke
On June 8, 1985, two days after they made their official live debut at the bottom of a bill at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, a group of hard-rock wildcats calling themselves Guns N ‘ Roses hit the road for the first time.
Guitarists Saul “Slash” Hudson and Jeffrey Isbell (a.k.a. Izzy Stradlin), bassist Michael “Duff” McKagan, drummer Steven Adler, and singer W. Axl Rose and two roadie friends crammed into a Buick LeSabre, towing a trailer full of instruments and amps, and headed for a gig in McKagan’s hometown of Seattle.
It was a rough baptism.