page_title: Guns N' Roses
section_title: Lineup changes and sporadic activity (1994–1999)
hierarchical_section_title: Guns N' Roses / History / Lineup changes and sporadic activity (1994–1999)
caption_attribution_description: Zakk Wylde / Black Label Society
context_page_description: Guns N' Roses, often abbreviated as GNR, is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardist Melissa Reese.
  Guns N' Roses' debut album, Appetite for Destruction, reached number one on the Billboard 200 a year after its release, on the strength of the top 10 singles "Welcome to the Jungle", "Paradise City", and "Sweet Child o' Mine", the band's only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide, including 18 million units in the United States, making it the country's bestselling debut album and eleventh-bestselling album. Their next studio album, G N' R Lies, reached number two on the Billboard 200, sold ten million copies worldwide, and included the top 5 hit "Patience".
context_section_description: Between 1994 and 1996, the band sporadically recorded new material. Slash stated that most of this was written by Rose, but in 2008, Rose wrote on the band's website that Rose was allowed very little input. According to Matt Sorum, in 1996, the band had recorded seven songs, with seven more in the writing stages, and intended to release a single album with 10 or 12 songs in spring 1997. Sorum said that It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, the debut album from Slash's band Slash's Snakepit, "could have been a Guns N' Roses album, but Axl didn't think it was good enough".
  In May 1994, Gilby Clarke said work on the next Guns N' Roses album had ended. He described the incomplete album as "not as sophisticated as Illusion, but not as wild as Appetite." It was described by McKagan as consisting of "up-tempo rock songs" with "no ballads". In 2002, Rose said the guitar work Slash had recorded was the "best playing [he's] done at least since Illusions." Rose said the material was scrapped due to the lack of collaboration between band members. He told USA Today in 2012 that he did not write any music "for years" in the mid-1990s because of criticism from Slash, McKagan, and ex-fiancee Stephanie Seymour.
  In January 1994, Rose inducted Elton John into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and that night performed a duet with Bruce Springsteen on a cover of the Beatles' "Come Together". It was Rose's final public performance for six years. Also in 1994, all of the members of the band at the time contributed to Gilby Clarke's debut album, Pawnshop Guitars.
  In December 1994, GN'R released a cover of the Rolling Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil". The song appeared in the films Interview with the Vampire and Fallen and was released as a single. Entertainment Weekly stated that the 'note-for-note remake works up a decent lather but seems utterly bankrupt'. It is the final GN'R track to feature Slash on lead guitar, McKagan on bass, and Sorum on drums. The song also featured Rose's childhood friend and Hollywood Rose collaborator Paul "Huge" Tobias on rhythm guitar. Tobias's presence on the track and in the band created tension; reportedly Slash had 'creative and personal differences' with Tobias. A 2001 interview revealed Slash told his bandmates in September 1996, "I'm going to confront it. Either Paul goes, or [I go]."
  The music was going in a direction that was completely indulgent to his friend [Huge] ... And another factor is this guy that Axl brought in and told us, 'This is our new guitar player' ... There was no democracy there. And that's when Slash really started going, 'Fuck this. What, this is his band now? or something?' ... It was ridiculous. I'd go down there to start rehearsal at 10, and Axl would show up at four or five in the morning. That sort of thing was going on for a couple of years.
  — Duff McKagan
  Gilby Clarke's contract was not renewed and he was gone from the band by 1995. Slash stated in his book that Rose fired Clarke without consulting anyone, claiming he was a "hired hand". Clarke was not involved in the recording of 'Sympathy for the Devil': "I knew that that was the ending because nobody told me about it. Officially I was in the band at that time, and they did that song without me." Clarke mentioned that before the final show of the Use Your Illusion Tour, Rose told him "Hey, enjoy your last show". Clarke later sued the band over the use of his likeness in Guns N' Roses Pinball.
  In August 1995, Rose legally left the band, creating a new partnership under the same name, later saying "I’d left and formed a new partnership, which was only an effort to salvage Guns not steal it." Slash commented in his autobiography, "I didn't really know what else to do after Axl sent a letter saying that he was leaving the band and taking the name with him under the terms of the new contract. After that we tried to put it back together." Rose reportedly purchased the full rights to the Guns N' Roses name in 1997. Slash claimed he and bandmates signed over the name under duress: "Axl refused to go onstage one night during the Use Your Illusi
caption: Guitarist Zakk Wylde played with the band for several weeks and was considered as a potential second guitarist in 1995.
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