Hollywood Rose

Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in June 1983. They are best known as a precursor for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, while they were aided during live shows by Rick Marrs, Andre Troxx, Daniel "DJ" Nicolson, Johnny Kreis and Steve Darrow. Rose, Stradlin and Weber, along with Kreis and Nicolson, recorded a five-song demo in January 1984. However, after a number of lineup changes, which includes Weber, Kreis and Nicolson being replaced by Slash and Steven Adler (both then of Road Crew) as well the departure of Stradlin, the group disbanded the same year.Hollywood Rose reunited for a New Year's show on 1 January 1985 with Rose, Stradlin, and Darrow returning and adding former L.A. Guns drummer Rob Gardner to the group. L.A. Guns founder Tracii Guns replaced Weber for the reunion gig. In March 1985, they merged with L.A. Guns to become Guns N' Roses.The five-song demo was released on 22 June 2004 with the title The Roots of Guns N' Roses. A number of Hollywood Rose songs were included on the Guns N' Roses albums Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide (1986), Appetite for Destruction (1987), Live from the Jungle (1987), and G N' R Lies (1988).Guitarist Chris Weber was introduced to Lafayette native Izzy Stradlin in the parking lot of the Rainbow Bar and Grill, by friend Tracii Guns, who was leading the first incarnation of L.A. Guns at this time, after Weber expressed an interest in forming a band.Soon afterwards, Weber and Stradlin started writing material and, at the suggestion of Stradlin, recruited his childhood friend, former Rapidfire singer Axl Rose, then known as Bill Rose. At the suggestion of Rose, the group called themselves AXL, with Rose adopting Axl as his first name. They played their first gig at The Orphanage in North Hollywood and played a few more shows before changing their name to Rose. The group soon changed their name, for the final time, to Hollywood Rose when Weber discovered that the name Rose was already being used by a New York band.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.