Group

L.A. Guns

From: Los Angeles, United States
Since: 1983–present
Rating: ★ 3.35 (3 votes)
Releases: 72

hard rock
glam metal
glam rock

About

L.A. Guns is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Martin (bass, backing vocals), Adam Hamilton (studio drums) and Shawn Duncan (live drums). The first incarnation of the group was formed by Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner in 1983 and merged with fellow Los Angeles group Hollywood Rose to form Guns N' Roses in March 1985. After only a brief tenure in that band, Guns reformed L.A. Guns with a new lineup, consisting of Paul Black, Mick Cripps, Robert Stoddard, and Nickey Alexander. Black would soon be replaced by former Girl singer Phil Lewis while former Faster Pussycat bassist Kelly Nickels was added to the group. Later, Alexander would be replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley with this being known as the "classic lineup" of L.A. Guns. They achieved moderate chart success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, the group went through numerous lineup changes (with Riley being the most consistent member) and failed to regain mainstream attention.

The "classic lineup" of the group would reunite in 1999 and began recording new material. However, the group continued to change lineups and Guns eventually left to form the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe in 2002. L.A. Guns continued without Guns, bringing in guitarist Stacey Blades; however, following his decision to put Brides of Destruction on hiatus in 2006, Guns formed The Tracii Guns Band. The group's lineup consisted of former L.A. Guns members Black and Alexander as well as Jeremy Guns (though the lineup would eventually change), with the group eventually changing their name to L.A. Guns. Both groups continued to record and tour under the L.A. Guns moniker until 2012, when the Tracii Guns-led version of the group disbanded. Riley died in 2023, and the Riley-led version of the group disbanded in 2025.
In 2020, Jeff Mezydlo of Yardbarker included them in his list of "the 20 greatest hair metal bands of all time".

From L.A. Guns on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

Tracii Guns 1983–1984, 1985–2002, 2016–now · original member guitar
Kelly Nickels 1987–1995, 1999–2000, 2018–now bass guitar, background vocals
Phil Lewis 1987–1995, 1999–now lead vocals
Adam Hamilton 2001–2007, 2018–now bass guitar, electric guitar
Scott Griffin 2007–2009, 2011–2014, 2018–now bass guitar, guitar
Johnny Martin 2016–now background vocals, electric bass guitar
Jacob Bunton 2018–now lead vocals
Ace Von Johnson 2018–now guitar
Scot Coogan 2019–now drums (drum set)
Ole Beich 1983–1984 · original member · former bass guitar
Rob Gardner 1983–1984 · original member · former drums (drum set)
Michael Jagosz 1983–1984, 1984–1984 · original member · former lead vocals
Axl Rose 1984–1984 · former lead vocals
Nickey “Beat” Alexander 1985–1987 · former drums (drum set)
Paul Black 1985–1987 · former lead vocals
Robert Stoddard 1985–1987 · former guitar
Mick Cripps 1985–1995, 1999–2000, 2000–2001 · former bass guitar, guitar
Mattie B 1987–1987 · former bass guitar
Steve Riley 1987–1992, 1994–2016, 2018–2023 · former background vocals, drums (drum set), percussion
Michael “Bones” Gershima 1992–1994 · former drums (drum set)
Chris Van Dahl 1995–1997 · former lead vocals
Johnny Crypt 1995–1999 · former guitar
Ralph Saenz 1997–1998 · former lead vocals
Joe Lesté 1998–1998 · former lead vocals
Jizzy Pearl 1998–1999 · former lead vocals
Stefan Adika 1999–1999 · former bass guitar
Chuck Garric 1999–1999 · former bass guitar
Brent Muscat 2000–2000, 2002–2003 · former guitar
Mark "Muddy" Dutton 2000–2001 · former bass guitar
Chris Holmes 2002–2002 · former guitar
Keff Ratcliffe 2002–2002 · former guitar
Keri Kelli 2002–2003 · former electric guitar
Charlie Poulson 2003–2004 · former guitar
Stacey Blades 2004–2012 · former guitar
Edan Serge Gillen 2006–2006 · former keyboard
Jeremy Guns 2006–2011 · former bass guitar
Chad Stewart 2007–2011 · former drums (drum set)
Alec Bauer 2008–2009 · former guitar
Marty Casey 2008–2009 · former lead vocals
Kenny Kweens 2009–2011, 2014–2016 · former bass guitar
Danny Nordahl 2011–2011 · former bass guitar
Dilana Smith 2011–2011 · former lead vocals
Doni Gray 2011–2012 · former drums (drum set)
Eric Grossman 2011–2012 · former bass guitar
Tony West 2011–2012 · former lead vocals
Scott Foster Harris 2012–2012 · former lead vocals
Steve Preach 2012–2012 · former guitar, keyboard
Frankie Wilsey 2012–2013 · former guitar
Michael Grant 2013–2018 · former background vocals, guitar
Shane Fitzgibbon 2016–2019 · former drums (drum set)
Johnny Monaco 2018–2018 · former electric guitar