Random Unhinged Behind-The-Scenes Guns N' Roses Stories (16 items)

(#4) Slash Brought A Mountain Lion To A Hotel

Slash apparently developed a fondness for exotic pets. By the early '90s, he had collected a number of venomous snakes and lizards in his Los Angeles home, as well as a mountain lion he named Curtis. But when the Northridge earthquake hit in January of 1994, Slash's house was damaged.

He temporarily moved to a Four Seasons hotel in Marina del Rey - and Curtis came too.
(#15) They're Banned From Montreal's Olympic Stadium

Guns N' Roses went on tour with Metallica in 1992. On August 8, they stopped in Montreal to play a gig at the city's Olympic Stadium. The concert seemed doomed from the start: Metallica's James Hetfield was badly burned by pyrotechnics, causing the band to cut their set short. GnR didn't take the stage for at least another two hours, and when they did, they didn't stay very long - the Seattle Times claims they only played for 15 minutes before leaving, though other sources reported a longer set. Axl was purportedly dealing with voice problems.

The outraged audience exploded. An estimated 2,000 people began smashing windows and looting the neighborhood, causing nearly half a million dollars worth of property damage. As a result, Guns N' Roses was permanently barred from Olympic Stadium.
(#16) They Were Loaded When They Landed Their Record Deal

On February 28, 1986, Guns N' Roses played a very special gig at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. Tom Zutaut from Geffen Records was courting them for a record deal and wanted to see how the band did live. So what did they do? According to author Stephen Davis (by way of Rolling Stone), everyone but Axl Rose drank and got high off heroin and coke.

Apparently, it worked. The band was signed to Geffen a month later, and received a large cash advance - which Slash promptly spent on more drugs.
(#13) They Had To Hitchhike On Their First Major Tour

Guns N' Roses' first tour in 1985 was called The Hell Tour, and it definitely lived up to its name. They had a van all set to carry their gear from Los Angeles to Seattle - but the car broke down right in the middle of Interstate 5. Unwilling to miss their upcoming show, the band grabbed their guitars and stuck out their thumbs.
They had to play on borrowed gear (and weren't paid their $200 guarantee from the venue), but GnR successfully hitchhiked to their destination.
(#1) Slash Had A Bad Trip And Ran Naked Through A Golf Course

After their 1989 world tour, Guns N' Roses took a break from the road. Apparently, the routine of touring was all that was keeping Slash's addiction problems from spiraling out of control. As he wrote in his memoirs, "It turned out to be the start of a long and nightmarish obsession with heroin that lasted from 1989 through 1991."

After one particularly gnarly binge on heroin/cocaine cocktails, Slash started tripping pretty hard at an Arizona golf course. He remembers thinking he was chased by "predators... "with rubbery-looking dreadlocks" who carried harpoons and machine guns.

Fearing for his life, Slash punched through a glass door to escape. The totally nude musician even grabbed a maid as an impromptu "human shield." He recalled the story to the police in great detail: "I was still high enough that I told the story without a shred of self-consciousness."
(#7) They Robbed Girls Their Bandmates Were Having Sex With, And Dabbled In Drug Dealing

Even Guns N' Roses' pad developed a reputation. In an excerpt from Mick Wall's book, Last of the Giants: The True Story of Guns N' Roses, former rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin recalls the debauchery the band got up to 1985, while they were crashing in a spot called "The Hell House."

The band was so strapped for cash that they resorted to desperate measures. Izzy says: "We sold girls. If one of the guys was f*cking a girl in our sleeping loft, we'd ransack the girl's purse while he was doing her."

They were apparently selling drugs as well. Soon, that behavior caught up with them; the LAPD caught wind of the illegal activity, and the GnR guys had to hide out from the authorities for a while.