Hollywood Rose

Years before there was a Guns N' Roses there was Hollywood Rose. Formed in -- where else -- Hollywood, circa 1983, by recent Indiana transplants William Bailey (later to become W. Axl Rose) and Jeff Isabelle (aka Izzy Stradlin) along with Los Angeles native Chris Weber, they were briefly billed as A.x.l. (another portent of things to come) before assuming the Hollywood Rose moniker and cutting a five-song demo with money borrowed from Weber's father. Drummer Johnny Kreiss and bassist Rick Mars were then brought on board, as the young band joined the other hundreds of hairspray hopefuls overcrowding the Sunset Strip, and when lead guitarist Weber decided to split for New York City, mutual friend Tracii Guns briefly put his own L.a. Guns project on hold to lend a hand. By the time Guns departed in June 1985, bassist Duff Mckagan had joined the fold, and the door was finally open for lead guitarist Slash and drummer Steven Adler (replacing most recent sticksman Rob Gardner) to complete the now "classic" lineup of a newly baptized Guns N' Roses.

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