Dara The Virgin
Vocalist The Virgin Band - Indonesia
Jon Bon Jovi was born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr., in Perth Amboy, New Jersey the son of two former Marines, hairdresser John Francis Bongiovi, Sr. and florist Carol Sharkey. He has two brothers, Anthony and Matthew. His father was of Sicilian and Slovak ancestry and his mother was of German and Russian descent. He spent summers in Erie, Pennsylvania, with his grandparents as a newspaper salesman. As a child, Bon Jovi attended St. Joseph High School, in Metuchen, New Jersey, during his freshman and sophomore years. He later transferred to Sayreville War Memorial High School in Parlin, New Jersey
Bon Jovi spent most of his adolescence bunking school to opt for music activities instead, and ended up playing in local bands with friends and his cousin Tony Bongiovi, who owned the then famous New York recording studio, The Power Station. As a result, his academic records displayed less than spectacular achievements and poor grades. By the time he was 16, Bon Jovi was playing clubs. It was not long before he hooked up with keyboardist David Bryan (real name: David Bryan Rashbaum), who played with him in a ten-piece rhythm and blues band called Atlantic City Expressway. Bon Jovi also performed with bands called The Rest, The Lechers and John Bongiovi and the Wild Ones.
When he was seventeen, Bon Jovi was working sweeping floors at his cousin Tony Bongiovi's recording studio. In 1980, when Meco was there recording Christmas in the Stars: The Star Wars Christmas Album, Bongiovi recommended Bon Jovi for the song "R2-D2 We Wish You A Merry Christmas." This became his first professional recording (credited as John Bongiovi). He left in 1983 when he got a record deal.
Jon Bon Jovi (born John Francis Bongiovi, Jr., on March 2, 1962) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor, best known as the lead singer and founder of Bon Jovi. Throughout his career, he has released two solo albums and eleven studio albums with his band which have sold over 200 million albums worldwide
Solo career
Jon Bon Jovi recorded a solo album, a soundtrack to the movie Young Guns II (in which he also appeared for less than a second), more commonly known as Blaze of Glory. Released in 1990, the album featured high profile guests such as: Elton John, Aldo Nova, Little Richard, and Jeff Beck, among others. The album fared well commercially and received very positive reviews and quickly achieved double platinum status. The title track, "Blaze of Glory", hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned Jon an Academy Award nomination for Best Song, but he did not win the award. That same year, however, "Blaze of Glory" was awarded a Golden Globe.
Jon wrote what would become his second solo album, 1997's Destination Anywhere. The album received very positive reviews and was a success across Europe. It was rumored that the record company was pursuing Jon to name the record "These Days, Part 2", since the album was somewhat of a moody progression from These Days. A short movie of the same name was recorded right around the record's release, based entirely on the songs from the record and starring Jon Bon Jovi, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon and Whoopi Goldberg. Dave Stewart of Eurythmics played guitar on the record, as well as producing some of the tracks. That year Jon Bon Jovi earned a BRIT Award for Best International Male and also won a MTV Europe Music Award for Best Male.
Bon Jovi's success continues on the album HAVE A NICE DAY (2005) and Lost Highway (2007). Both this album even reached Platinum America, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Japan.
Early years (1984–85)
Once the band began playing showcases and opening for local talent, they caught the attention of record executive Derek Shulman, who signed them to Mercury Records and who was part of the PolyGram company.
Slippery When Wet (1986–87)
In April 1986 Bon Jovi moved to Vancouver to record their third album. Six months of studio work resulted in Slippery When Wet. The album, produced by Bruce Fairbairn and mixed by Bob Rock, was released in August 1986 and became Bon Jovi's breakthrough album. The first single, "You Give Love a Bad Name", became the band's first #1 single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 singles charts.
New Jersey (1988–90)
Determined to prove that the success of "Slippery When Wet" was not a fluke, Bon Jovi released their fourth effort New Jersey in September 1988. The resulting album was a commercial hit. New Jersey spent four consecutive weeks at #1 on Billboard 200 and two weeks on UK Albums Chart. The album spun off five hit singles and between 1988 and 1990, New Jersey sold 9 million copies world wide.
Keep the Faith (1992–93)
Bon Jovi's fifth studio album Keep the Faith was released in November 1992, represents "the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Bon Jovi" and marked a change in the band's sound. To promote Keep The Faith they returned to their roots playing a few dates at the small New Jersey clubs where they had started their career.
Cross Road and These Days (1994–96)
In October 1994, Bon Jovi released a greatest hits album titled Cross Road, with two new tracks: "Always" and "Someday I'll Be Saturday Night". The first single off of the album, "Always", was a massive hit. "Always" spent six months on the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, hit the #1 in 21 countries certified platinum in the US, sold 3 million copies world wide and became Bon Jovi's highest selling single. That year Bon Jovi won an award for Best Selling Rock Band at the World Music Awards.
Hiatus (1997–99)
Following the overwhelming success of the These Days Tour, the members of Bon Jovi went their separate ways. But unlike the period following the New Jersey tour, tainted with uncertainty, this hiatus was a conscious group decision. The members of Bon Jovi agreed to a self-imposed two-year sabbatical from the band.
Crush and One Wild Night (2000–01)
After a nearly four-year hiatus, during which several band members worked on independent projects, Bon Jovi regrouped in 1999 to begin work on their next studio album. In June 2000, Crush was released as the band's seventh studio album.
Bounce and This Left Feels Right (2002–04)
In spring 2002, the group entered the studio to begin recording their eighth studio album, the title, Bounce was a reference not only to New York City's and the United States' ability to bounce back from the World Trade Center attacks as a nation but, it also referred to Bon Jovi, the band's ability to bounce back again and again, over the years.
Have a Nice Day (2005–06)
Bon Jovi participated in Live 8 on July 2, 2005, where they debuted the full, final version of "Have a Nice Day", alongside "Livin' on a Prayer" and "It's My Life". Bon Jovi's ninth studio album, Have a Nice Day, was released in September 2005. "Have A Nice Day", the first single off the album.
Lost Highway (2007–08)
In June 2007, Bon Jovi released their tenth studio album, Lost Highway. The album influences the band's rock sound with that of country music following the success of a country version of the band's 2006 single "Who Says You Can't Go Home", a duet with Jennifer Nettles.
| Artist : SecondHand Serenade Album : A Twist In My Story Year : 2008) " Like A Knife "
I dream a lot, I know you say Cause today, you walked out of my life Goodbyes are meant for lonely people standing in the rain Cause today, you walked out of my life But what do I know, if you're leaving Stay with me, Cause today, you walked out of my life | "Maybe" Didn't you want to hear Maybe it's just me, Couldn't you believe There goes my ring Maybe it's just me, Couldn't you believe And someday, I promise I'll be gone Maybe it's just me, Couldn't you believe Maybe it's just me, Couldn't you believe |
Green Day was originally part of the punk scene at 924 Gilman Street in Berkeley, California. The band's early releases for independent record label Lookout! Records earned it a grassroots fanbase. Nevertheless, its major label debut Dookie (1994) became a breakout success and eventually sold over 10 million copies in the U.S. and 15 million worldwide. As a result, Green Day was widely credited, alongside fellow California punk bands The Offspring and Rancid, with reviving mainstream interest in and popularizing punk rock in the United States. Green Day's three follow-up albums, Insomniac, Nimrod and Warning did not achieve the massive success of Dookie, but they were still successful, reaching double platinum, double platinum, and gold status respectively. Green Day's 2004 rock opera American Idiot reignited the band's popularity with a younger generation, selling five million copies in the U.S. The band's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009.
| Origin | East Bay, California, United States |
| Genres | Punk rock Pop punk Alternative rock |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Lookout!, Skene!, Reprise, Adeline |
| Associated acts | The Lookouts, Pinhead Gunpowder, The Frustrators, The Network, Foxboro Hot Tubs |
| Website | greenday.com |
Green Day is an American punk rock trio formed in 1987. The band has consisted of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tré Cool for the majority of its existence.
After Hughes left the band in 1989, Larry Livermore, owner of Lookout! Records, saw the band play an early show and signed them to his label. In 1989 they recorded their first EP, 1,000 Hours. Before 1,000 Hours was released, the band dropped the name Sweet Children, according to Livermore this was done to avoid confusion with another local band Sweet Baby. The band adopted the name Green Day, allegedly due to their fondness of marijuana.
In the summer of 2003 the band went into a studio to write and record new material for a new album, tentatively titled Cigarettes and Valentines. After completing 20 tracks, the master tapes were stolen from the studio. It was then revealed that a band called The Network was signed to Armstrong's Adeline Records with little fanfare and information. After the mysterious band released an album called Money Money 2020, it was rumored that The Network was a Green Day side project, and that Money Money 2020 was really Cigarettes and Valentines. However, Billie Joe denied the rumors, but The Network still appears in Green Day box sets and is mentioned in Green Day interviews.
In an interview with Kerrang!, Armstrong revealed that 2008 would "be a fair estimate of the release date of their new untitled eighth studio album for Green Day." In an interview with Carson Daly, Garbage lead singer Shirley Manson revealed that Butch Vig would be producing Green Day's forthcoming album. The span of nearly five years between American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown was the longest gap between studio albums in Green Day's career. The band had been working on new material since January 2006. By October 2007, Armstrong had 45 songs written, but the band showed no further signs of progress until October 2008, when a video of the group recording with producer Butch Vig in the studio was posted on YouTube. Two videos showing the band in the studio were posted on YouTube. In the tour section of the band's official website, the message "World Tour coming soon!" is shown. The writing and recording process, spanning three years and four recording studios, was finally finished in April 2009.
Billie Joe Armstrong
| Origin | Billie Joe Armstrong Also known as : Wilhelm Fink, Reverend Strychnine Twitch, Fink |
| Born | February 17, 1972 Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Punk rock, Alternative rock, Pop punk, Garage Rock |
| Occupations | Singer, musician, songwriter, guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, piano, saxophone, drums, harmonica, mandolin, bass. |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Labels | Reprise, Lookout!, Adeline, Recess |
| Associated acts | Green Day, The Network, Pinhead Gunpowder, Foxboro Hot Tubs |
Billie Joe Armstrong was born in Oakland, California, and was raised in Rodeo, California, as the youngest of six children to Andrew "Andy" Armstrong and Ollie Jackson. His father worked as a jazz musician and truck driver for Safeway Inc. to support his family. He died of esophageal cancer on September 10, 1981, when his son Billie was ten years old. The song "Wake Me Up When September Ends" is a memorial to his father. He has five older siblings: David, Alan, Marci, Hollie, and Anna. His mother worked at Rod's Hickory Pit. Armstrong and Mike Dirnt got their first gig at Rod's Hickory Pit during their early years.Armstrong's interest in music started at a young age. He attended Hillcrest Elementary School in Rodeo, where a teacher encouraged him to record a song titled "Look For Love" at the age of five on the Bay Area label "Fiat Records". After his father died, his mother married a man whom her children disliked, which made Armstrong retreat further into music. Armstrong dedicated a song to him called "Why Do You Want Him". At age 12 while attending Carquinez Middle School in nearby Crockett, California, he met Mike Dirnt, and they immediately bonded over their love of music. He became interested in punk rock after hearing the Sex Pistols song "Holidays in the Sun". Armstrong has also cited Minneapolis-based bands The Replacements and Hüsker Dü as major musical influences. Armstrong attended John Swett High School, also in Crockett, and later Pinole Valley High School, in Pinole, California, but then dropped out to pursue his musical career.
Mike Dirnt
| Origin | Michael Ryan Pritchard Also known as : Mike Dirnt, Van Gough |
| Born | May 4, 1972 Berkeley, California, United States |
| Genres | Pop punk, Punk rock, Alternative rock, Hard rock, New wave, Garage rock, Hardcore punk |
| Occupations | Musician, Bassist, Songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass, Guitar, Vocals, Drums, Farfisa |
| Years active | 1989 – present |
| Labels | Reprise Records, Lookout! Records, Adeline Records |
| Associated acts | Green Day, The Frustrators, Screeching Weasel, The Network, Foxboro Hot Tubs |
Mike Dirnt (born May 4, 1972 as Michael Ryan Pritchard) is an American musician who is currently the bassist and backing vocalist for the American rock band Green Day. While at school, he would play "air-bass." While pretending to pluck the strings, he made the noise, "dirnt, dirnt, dirnt," so his schoolmates started to call him "Mike Dirnt".Dirnt was born and raised in California. He was born to a native American woman and she gave him up for adoption. He has one sister, Myla. His adoptive parents divorced when he was seven years old. His mother remarried a few years later. When asked about his stepdad, he says, "We didn't get along for years. Later on, when I hit high school, my mom moved away from us, and me and my stepdad got real close... But then he died when I was 17." Dirnt had left home when he was 17 to live out of his truck, but later rented a room in Billie Joe Armstrong's house. He attended Salesian High School (where he briefly played with the band Helder and the Heldernauts), John Swett High School, and ended up graduating from Pinole Valley High School in 1990; Green Day went on their first tour the day after graduation.
Dirnt is part owner of Rudy's Can't Fail Cafe, a diner in Emeryville, California. The diner likely gets its name from a song by punk band The Clash entitled "Rudie Can't Fail," off of their album London Calling.
Tré Cool
| Origin | Frank Edwin Wright III Also known as : The Snoo |
| Born | December 9, 1972 Frankfurt, Germany |
| Genres | Punk rock, Alternative rock, Hardcore punk, Pop punk |
| Occupations | Musician, Drummer |
| Instruments | Drums, Vocals, Accordion, Guitar |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | Reprise Records, Lookout! Records, Adeline Records |
| Associated acts | Green Day, The Lookouts, The Network, Foxboro Hot Tubs, Samiam |
Tré Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright III; December 9, 1972) is a German-born American drummer for the punk rock band Green Day. He replaced the band's former drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1989. He has also played in Samiam, The Lookouts, and the Green Day side projects The Network and Foxboro Hot Tubs.Frank Edwin Wright III was born in Frankfurt, Germany. He lived in Willits, California with his father and his older sister, Lori. His father, a helicopter pilot in the Cold War, decided to move the family there to insulate them upon his return to the United States.
When Green Day's drummer, John Kiffmeyer, left the band they recruited Cool to play drums. Cool decided to drop out of high school in his sophomore year. Instead, he passed an equivalency test and earned his GED, and began taking classes at a nearby community college. He had to drop out of college, however, when the demands of Green Day's touring intensified.
In 1998, after Green Day won a "Moon Man" Trophy at the MTV Music Awards, Tré Cool famously scaled the Universal globe at Universal studios, but escaped with no punishment - only compliments and cheers. Cool has been the only person to ever do so.
Tré sings and plays guitar on the tracks "Dominated Love Slave" and "All by Myself", from Kerplunk! and Dookie, respectively, both of which he wrote and composed. He wrote and sang the subtrack "Rock and Roll Girlfriend" from the medley "Homecoming" featured on the album American Idiot. He also sang and composed the track "DUI" ("Driving Under the Influence"), which was recorded during the Nimrod sessions and was due to be released on Shenanigans (a compilation of B-sides), but it was omitted and can only be found online.
Tré had also recorded a version of Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain." It was posted on YouTube on August 2, 2007. His cover was mentioned in several news journals.
The band has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, including 46 million in the United States. The band's 1987 major label debut album, Appetite for Destruction, has sold in excess of 28 million copies worldwide and reached No. 1 on the United States Billboard 200. In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child o' Mine" which reached No. 1. The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone and 35 million worldwide. After over a decade of work, the band released their follow-up album, Chinese Democracy.Guns N' Roses (sometimes abbreviated as GN'R or GNR) is an American Hard rock band. The band formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California in 1985. Led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose, Jr.), the band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album while going through numerous line-up changes and controversies since its formation.
The current lineup comprises lead vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarists Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal and DJ Ashba, rhythm guitarist Richard Fortus, bassist Tommy Stinson, keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman and drummer Frank Ferrer.W. Axl Rose
| Birth name | William Bruce Rose |
| Born | February 6, 1962 Lafayette, Indiana, United States |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Occupations | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, percussion, synthesizers, guitar |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | Geffen Records |
| Associated acts | Guns N' Roses, Hollywood Rose, L.A. Guns, Rapidfire |
| Website | www.gunsnroses.com |
W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose; February 6, 1962 in Lafayette, Indiana) is an American musician, and the lead vocalist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses.
As the lead singer for Guns N' Roses, Rose enjoyed tremendous success, recognition, and record and concert ticket sales in the late 1980s and early 1990s before dropping out of the public eye for several years. In 2001, he resurfaced with a new line-up of Guns N' Roses in the third edition of Rock In Rio festival, and has since played periodic concert tours, finally releasing the long delayed album Chinese Democracy in 2008. This album was recorded over many years before finally being released.
He was ranked 11 in the Hit Parader's Top Metal Vocalist of All Time and 64 in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Singers of All Time and also #4 in Roadrunner's 50 Best Frontmen in Metal History.After Guns N' Roses became successful, Rose noted that he had stopped using any sort of hard drugs. He did not disavow the use of illicit substances, stating in a 1989 interview "I have a different physical constitution and different mindset about drugs than anybody I've known in Hollywood, because I don't abstain from doing drugs, but I won't allow myself to have a fuckin' habit. I won't allow it".
Although Rose has not been known for alcohol abuse, on June 26, 2006, he was arrested in Stockholm, Sweden, after an early morning altercation in his hotel lobby with hotel security. Rose is alleged to have bitten a security guard's leg and shattered an antique lobby mirror while in a drunken rage. Rose later commented in a press release: "We had a great gig in Stockholm and I am not going to let this incident spoil that. My assistant Beta and I were talking in the lobby of the hotel when security started to give us a hard time. My only concern was to make sure she was okay". After spending the next several hours in a Stockholm drunk tank, Rose pleaded guilty to all charges and paid roughly $6,000 in fines and was released. The Summer European tour continued as scheduled.Rose and his L.A. Guns bandmate Tracii Guns formed Guns N' Roses in March 1985. The band was a merger of L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose, and featured musicians who had played for one or both groups, including Ole Beich and Duff McKagan. The band debuted at the Troubadour in Hollywood and proceeded to play the L.A. circuit, eventually building a fan following and attracting the attention of several record companies. Following a dispute with Tracii Guns, and his departure from the band, Axl then called Slash (having met him from the time Slash spent in Hollywood Rose.) So with Rose on vocals, Slash on lead guitar, Izzy Stradlin on rhythm guitar. Guns N' Roses was signed to Geffen Records in 1986 and released a four-song EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, on their own label, UZI Suicide, in December of that year.
Slash
| Birth name | Saul Hudson (Also known as Slash) |
| Born | July 23, 1965 Hampstead, England Origin London, England, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Hard rock, blues-rock, heavy metal, jazz rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, record producer |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Labels | UZI Suicide, Geffen, Koch, RCA |
| Associated acts | Guns N' Roses, Slash's Snakepit, Michael Jackson ,Slash's Blues Ball, Velvet Revolver, Hollywood Rose, Lenny Kravitz, Derek Sherinian, Poison, Myles Kennedy, Cypress Hill, Ozzy Osbourne, Avenged Sevenfold, Kid Rock |
| Website |
Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965), better known by his stage name Slash, is a American-British musician. He is the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he performed and recorded between 1985 and 1996. He later formed Slash's Snakepit and co-founded Velvet Revolver with his former bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, and his debut solo album, Slash, was released in April 2010.
Slash has received critical recognition as a guitarist. In August 2009, Time Magazine ranked him #2 on its list of the "10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time". He was also ranked #21 on Gigwise's list of the "50 Greatest Guitarists Ever"In 1983, Slash formed the band Road Crew, a Motörhead tribute band (named for the Motörhead song "We Are The Road Crew") with childhood friend Steven Adler. He placed an advertisement in a newspaper for a bassist, and received a response from Duff McKagan.
In 1990, a heavy metal video called "Hard N' Heavy" was released containing music, concert footage and interviews. The video included Slash and McKagan appearing with the band Great White at a "Children of the Night" Benefit concert in LA for abused homeless children, the performance helped raise money for housing to aid the underprivileged. He also performed at an anti-Iraq War festival in 2003.
Slash appeared as a recurring caricature of himself in Robert Evans' animated television series Kid Notorious which aired in 2003 on Comedy Central. As in real life, Slash is Evans' close friend and next-door neighbor. He appeared as the guest mentor for rock n roll week of American Idol (Season 8) on May 5, 2009. He has also had spots on the Drew Carey Show and South Park.
| Birth name | Ronald Jay Blumenthal |
| Born | September 25, 1969 New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | Guitar, vocals, bass, drums |
| Years active | 1989 - present |
| Labels | Bumblefoot Music LLC |
| Associated acts | Guns N' Roses |
| Website |
Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal (born Ronald Jay Blumenthal[1], September 25, 1969 in Brooklyn, New York City), is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer best known for being one of two current lead guitarists in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses. Ron Thal got the name "Bumblefoot" from the bacterial infection, which he learned about while helping his wife review for her veterinary exams.
Thal joined Guns N' Roses before they embarked on a world tour in 2006, filling the position vacated by departed guitarist Buckethead. He made his live debut with the band at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City on May 12, 2006. Thal performs some degree of guitar work on every track of the band's 2008 album Chinese Democracy.In 2008, Thal released his latest solo album, Abnormal, whose sales exceeded his previous solo efforts due to his exposure with Guns N' Roses. On December 23, 2008, Bumblefoot released an acoustic EP called Barefoot, where he took songs from his previous albums and made stripped-down acoustic versions of them.
In February 2009, Ron produced an instrumental metal guitar compilation disc entitled Guitars That Ate My Brain. He oversaw writing, recording and mixing for half the album (co- writing, engineering and mixing as well as guitar and bass playing by Jeremy Krull, drums by Dennis Leeflang), contributed his playing to the song "Disengaged" and mastered the album. Other artists on the album include Devin Townsend, Chris Poland, Shane Gibson, Dave Martone, Paul Waggoner, James Murphy and others.Richard Fortus
| Born | November 17, 1966 St. Louis |
| Genres | Hard rock, Alternative rock, Post-punk, Heavy metal, New Wave |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Labels | Geffen |
| Associated acts | Guns N' Roses, Love Spit Love, The Psychedelic Furs, Nena, X Japan, Rihanna |
| Website | www.gunsnroses.com |
Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is a professional guitarist who is most famous for being rhythm guitarist in Guns N' Roses.
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Fortus cut his teeth throughout the Midwest with his band, The Eyes. The four-piece alternative band independently released "Freedom in a Cage", which was produced by David Probst. After signing with Atlantic Records, they changed their name to Pale Divine. They subsequently toured the U.S. in support of their only album, Straight to Goodbye, opening for The Psychedelic Furs.
After The Psychedelic Furs split up, Fortus formed Love Spit Love with Richard Butler and Tim Butler. When The Furs reformed in 2000, Fortus joined the group as second guitarist and played on the live album 'Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live'.
Fortus has since left Love Spit Love and is now a member of Guns N' Roses, replacing Axl Rose's childhood friend Paul Tobias. In Guns N' Roses, Richard plays both rhythm and lead guitar. Axl is very pleased with Richard's work and has said, "He's an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. He really likes the pocket that Brain sets and the two of them click with Tommy so we finally have the real deal rhythm section, as Richard is a proven professional. Basically, Richard's the guy that we always were looking for."
On November 5, 2005, Richard's wife, Jen Fortus, gave birth to a daughter. Her name is Paisley Piper Fortus.
On March 2008 it was announced that Richard was one of the guest guitarist on the upcoming shows of X Japan at the Tokyo Dome.
Richard performed with Rihanna on her Good Girl Gone Bad world tour in 2007
In 2008 he also contributed as guitar player on the debut cd of Paramount Styles
Tommy Stinson
| Birth name | Thomas Eugene Stinson |
| Born | October 6, 1966 (age 43) Origin Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genres | Pop rock, hard rock, alternative rock |
| Occupations | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass, guitar, vocals |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Twin/Tone, Sire, Reprise, Medium Cool, Restless, Rykodisc, Santuary, Legacy, Geffen |
| Associated acts | The Replacements, Bash & Pop, Perfect, Guns N' Roses, Soul Asylum, Alien Crime Syndicate |
| Website | tommystinson.com |
After beginning to learn the bass at the age of 11, Stinson began playing and covering songs with his brother, Bob Stinson, and drummer Chris Mars under the name "Dogbreath" without a singer. After recruiting singer Paul Westerberg, Dogbreath changed their name to The Impediments and played a drunken performance, without Tommy, at a church hall gig in June 1980. After being banned from the venue for disorderly behaviour, they changed their name to The Replacements.
After signing to Twin/Tone Records, by label owner Peter Jesperson who also became the group's manager, they released their debut album, Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, in 1981 with an EP, Stink, following in 1982. The Replacements began to distance themselves from the hardcore punk scene after the release of Stink and, inspired by other rock subgenres, released their second album, Hootenanny, in April 1983. Hootenanny was played on over two hundred radio stations across the country, with critics acclaiming the album; The Village Voice's Robert Christgau deemed it "the most critically independent album of 1983". The band embarked on their first tour of the U.S. in April 1983, during this time Tommy dropped out of tenth grade to join the rest of the band on tour. The band toured cities such as Detroit, Cleveland and Philadelphia, but their intended destination was New York City, where they played at Gerde's Folk City and Maxwell's.
With a name selected from a contest hosted by New York radio station WDRE, Stinson, on guitar and lead vocals, formed his first post-Replacements group Bash & Pop in 1992 with drummer Steve Foley being added to the group, also formerly of The Replacements, along with his brother Kevin on bass and guitarist Steve Brantseg. Rumors were that Bash & Pop were a band in name only with Stinson recording the album, Friday Night Is Killing Me, mostly by himself along with a number of guest musicians. Steve, Kevin and Brantseg all contributed to the album, Friday Night Is Killing Me, along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers members Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, Wire Train's Jeff Trott as well as other musicians Greg Leisz, Brian McCloud, Phil Jones and Tommy Steel with the album being released in January 1993, through Sire/Reprise Records, to mainly mixed reviews.
Also in 1998, Stinson joined Guns N' Roses, and he has been their bass player ever since. His bass playing is featured prominently on the track Oh My God, featured on the soundtrack to the movie End Of Days, as well as their long-delayed Chinese Democracy album which was eventually released in 2008.
On November 24, 2006 at Cleveland's Quicken Loans Arena, Axl Rose called the Eagles of Death Metal (one of Guns N' Roses' opening acts) the "Pigeons of Shit Metal." Jesse Hughes, the Eagles of Death Metal's lead singer, told the New Musical Express that Stinson took his bass off and threw it on the floor saying "Fuck you, that's it" and threatened to leave the band. Stinson did not leave Guns N' Roses; however, the Eagles of Death Metal were fired from the tour. On December 2, 2006, Stinson issued a statement reading, in part: "Eagles of Death Metal were a suggestion of mine a while ago. Turns out they were the wrong band for our crowd. They were booed and did not play for as long as they were scheduled to. ... In the past I have thrown my bass. I have never thrown it at Axl or anyone else in the band nor has anyone thrown my bass back at me... yet. Axl has been a dear friend to me for nine years. We have no problem communicating and wish that people would stay the fuck out of shit they don't know anything about
Guns N Rosses
Rock group. While the band has gone through several different line-ups, the most famous version included Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin, Slash, Duff McKagan, and Steven Adler. Known for their raw heavy metal sound on stage and their rebellious, wild lives off stage, Guns N' Roses exploded on the music scene in the late 1980s.
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Genres | Hard rock, heavy metal |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Labels | Geffen, UZI Suicide |
| Associated acts | Hollywood Rose, L.A. Guns, Slash's Snakepit, Velvet Revolver |
| Website | www.gunsnroses.com |
Formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s, Guns N' Roses took its name from several groups that some of its members had played in previously, including L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. Rose and Stradlin had known each other from Lafayette, Indiana, where they both lived before Stradlin moved to California as a teenager. Rose came to his rebellious bad boy attitude naturally, having run into trouble numerous times growing up. Other band members shared connections, too. Stradlin and Slash had attended the same Los Angeles high school, and Slash and Adler were friends. The group was part of the L. A. heavy metal scene, which included Motley Crue and Poison. Unlike these other groups, however, Guns N' Roses avoided the popular trappings of big hair, tight pants, and heavy make-up. Gritty and grungy, they appeared to be as reckless and rambunctious as their music and made no excuses for their hard-partying ways.
Before landing a recording contract, Guns N' Roses released an EP entitled Live Like a Suicide. It contained four songs, two of which were covers of songs by Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. They signed a deal with Geffen Records in 1986 and the following year released their first full album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). Initially, the album failed to make much of a splash with its first single "Welcome to the Jungle."
To capitalize on their success, G N' R Lies was released in 1989. It featured the four songs from their earlier EP and four new tracks. While the ballad, "Patience," struck a chord with listeners, many people were outraged by the lyrics in some of the other songs. With its cavalier tone about killing a woman, "Used to Love Her" has been found offensive by many. And "One in Million" seemed to go out of its way to offend nearly everyone by including derogatory comments about African Americans, immigrants, and homosexuals.
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