Santa Monica Blvd · Sunset Strip · the Valley · Donington · Tokyo · Paris · Buenos Aires · 1985–1993
Both pickups: two guitars at once.
Horacio Cambeiro, CC BY 4.0; Original uploader was אליבאבא at he.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
A two-guitar band from a mile of Los Angeles clubs. Throw the switch, then walk the Strip.
West Hollywood · 1984–1986
Guns N’ Roses start as members of Hollywood Rose (Axl, and Izzy on rhythm guitar) and L.A. Guns (Tracii Guns on lead).
A punk-style tour to Seattle is booked; Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner quit before the first show, and Slash and Steven Adler come in.
Five clubs and a record shop, all within a mile. Press a street number.
8801 Sunset · Tower Records building
In the Hell House days Slash sometimes slept in the Tower Records car park.
Late on 16 September 1991 a crowd was hammering on Tower’s locked doors on Sunset, waiting for Use Your Illusion I and II at midnight.
Slash came in through the trade entrance and watched the tills from behind the shop’s two-way mirror.
The record shop has gone. Look for 8801 Sunset at the east end of the Strip, from the street.
8901 Sunset · Whisky a Go Go
Guns N’ Roses played the Whisky on 15 April 1986.
Here on 23 August 1986 they played Sweet Child O’ Mine, Mr. Brownstone and Ain’t Going Down for the first time.
The Whisky has been on the Strip since it opened in 1964.
A working club on the corner of Clark Street. Shows most nights; see the venue’s calendar.
1200 Alta Loma Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069 · Book direct
A West Hollywood hotel on Alta Loma Road, just below the Strip, that makes much of its music history. Pictured: the Whisky on the Strip.
Check rooms
9009 Sunset · The Roxy
Guns N’ Roses played the Roxy on 18 January 1986, with Paul Black of L.A. Guns joining them.
That night held the first and only public performance of their song Good Night Tonight.
A working venue next door but one to the Rainbow. Buy a ticket to go in.
9015 Sunset · Rainbow Bar & Grill
The Rainbow opened on the Strip in 1972.
Slash’s booth is in the far back, where the band filmed part of the November Rain video.
Matt Sorum, who replaced Steven Adler on drums, says the Rainbow was one of his first hangouts in Los Angeles.
Still a bar and restaurant. Go in for dinner; Slash’s booth is at the far back.
West Hollywood
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9039 Sunset · Site of Gazzarri’s
Gazzarri’s opened at 9039 Sunset in 1967.
Guns N’ Roses are among the bands that played Gazzarri’s in the 1980s, when bands walked the Strip handing out flyers and trying to sell tickets to their own gigs.
Gazzarri’s, the Roxy, the Rainbow and the Whisky were the centre of the Strip’s hard rock scene in the late 1980s.
The old club has gone. A newer nightclub, Keys, has the site; see it from Sunset.
9081 Santa Monica · The Troubadour
On 6 June 1985 Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler played together for the first time as Guns N’ Roses, here.
The club calls that night the debut of the classic Appetite for Destruction line-up.
A show here on 28 February 1986, with the first live Out Ta Get Me, is the one the club says got them signed to Geffen.
Still a working club. See the frontage from Santa Monica Boulevard, or buy a ticket for a show.
The Hell House · Sunset Boulevard near North Gardner Street, Hollywood
After their first tour the band’s base was a storage room of about 12 feet by 12, behind 7508 Sunset Boulevard near North Gardner Street.
It had a roll-up aluminium door and no bathroom, kitchen or air conditioning. Izzy and two friends built a sleeping gallery from lumber they found behind it. Guitar Center was just over the road.
Izzy remembered it as a living hell; Slash sometimes chose to sleep in the Tower Records car park instead.
A private storage space behind a shop: named for its street, not pinned. Guitar Center is over the road.
Van Nuys and Canoga Park · 1986–1988
Sound City · Van Nuys, San Fernando Valley
In 1986 the band recorded a session at Sound City; the 2018 Locked N’ Loaded edition released it on two discs for the first time.
It includes early takes of Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and Rocket Queen, and a piano version of November Rain. Sound City took public bookings until 2011, when its owners closed it and sold much of the equipment.
A private studio building in Van Nuys, not open to visitors; named here, not mapped.
Rumbo Recorders · 20215 Saticoy Street, Winnetka (Canoga Park), San Fernando Valley
Early in 1987 the band spent two weeks on the basic tracks at Rumbo, then ten more days at One on One. The album took just under a month and cost less than $200,000.
Mike Clink chose it for Appetite for Destruction because it was a long way from Hollywood. Slash remembered that after a night in Hollywood they still had to be at the studio by noon.
Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille, Captain & Tennille, began building Rumbo here in 1977 and opened it in 1979. Dragon named it after a toy elephant he had at five.
Dragon and Tennille sold the studio in 2003. In 2009 LA Weekly found a closed gate and boarded windows, and two elephant statues still at the entrance.
Private property. Look from Saticoy Street only.
Donington Park · 20 August 1988
Monsters of Rock was held in a vast bowl in the middle of the racing circuit. On 20 August 1988 Iron Maiden headlined, and Guns N’ Roses, a year after their first album, came on early, after Helloween.
During their set two fans, Alan Dick, 18, and Landon Siggers, 20, died in the crowd. The band had to stop the show.
The organisers did not hold the festival in 1989, partly in their memory and partly so that new safety rules could be put in place.
Download, which began at Donington in 2003, comes back to the park on 9–13 June 2027.
A motor-racing circuit; the festival field is open on race and festival days. Download returns in June 2027.
Hollywood and the Strip · 1990–1991
Chaplin Studios (A&M Studios) · 1416 North La Brea Avenue, Hollywood
With Matt Sorum now on drums, the band went into A&M with Mike Clink, played the songs live in one room and cut the basic tracks of 36 songs in 36 days.
Slash and Axl then took Studios A and B at the Record Plant for guitars and vocals.
A&M Records had its headquarters and studios on this lot, built by Charlie Chaplin, from 1966 to 1999. John Mayer and McG bought the lot in November 2024 and gave it back the name Chaplin Studios at the start of 2026.
A private lot. See the gatehouse from La Brea Avenue.
Hollywood, Los Angeles
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Compare toursLate on 16 September 1991 a crowd was hammering on Tower’s locked doors on Sunset, waiting for Use Your Illusion I and II at midnight.
Slash came in through the trade entrance and watched the tills from behind the shop’s two-way mirror. At midnight 4.2 million copies went on sale in the US, then the largest album shipment ever.
Midnight, 17 September 1991. Slide each record out of its sleeve.
Tower Records building · 8801 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
In the Hell House days Slash sometimes slept in the Tower Records car park.
The record shop has gone. Look for 8801 Sunset at the east end of the Strip, from the street.
West Hollywood · New York · Las Vegas · Paris · 1985–1992
Rhythm side: Izzy Stradlin at the Troubadour and the Ritz; Gilby Clarke in Las Vegas and Paris.
A week after the albums come out Izzy says he will no longer tour; it becomes official in November. By January the band’s new guitarist is Gilby Clarke.
6 June 1985
The first night of the five
Still a working club. See the frontage from Santa Monica Boulevard, or buy a ticket for a show.
16 May 1991
Shannon Hoon sings two songs
Now a Broadway house, the Studio 54 theatre. Buy a ticket for the current show.
25 January 1992
Recorded in full
The University of Nevada’s arena. Go to a game or an event to see inside.
6 June 1992
Lenny Kravitz, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry
A trotting racecourse in the Bois de Vincennes. Go on a race day to see the stands.
Portraits: Izzy Stradlin in 2006, Slash in 2023, Gilby Clarke in 2012. No free photographs of them from these nights were found.
Tokyo Dome · Kōraku, Bunkyō, Tokyo · February 1992
The band played three shows at Tokyo Dome in February 1992, on a tour of 194 shows between 1991 and 1993.
Slash stayed on to play two nights in the same building with Michael Jackson.
A working stadium in Tokyo Dome City. See it on any day; go in for a game or a concert.
Tokyo Dome City, Bunkyō, Tokyo · Book direct
A high-rise hotel of 1,006 rooms beside the stadium where the band played three nights in February 1992.
Check roomsBuenos Aires · 17 July 1993
Estadio River Plate · Núñez, Buenos Aires
On 17 July 1993 the band ended the Use Your Illusion tour here: the last stop of a 27-country tour that played to more than seven million people.
It was the last time Slash and Duff McKagan played with Axl Rose until a partial reunion more than twenty years later. Slash told Guitar World the final show was great; he was simply worn out.
River Plate’s home ground. See the club’s site for stadium tours and match tickets.
Buenos Aires
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The Troubadour · 1 April 2016
On 1 April 2016 the classic line-up came back for a surprise show: the first time since 1993 that Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan had shared a stage.
The Troubadour opened in 1957 as a 65-seat coffeehouse on La Cienega and moved to Santa Monica Boulevard in 1961.
Where it is now
The Whisky, Roxy, Rainbow and Gazzarri’s site are a short walk apart on Sunset, with the Troubadour a few blocks south. Rumbo is out in the West Valley; Chaplin Studios is on La Brea.
14 places you can visit, from Santa Monica Boulevard to Núñez. The Hell House was a storage room people slept in, and Sound City is a private studio: both are named, not pinned.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Still a working club. See the frontage from Santa Monica Boulevard, or buy a ticket for a show.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working club on the corner of Clark Street. Shows most nights; see the venue’s calendar.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working venue next door but one to the Rainbow. Buy a ticket to go in.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Still a bar and restaurant. Go in for dinner; Slash’s booth is at the far back.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The old club has gone. A newer nightclub, Keys, has the site; see it from Sunset.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The record shop has gone. Look for 8801 Sunset at the east end of the Strip, from the street.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Private property. Look from Saticoy Street only.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A private lot. See the gatehouse from La Brea Avenue.
9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood
On 6 June 1985 Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler played together for the first time as Guns N’ Roses, here.
Still a working club. See the frontage from Santa Monica Boulevard, or buy a ticket for a show.
8901 Sunset Boulevard, at North Clark Street, West Hollywood
Guns N’ Roses played the Whisky on 15 April 1986.
A working club on the corner of Clark Street. Shows most nights; see the venue’s calendar.
9009 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
Guns N’ Roses played the Roxy on 18 January 1986, with Paul Black of L.A. Guns joining them.
A working venue next door but one to the Rainbow. Buy a ticket to go in.
9015 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
The Rainbow opened on the Strip in 1972.
Still a bar and restaurant. Go in for dinner; Slash’s booth is at the far back.
9039 Sunset Boulevard, at Doheny Drive, West Hollywood
Gazzarri’s opened at 9039 Sunset in 1967.
The old club has gone. A newer nightclub, Keys, has the site; see it from Sunset.
8801 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
In the Hell House days Slash sometimes slept in the Tower Records car park.
The record shop has gone. Look for 8801 Sunset at the east end of the Strip, from the street.
20215 Saticoy Street, Winnetka (Canoga Park), San Fernando Valley
Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille, Captain & Tennille, began building Rumbo here in 1977 and opened it in 1979. Dragon named it after a toy elephant he had at five.
Private property. Look from Saticoy Street only.
1416 North La Brea Avenue, Hollywood
With Matt Sorum now on drums, the band went into A&M with Mike Clink, played the songs live in one room and cut the basic tracks of 36 songs in 36 days.
A private lot. See the gatehouse from La Brea Avenue.
Stay
A West Hollywood hotel below Sunset, and the tower beside Tokyo Dome.
1200 Alta Loma Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069 · Book direct
A West Hollywood hotel on Alta Loma Road, just below the Strip, that makes much of its music history. Pictured: the Whisky on the Strip.
Check roomsTokyo Dome City, Bunkyō, Tokyo · Book direct
A high-rise hotel of 1,006 rooms beside the stadium where the band played three nights in February 1992.
Check roomsGo there
Strip and Hollywood music tours, River Plate’s stadium and the streets round Tokyo Dome.
West Hollywood
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Compare toursWhat’s on
Download returns to the Monsters of Rock ground in June 2027.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
The books by Slash, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler, and the albums made in the places on this page. No original Guns N’ Roses poster is in our store.
Slash with Anthony Bozza
The guitarist’s autobiography: the Strip, the Hell House, the Illusion tour.
Find the bookDuff McKagan
The bassist’s memoir, from Seattle to the Strip and after.
Find the bookSteven Adler
The first drummer’s memoir.
Find the bookGuns N’ Roses · LP, Geffen, 1987
Tracked at Rumbo in two weeks; a year later, No. 1.
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Find a copyGuns N’ Roses · 2LP, Geffen, 1991
Out at midnight on 17 September 1991; No. 2 in its first week.
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Find a copyGuns N’ Roses · 2LP, Geffen, 1991
Out the same midnight; No. 1 in its first week.
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Find a copyDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
16 of 16 places · 30 of 30 Moments
9081 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood
Before the band, Axl Rose sings at the Troubadour with L.A. Guns.
Guns N’ Roses start as members of Hollywood Rose (Axl, and Izzy on rhythm guitar) and L.A. Guns (Tracii Guns on lead).
A punk-style tour to Seattle is booked; Tracii Guns and Rob Gardner quit before the first show, and Slash and Steven Adler come in.
Axl, Slash, Izzy, Duff and Steven play together for the first time.
The show the club says got them signed, with the first live Out Ta Get Me.
A surprise show: Axl, Slash and Duff on one stage for the first time since 1993.
8901 Sunset Boulevard, at North Clark Street, West Hollywood
Sweet Child O’ Mine, Mr. Brownstone and Ain’t Going Down are played for the first time.
9009 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
A song played in public once, at the Roxy.
9015 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
Part of the November Rain video is filmed at Slash’s booth at the back of the Rainbow.
9039 Sunset Boulevard, at Doheny Drive, West Hollywood
The band are on the bill at the Strip’s pay-to-play club at Doheny.
A new club opens on Gazzarri’s site.
Sunset Boulevard near North Gardner Street, Hollywood
A 12-foot storage room off Sunset, a home-made sleeping gallery, no bathroom.
8801 Sunset Boulevard, West Hollywood
Slash sometimes sleeps in the Tower Records car park rather than the Hell House.
Use Your Illusion I and II go on sale at midnight; Slash watches from behind the mirror.
Use Your Illusion II enters the Billboard 200 at No. 1 and I at No. 2, together.
Van Nuys, San Fernando Valley
A session of the songs that would make the first album, released only in 2018.
20215 Saticoy Street, Winnetka (Canoga Park), San Fernando Valley
Basic tracks for Appetite for Destruction at Rumbo, then ten days at One on One.
The album comes out on 21 July 1987; by Christmas it has sold 200,000 in America.
As a favour to Geffen, MTV shows Welcome to the Jungle in the early hours; its switchboard jams with requests.
Sweet Child O’ Mine goes to No. 1 in America, and on 6 August 1988, almost a year after release, so does the album.
Daryl Dragon and Toni Tennille sell the studio.
1416 North La Brea Avenue, Hollywood
The new line-up plays the songs live in one room at A&M with Mike Clink.
Guitars and vocals are finished in Studios A and B at the Record Plant.
Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England
Two young fans die in the crowd during the band’s set; the festival is not held the next year.
254 West 54th Street, Manhattan (now the Studio 54 theatre)
A warm-up show filmed on 35mm, with Izzy Stradlin and Shannon Hoon.
Kōraku, Bunkyō, Tokyo
Three shows in Tokyo; Slash stays on to play with Michael Jackson in the same building.
4505 South Maryland Parkway, UNLV, Las Vegas
A week after the albums come out Izzy says he will no longer tour; it becomes official in November. By January the band’s new guitarist is Gilby Clarke.
A full show recorded with Gilby Clarke on guitar.
Bois de Vincennes, Paris 12e
Lenny Kravitz, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry join the band at Vincennes; Jeff Beck plays only at the soundcheck.
Núñez, Buenos Aires
The tour ends in Buenos Aires after 194 shows; Axl, Slash and Duff will not share a stage again for more than twenty years.
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