Tracy Irving Richard Ulrich (born January 20, 1966), known professionally as Tracii Guns,[2] is an American guitarist best known as the co-founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns,[2] as well as the supergroupsBrides of Destruction and Contraband. He was also a founding member of Guns N' Roses, but left shortly afterwards and was replaced by guitarist Slash.[2]
Ulrich's uncle Ron taught him how to play guitar at a young age.
Ulrich attended Fairfax High in Los Angeles. While there, he met future L.A. Guns members Robert Gardner and Michael Jagosz. The three formed a band called Pyrrhus with bassist Dani Tull.[3][4] Ulrich (now going by Tracii Guns), Gardner, and Jagosz recruited Danish bassist Ole Beich for their new band in 1983, officially starting L.A. Guns after leaving Guns 'N Roses.[5][6]
L.A. Guns was formed by Guns in 1983, initially with singer Mike Jagosz, bassist Ole Beich, and drummer Rob Gardner. This lineup recorded the EPCollector's Edition No. 1 which would be the only release from the band with its original lineup.[7][8] After Jagosz was arrested in a bar fight, Bill Rose (later known as Axl Rose) joined the band as singer.[9][10][11] Rose had previously fronted Hollywood Rose, backed by Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber. Rose's stint in the band was short-lived, as Jagosz returned weeks later. Guns joined a newly reunited Hollywood Rose (alongside Rose, Stradlin, Gardner, and Steve Darrow) for a 1985 New Years show. Shortly afterwards, L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose merged bands to become Guns N' Roses, with the lineup consisting of Guns, Rose, Stradlin, Gardner, and Beich. Guns, Beich, and Gardner would exit Guns N' Roses just two months into the new band, with Guns leaving after an argument with Rose, claiming "It just wasn't fun anymore."[12] Guns was replaced by Slash, while Gardner and Beich were replaced by Steven Adler and Duff McKagan respectively, forming the "classic lineup" of Guns N' Roses.
Reformation of L.A. Guns (1985–2002)
Later in 1985, Guns and singer Paul Black reformed L.A. Guns, recruiting former Dogs D'Amour singer Robert Stoddard to be the new guitarist with the group, which was rounded out by Nickey "Beat" Alexander on drums and Mick Cripps on bass.[13] The group's lineup would change with Black being replaced by Girl frontman Phil Lewis, bassist Cripps switching to guitar, replacing Stoddard, and former Faster Pussycat bassist Kelly Nickels joining the group. L.A. Guns recorded their eponymous first album that was released in 1988 on Vertigo Records, charting at number 50 on the Billboard 200. On the first album's supporting tour, Alexander was replaced by former W.A.S.P. drummer Steve Riley with the lineup being regarded as the Classic lineup of L.A. Guns. This lineup remained until 1992. In 1989, they released their second album Cocked & Loaded, which charted higher on the Billboard 200 at number 38.[14] During 1991, the band released their third album Hollywood Vampires on Polydor Records. In 1994, they released their fourth album Vicious Circle, drummer Michael "Bones" Gersema played on parts of this recording as this was around the time Phil Lewis fired drummer Steve Riley in January 1992 after touring with Skid Row in support of Hollywood Vampires. Riley later returned to the band for the successful Vicious Circle club tour. After this, L.A. Guns were dropped from Polygram (Vertigo/Polydor) Records. Phil Lewis and Mick Cripps then left the band.[15]
July 1995 saw Guns and Steve Riley recruit vocalist Chris Van Dahl and guitarist Johnny Crypt (ex-Ripper, aka Johnny Crystal) after seeing them perform with their band Boneyard. Six months into recording sessions, Kelly Nickels left the band and Johnny switched to the bass. In 1996, the new L.A. Guns released their fifth record, titled American Hardcore. They toured throughout 1996 and into 1997 where Tracii let Chris go and was replaced by singer Ralph Saenz. Tracii, Steve, Johnny, and Ralph toured for the remainder of '97 and in early '98 released the six song EP Wasted. Halfway through the band's 1998 Rock Never Stops tour, Ralph quit to form his own band, forcing the band to find a new singer. Joe Lesté from Bang Tango and Jizzy Pearl from Love/Hate were considered as candidates, with Pearl getting the job. They toured in late 1998 and early 1999 and released Shrinking Violet, produced by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. This release was followed shortly by Crypt's departure.
In September 1999, the classic lineup of Tracii Guns, Steve Riley, Phil Lewis, Kelly Nickels, and Mick Cripps prepared to reunite. L.A. Guns set out on the reunion tour in October 1999 and recorded a live album in their hometown of Hollywood, enlisting Gilby Clarke as producer. The album, named Live: A Night on the Strip, was released the following year. After the reunion, Mick and Kelly couldn't commit to the summer 2000 tour, so they were replaced by guitarist Brent Muscat and bassist Muddy Stardust, respectively. Ratt and L.A. Guns teamed up with Warrant for a remainder-of-the-summer tour, which L.A. Guns dropped off in August due to booking problems. Mick Cripps again rejoined the band briefly in late 2000 to record an album with the band, entitled Man in the Moon, which was released on Spitfire Records in April 2001. L.A. Guns released the album Waking the Dead, the last album to feature Tracii Guns, in August 2002, produced by Andy Johns, to mainly positive reviews from critics and fans.[16] The future of L.A. Guns was in doubt until both Steve Riley and Phil Lewis told the Hairball John Radio Show that the band would continue despite Tracii Guns' involvement in Brides of Destruction.
Despite signing a deal with Spitfire Records, Tracii Guns left L.A. Guns during the recording of a new album,[17] to form Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx, initially with the name Cockstar, after Mötley Crüe went on hiatus. After a number of changes, the lineup was rounded off with singer London LeGrand and drummer Scot Coogan. They released Here Come The Brides, which charted at number 92 on the Billboard 200, in 2004[18] and was the first album featuring Guns to chart since Hollywood Vampires in 1991. Nikki Sixx would leave the group in October 2004. Initially Guns was to form a new band with the remaining Brides members and also offered his services to Axl Rose in a bid to join Guns N' Roses.[19] Eventually he continued with the Brides and Scott Sorry formerly of Amen was chosen as Sixx's replacement. Ginger of The Wildhearts was added as the band's second guitarist. The band then started writing for what would become Runaway Brides but soon after, Ginger departed the Brides.[20] The follow-up to Here Come the Brides, Runaway Brides, was produced by Andy Johns who had previously worked with Guns on the L.A. Guns album Waking the Dead. Three of the songs of the album were co-written by Nikki Sixx, written during the "Here Come the Bride" sessions with former guitarist Ginger also contributing writing on 3 tracks prior to leaving. The album saw a change in a style with it leaning towards a heavy metal sound in contrast with the hard rock/post-grunge sound of the first album. "Dimes in Heaven" was written as a tribute to recently deceased Pantera and Damageplan guitarist Dimebag Darrell.[21] After signing a new deal with Shrapnel Records, the album was released in Europe on September 13 and on September 27 in the US.[22][23] A video was shot for "White Trash" but both the album and the single failed to chart. With the formation of The Tracii Guns Band, later the second L.A. Guns, the Brides were put on indefinite hiatus.
Third Stint with L.A. Guns (2005–2013)
In 2006, Guns announced he was to perform a 'Best Of" tour with former L.A. Guns members Paul Black on vocals, Nickey Alexander on drums and former Brides live member Jeremy Guns rounding up the lineup on bass following a brief stint with Quiet Riot.[24][25] With The Tracii Guns Band touring, this put Brides of Destruction on indefinite hiatus in 2006. Eventually The Tracii Guns Band would become the second L.A. Guns. Drummer Chad Stewart eventually joined the group replacing Nickey Alexander. On March 4, 2008, Tracii Guns' L.A. Guns was announced as one of the acts of the second Rocklahoma festival.
In 2008, Tracii Guns' L.A. Guns signed a deal with Alexis Records and began working on material for a new album with producer Steve Thompson. Singer Marty Casey, of Lovehammers, was asked to co-write some songs with the band by bassist Jeremy Guns. Eventually Paul Black left the group and Marty was asked to replace him. They finished recording the album and set a release date for March 2009.[26] The group toured through 2008 and early 2009 and also recorded a pilot for VH1. While waiting for a release date to be set for the new album, as well as deciding on a new name for the band, Marty Casey returned to Lovehammers releasing new album Heavy Crown. Jizzy Pearl returned to front L.A. Guns for a summer tour while guitarist Alec Bauer departed the band.[27]
After a long-running dispute with Phil Lewis (Lewis had been touring as "Phil Lewis's L.A. Guns") over the name to the group, Tracii Guns disbanded his version of L.A. Guns in July 2012.[28]
Tracii Guns' League of Gentlemen (2012–present)
Guns live in 2006
In 2012, Guns formed a blues-rock band called "Tracii Guns' League of Gentlemen" with front man Scott Foster Harris, a one-time member of the L.A. Guns.[29] Harris, a native Texan, provides vocals for the League.[30] Other musicians in the band bass player Craig "Patches" McCloskey, drummer Doni Gray (L.A. Guns, Burning Tree), and keyboardist John Bird.[31] The band's music is inspired by British and American psychedelic blues and rock music from the 1960s and 1970s.
In June 2013, the band released their debut album, The First Record through Shrapnel Records. In August 2014, The Second Record was released, again with Shrapnel Records.[31]
Fourth Stint with L.A. Guns (2016-present)
In the summer of 2016, Guns teamed up with Phil Lewis for the first time in 14 years for a handful of shows under the name "L.A. Guns' Phil Lewis + Tracii Guns".[32] Under the "L.A. Guns" name, Guns and Lewis released a new album The Missing Peace on October 13, 2017.[33]
Sunbomb with Michael Sweet (2021)
On May 14, 2021, Tracii Guns and Stryper frontman Michael Sweet released the album Evil and Divine on Frontiers Records as a project titled Sunbomb. In an interview with the radio show and podcast The Hard, Heavy & Hair Show with Pariah Burke, Guns described the Doom Metal-influenced Sunbomb album as, the "first focused, I-don't-give-a-shit Metal album I've ever done."[34]
Sometime during 2017, Guns was approached by Serafino Perugino, President and A&R director of Frontiers Music SRL, about doing a solo album. Guns told Pariah Burke, "no way was I going to do an instrumental album." Eventually, Guns settled on the idea of writing and recording an album of music that reminded him of "what I used to listen to when I was a teenager first learning to play guitar." The result is an album of much heavier songs than Guns' usual songwriting for L.A. Guns or past projects Contraband and Brides of Destruction, though, Guns said, parts of the Sunbomb music are reminiscent of his playing in Devil City Angels. When it came time to choose a vocalist, Guns turned to Stryper's Michael Sweet, whom Guns told Burke he had befriended years earlier during a shared tour stopover in Massachusetts.
Evil and Divine also features drums by Adam Hamilton (L.A. Guns), Johnny Martin (L.A. Guns) playing bass on song "They Fought," and Mitch Davis playing bass on the other 10 tracks.
In 1999, Guns played a show in Hollywood, California with former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, who produced the L.A. Guns album Shrinking Violet in the same year, as part of his solo band with the performance being released the same year as 99 Live. In 2002, Tracii contributed guitars on the Clarke's solo album Swag,[36] with some of these tracks appearing on the 2007 compilation albumGilby Clarke.[37] Also in 1999, Tracii released his debut album Killing Machine, which was later re-released in 2004 with the new title of All Eyes are Watchin'.
Guns was also in Poison for a short time in early 2000, when C.C. DeVille departed the band for a month over a dispute.[2] Guns joined Quiet Riot in December 2005, a move that was to be short lived after he parted ways less than a month later.[24][25]
In October 2008, Steven Adler had formed a new supergroup with Guns called Guns of Destruction. The band's lineup rounded up by Adler's Appetite and Enuff Z'Nuff bassist Chip Z'nuff and singer Eric Dover of Sextus and formerly of Jellyfish and Slash's Snakepit. They were to make their live debut at the Key Club in Hollywood on November, 19 with "very special guests" in attendance.[40] However the group was to be short lived and Dover soon announced that he was not involved in the project.[41]
In 2014 Guns formed the Devil City Angels, featuring Brandon Gibbs (Cheap Thrills) vocals, Ricki Rocket (Poison) drums & Eric Brittingham (Cinderella) Bass. The self-titled debut album was officially released September 11, 2015.[46]
Matthew William Sorum is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. Sorum is currently on tour with Billy Gibbons, with whom he also records, is a member of the touring project Kings of Chaos, and is a former member of both The Cult and Y Kant Tori Read. Sorum was also a member of Guns N' Roses side projects, Slash's Snakepit and Neurotic Outsiders, and has released two solo albums, Hollywood Zen (2004) and Stratosphere (2014). He was the touring drummer for the supergroup Hollywood Vampires from 2015 to 2017. His latest project is Deadland Ritual, featuring Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, Billy Idol guitarist Steve Stevens, and Apocalyptica vocalist Franky Perez.
Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in June 1983. They are best known as the precursor for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, while they were aided during live shows by Rick Marrs, Andre Troxx, Daniel "DJ" Nicolson, Johnny Kreis and Steve Darrow. Rose, Stradlin and Weber, along with Kreis and Nicolson, recorded a five-song demo on January 1984. However, after a number of lineup changes, which includes Weber, Kreis and Nicolson being replaced by Slash and Steven Adler as well the departure of Stradlin, the group disbanded the same year.
L.A. Guns are an American glam metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns, Phil Lewis, Ace Von Johnson, Johnny Martin, Adam Hamilton and Shawn Duncan. 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 and failed to regain mainstream attention.
BulletBoys is an American hard rock/glam metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1987. The group's original lineup was composed of singer Marq Torien, guitarist Mick Sweda, bassist Lonnie Vencent, and drummer Jimmy D'Anda. The group released two successful albums and had a number of singles featured on MTV between 1988 and 1991. From the 1990s onward, the group went through numerous lineup changes, with Torien as the only consistent member. Their most recent album From Out of the Skies was released in 2018. The original lineup reunited for one-off shows in 2011 and 2019.
Brides of Destruction was an American hard rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2002. The band's last lineup consisted of singer London LeGrand (vocals), Tracii Guns and Scot Coogan. Previous members of the band were Nikki Sixx (bass), Kris Kohls (drums), Adam Hamilton (keyboard), John Corabi, Scott Sorry (bass) and Ginger.
Ole Beich was a Danish musician best known as the bass guitarist for the original lineups of L.A. Guns and Guns N' Roses.
Philip Francis Lewis is an English singer and musician, best known as the vocalist and occasional rhythm guitarist for the American glam metal band L.A. Guns. Born in London, Lewis has lived and worked in the U.S. since the 1980s but was privately educated at Royal Russell School in Surrey.
Steve Riley was an American rock drummer, best known for his work with Keel, W.A.S.P., and L.A. Guns.
Adler's Appetite, previously Suki Jones, is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 2003. The band's current lineup consists of namesake and drummer Steven Adler, vocalist Ari Kamin, guitarists Michael Thomas and Alistair James, and bassist Todd Kerns. Along with original material, the band performs covers of Adler's former band Guns N' Roses, primarily songs from the album Appetite for Destruction.
Collector's Edition No. 1,, is the debut extended play (EP) by American hard rock band L.A. Guns. Recorded in 1984 at Westwind Studios in Thousand Oaks, California, it was produced by Chuck Rosa and released in 1985 by Raz Records. The EP is the only release by the band to feature vocalist Michael Jagosz, bassist Ole Beich and drummer Rob Gardner, all of whom left shortly after its release.
Edward "London" LeGrand is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist best known for his time with hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe and Tracii Guns of L.A. Guns. After the group went on hiatus he formed another band with George Lynch of Dokken and Lynch Mob fame called Souls of We releasing their debut album Let the Truth Be Known in 2008. He also has a side-project named Rockstars on Mars whose demos can be heard on the band's Myspace page.
Shrinking Violet is the sixth studio album by glam metal band L.A. Guns, first released on June 1, 1999, through Perris Records, and is the only L.A. Guns album with singer Jizzy Pearl. The album was reissued, with bonus tracks and new artwork, on May 24, 2010, through Favored Nations. The album was produced by former Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke who also provided additional guitars on the track "Dreamtime".
Christopher Garrison Weber is an American musician best known as the guitarist and founder of the groups U.P.O. and Hollywood Rose. With U.P.O., he released two albums, No Pleasantries (2000) and The Heavy (2004), while the Hollywood Rose demos, recorded in 1984, were released in 2004 titled The Roots of Guns N' Roses.
The Roots of Guns N' Roses is a compilation album containing old songs of Hollywood Rose. It was released on June 22, 2004, by Deadline Music.
Souls of We is an American hard rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed in 2007. The lineup consists of London LeGrand (vocals), George Lynch (guitar) and Johny Chow (bass). Since 2009, Jordan Mancino has been the band's drummer, replacing Yael.
Robert Gardner is an American musician best known as the drummer for the original lineups of L.A. Guns and Guns N' Roses, and was also the backup drummer for Hollywood Rose.
Franky Perez is an American musician best known as a solo artist, touring vocalist of the Finnish metal band Apocalyptica, and as former guitarist for Scars on Broadway. He has also released three solo albums, Poor Man's Son, My 4th of July, and Addict, and performed with guitarist Slash in his live band before Slash assembled the touring band that backed him during his first full solo tour with Myles Kennedy. Perez has also collaborated with Slash's Velvet Revolver bandmate Dave Kushner, releasing songs under the pseudonym of DKFXP, as well as the virtual band Pusher Jones, contributing the song "Count Me Out" to The Avengers soundtrack.
The Missing Peace is the eleventh studio album by American hard rock band L.A. Guns.
↑ Foresti, Pietro (September 26, 2012). "Tracii Guns of LA Guns". Hardrock Haven. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
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