When did you officially become a Guns N'Roses Fan? 😀🤔

[jamillos]

1992. I was 10, and they were everywhere. First I heard my sister’s cassette mix with mostly UYI songs, and I instantly liked Axl’s voice. Then I saw a poster and liked how they looked. Among the first videos I remember was the UYI stuff – Civil War from Tokyo 92, and Paris 92 broadcasted on TV. Axl walking and talking on the stage, spitting. I'd never seen anything like that. I only got the Appetite stuff a bit later. I remember how magical Axl seemed to me in Sweet Child and how it looked like a slightly different band… I started to perceive the other members subsequently, but it was Axl who made me a fan. 

[JoJo Bonetto]

1989, while watching a recorded VHS version of the Ritz 88 performance.

[k12]

1989 or so, familiar with songs like Welcome to the Jungle, Patience, SCOM and they were just cooler and sounded better than the other hair metal bands MTV was playing, got my first GNR album in summer camp as someone threw a Appetite cassette tape away as they thought it was dysfunctional as their cassette player ate their tape as they sometimes did, picked it up wheeled the tape back in and it worked fine, instantly got hooked on Appetite and they were my new favorite band.

[DSTK]

Use your illusion release, I was 8 & just discovering what music was...1st albums that got me hooked 

[axl666]

Watching November Rain on mtv in 92. If you weren't there it's difficult to get a sense now of how big they were. I remember flipping channels on TV and them being on 4 channels in a row. I'm not sure they were Taylor swift level big. They were definitely huge though, maybe a step down from swift level stardom.

There was an entire ecosystem of albums that came out within a short period of each other, like dirt, ten, black album, uyi, nevermind. It was a pretty amazing time to be into rock and metal.

Then I remember buying uy1 and hearing coma for the 1st time and my mind just being blown as a young person. Just the sound of it and the dynamics.

[F*ck Fear]

I was a little kid around 93/94. Been hooked ever since.

[there is no dana only zool]

52 minutes ago, axl666 said:

Watching November Rain on mtv in 92. If you weren't there it's difficult to get a sense now of how big they were. I remember flipping channels on TV and them being on 4 channels in a row. I'm not sure they were Taylor swift level big. They were definitely huge though, maybe a step down from swift level stardom.

There was an entire ecosystem of albums that came out within a short period of each other, like dirt, ten, black album, uyi, nevermind. It was a pretty amazing time to be into rock and metal.

Then I remember buying uy1 and hearing coma for the 1st time and my mind just being blown as a young person. Just the sound of it and the dynamics.

 

Didn't the November Rain video debut the weekend of the Paris 92 payper view??  I swear I remember watching the PPV and then the next afternoon like, NR debuting on MTV.  I could be wrong but... (actually, no, ChatGPT is telling me the PPV was like, 2 weeks prior to NR's airing, so, lol).

 

I think regarding "stardom" back then vs. now is that back then, stars were still only seen as just that: super-stars but still human and infallible.  So probably the equivalent to Swift was MJ but nowadays, musicians of that caliber (and athletes I find, too) are portrayed as though they are arguably literal demi-gods on earth.   I think that's unfortunate for both the fan base as well as the star cuz it's like, that's a hell of a lot of pressure on their shoulders, I bet lol. 

[hsvhsv28]

1990. First time my brother showed me jungle.

[Sisyphus]

July 1999.  I felt an instant connection. After just a few days of listening to Use Your Illusion 2 I proclaimed Guns N' Roses to be my favourite band. 24 years later and it is still my favourite band.

[Avillart]

On 12/19/2023 at 11:27 AM, there is no dana only zool said:

 

Didn't the November Rain video debut the weekend of the Paris 92 payper view??  I swear I remember watching the PPV and then the next afternoon like, NR debuting on MTV.  I could be wrong but... (actually, no, ChatGPT is telling me the PPV was like, 2 weeks prior to NR's airing, so, lol).

 

Yeah it was in June '92. Remember it vividly. That same month I got to be in MJ's "Give In To Me" video and it was exciting times in general. 

The change here in Europe in the early 90's made us travel around a lot and this included going to concerts, festivals, there was a new sense of freedom and adventure everywhere. I got to meet Axl without really "knowing" who he was. What GnR really was. Where I come from we didn't have a concept of celebrity and for some reason it was much easier to meet bands/artists back then. A friend and I got into the MJ video shoot, a local radio station in Munich/Germany was looking for all the extras. We were too young to really appreciate and get the magnitude of it all, to us it was just freedom. That same spirit got me to meet many bands back then, until I got into the industry myself later on and it became normal. 

Slash was the coolest to us back then, an icon, even people who didn't know GnR knew "the guy in the top hat". "November Rain" made me look into the music more and because of the video I (jokingly) told my sister I was gonna marry Axl Rose one day. A friend who came from a broken home and childhood trauma like me told me about Axl's own childhood and I understood why I had felt a connection.

After "Estranged" I lost interest (cause life and other bands) and I didn't follow anything GnR until Axl suddenly showed up in my dreams last year. In the first one GnR announced a comeback tour. I went on Google as I had no idea if Guns was even still a thing, if they were even still alive. Then they really announced the tour and I got nostalgic and went to check them out this summer. As fate would have it I got to be at their hotel in Germany and met them again - after 30 years. It was quite surreal cause nobody else seemed to know they were there and I had them all to myself, including TB, friends, family, even got to meet Frank's dog (few months back I didn't even know who Frank was lol) Andrei I had already met at a gig the week before and it all seemed like fated.

Edited December 20, 2023 by Avillart

[username]

It was 1997. I was 13 years old. The tv channel TMF (sort of a Dutch MTV) was showing a Top 90 of the 90's with music video's. They played KOHD live at the Freddie tribute. I was a GnR fan and a rock fan in general from that moment onward. It wasn't just GnR. There was stuff like Metallica, Nirvana and Queen as well that I learned about that day. But nothing made quite the impact GnR did. November Rain was #1 on that list iirc, but KOHD was the big eye opener for me. I managed to record a lot of those songs on VHS over the next few months and then recorded the sound on my old computer. Converted the wav's to extremely low bitrate MP3 files (because my old 486dx with 44mhz processor couldn't even play 128 kbps) and off we went. 

[jackparker123]

2004 I think. Second or third year of high school.

AFD was the first CD I bought, I then pretty quickly bought UYI, I also remember buying Lies at a record fare.

There's a picture of me somewhere of me and a friend with a lookalike of the Queen, and I'm wearing an AFD t-shirt from around the same time.

Edited December 19, 2023 by jackparker123

[Karice]

2 hours ago, F*ck Fear said:

I was a little kid around 93/94. Been hooked ever since.

Speaking of being a Guns N'Roses Fan as little kid, a Poster said something like,"My Nephew is only 5. For his 5 year birthday, he said he wanted a Guns N'Roses themed birthday party and we gave him the Guns N'Roses themed birthday party and he was very happy! 🤭😀😁

[Kosonen]

92-93

[there is no dana only zool]

17 hours ago, Avillart said:

 

Yeah it was in June '92. Remember it vividly. That same month I got to be in MJ's "Give In To Me" video and it was exciting times in general. 

The change here in Europe in the early 90's made us travel around a lot and this included going to concerts, festivals, there was a new sense of freedom and adventure everywhere. I got to meet Axl without really "knowing" who he was. What GnR really was. Where I come from we didn't have a concept of celebrity and for some reason it was much easier to meet bands/artists back then. A friend and I got into the MJ video shoot, a local radio station in Munich/Germany was looking for all the extras. We were too young to really appreciate and get the magnitude of it all, to us it was just freedom. That same spirit got me to meet many bands back then, until I got into the industry myself later on and it became normal. 

Slash was the coolest to us back then, an icon, even people who didn't know GnR knew "the guy in the top hat". "November Rain" made me look into the music more and because of the video I (jokingly) told my sister I was gonna marry Axl Rose one day. A friend who came from a broken home and childhood trauma like me told me about Axl's own childhood and I understood why I had felt a connection.

After "Estranged" I lost interest (cause life and other bands) and I didn't follow anything GnR until Axl suddenly showed up in my dreams last year. In the first one GnR announced a comeback tour. I went on Google as I had no idea if Guns was even still a thing, if they were even still alive. Then they really announded the tour and I got nostalgic and went to check them out this summer. As fate would have it I got to be at their hotel in Germany and met them again - after 30 years. It was quite surreal cause nobody else seemed to know they were there and I had them all to myself, including TB, friends, family, even got to meet Frank's dog (few months back I didn't even know who Frank was lol) Andrei I had already met at a gig the week before and it all seemed like fated.

Coooool!  Meeting the band and all that, getting to be in the MJ video, what a cool story!  I met Andrei once, too, after mistaking him for Fernando in LAX before the Vegas April 16 show lol.  He was really cool to me!

[Avillart]

4 hours ago, there is no dana only zool said:

Coooool!  Meeting the band and all that, getting to be in the MJ video, what a cool story!  I met Andrei once, too, after mistaking him for Fernando in LAX before the Vegas April 16 show lol.  He was really cool to me!

 

That's funny - I also mistook him for Fernando the first time. But it was during the gig and it was somewhat dark lol It amused him though and a week later he recognized me and we picked up where we had left and were still hanging at the hotel when everyone else had already left for the show. He was a sweetheart, as was Fernando. 

[©GnrPersia]

21 hours ago, username said:

It was 1997. I was 13 years old. The tv channel TMF (sort of a Dutch MTV) was showing a Top 90 of the 90's with music video's. They played KOHD live at the Freddie tribute. I was a GnR fan and a rock fan in general from that moment onward. It wasn't just GnR. There was stuff like Metallica, Nirvana and Queen as well that I learned about that day. But nothing made quite the impact GnR did. November Rain was #1 on that list iirc, but KOHD was the big eye opener for me. I managed to record a lot of those songs on VHS over the next few months and then recorded the sound on my old computer. Converted the wav's to extremely low bitrate MP3 files (because my old 486dx with 44mhz processor couldn't even play 128 kbps) and off we went. 

Very interesting. I became a fan during Axl's wilderness years too. Either 96 or 97 when I got a VHS which was basically an MTV music video selection.

There I watched Estranged, November Rain and Don't Cry. Estranged got me falling in love with GNR. In particular with Axl. I mean, I was so much obsessed with him that a teenager me was trying to mimick his walking, movements and all.

In those years I didn't have internet and rumor in my town was that Axl was dead cause of throat cancer. In 99, I checked internet for the first time and checked the band's website to see Live Era and OMG were released and Axl is alive lol

Fast forward to today, I'm hooked with Fatxl and his excellent current state of vocals. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by ©GnrPersia

[Seb91]

2006 when I was 14/15. I had been interested in Guns and was a VR fan. Got into rock music in a big way around 2005 when I was 13 and would watch Kerrang on the TV. This was peak Axl going off grid and I thought he'd retired or something had happened. Was then surprised to find out that there was a version of Guns around even if nothing seemed to be happening. Then the big 2006 comeback happened and I was very sceptical. My friends at school were very much in the 'it isn't Guns N' Roses camp' but I was still interested. Heard some live bootlegs and thought the band sounded incredible and loved the new material so was fully sold on NuGuns. Won tickets to the one of the shows at Wembley but my Dad ended up booking a holiday then so couldn't go. Ended up downloading the Rock AM Ring bootleg and playing that non-stop as a consolation. Was a full on GN'R nerd by then. Heard the leaks and was blown away then Chinese was actually announced. Remember being ridiculously stoked when Shackler's dropped (even if my friends were like 'what the hell is this?!' ). Met Bumble at a signing at Rough Trade at the end of 2008 and then finally in 2010 would see GN'R twice (Reading and Birmingham). Deep diving on Guns also got me into Bucket and Bumble's solo stuff and The Replacements. 

Edited December 20, 2023 by Seb91

[username]

36 minutes ago, ©GnrPersia said:

In particular with Axl. I mean, I was so much obsessed with him that a teenager me was trying to mimick his walking, movements and all.

For me it was Axl and Slash both. That Freddie Mercury Tribute just SO cool. Coolest thing I'd ever seen at the time. Nothing was more cool. The attitude, the sense of realness and unpredictability, the larger than life stage personas. Holy fucking shit that was cool to 13yo me in 1997.  I didn't really mimmick the movements, but I did start wearing the bandana and I wanted Slash's hair.  Mine is curly and a little frizzy, but definitely not enough. I think I started to grow it out somewhere in 1998 and didn't cut it again until 2005.

[SoulMonster]

On 12/19/2023 at 6:48 AM, SoulMonster said:

Summer of 1988. Family vacation to Germany. The girl I was in love with had already told me about this cool rock band. I heard Sweet Child O' Mine on the radio as we drove through Denmark. I wanted to buy some vinyl and while browsing through this record store in some city in Germany, I saw this raw album (Appetite with the original artwork). I deliberated for a while between buying it or buying some shitty pop album that was trending at the time (Sabrina?), but went with Appetite, mostly because I wanted to get with that girl. After the vacation I put in on the turntable back home and I was sold.  

I might as well tell the story of when I became a fan again. Because I lost interest in the 90s. The UYIs were great but then all the drama of the band, Axl's behavior, and the bloated live performances made me feel indifferent to the band. There was something immature and dated about it, especially compared to their peers at the time. And the songs had become more hit or miss, and obviously weren't written as a band anymore. It simply wasn't the band I had fallen in love with. No Izzy, no Steven, no cohesion, just guys obviously at odds with each other behaving all rockstarish. And I got into other music and artists which I felt was just as great. So I guess the band changed, but maybe even more so did I.

Fast forward to 2006 and I found myself getting interested again. I grudgingly started to admire Axl for his relentlessness, his ability to get up again after being knocked down, his refusal to throw in the towel. And he could still belt as hell. The live performances in 2006 blew my mind. This was better than the grating, saw-machine delivery of the 90s. It was still a freak show, but it wasn't a cohesive punkish gang turned into bloated rockstars, it felt more real again although very weird. And they did the old songs justice and also had new music which I really liked. So I sort of got into the band again for different reasons than why I got into the 1988 band. But it was still great, not in the way music can affect a 12 year-old boy, but still...

So here I am. 

[©GnrPersia]

1 hour ago, SoulMonster said:

I might as well tell the story of when I became a fan again. Because I lost interest in the 90s. The UYIs were great but then all the drama of the band, Axl's behavior, and the bloated live performances made me feel indifferent to the band. There was something immature and dated about it, especially compared to their peers at the time. And the songs had become more hit or miss, and obviously weren't written as a band anymore. It simply wasn't the band I had fallen in love with. No Izzy, no Steven, no cohesion, just guys obviously at odds with each other behaving all rockstarish. And I got into other music and artists which I felt was just as great. So I guess the band changed, but maybe even more so did I.

Fast forward to 2006 and I found myself getting interested again. I grudgingly started to admire Axl for his relentlessness, his ability to get up again after being knocked down, his refusal to throw in the towel. And he could still belt as hell. The live performances in 2006 blew my mind. This was better than the grating, saw-machine delivery of the 90s. It was still a freak show, but it wasn't a cohesive punkish gang turned into bloated rockstars, it felt more real again although very weird. And they did the old songs justice and also had new music which I really liked. So I sort of got into the band again for different reasons than why I got into the 1988 band. But it was still great, not in the way music can affect a 12 year-old boy, but still...

So here I am. 

My respect to you has increased because of this story and in particular your point of view about 2006.

[JAxlMorrison]

Hearing Mr. Brownstone for the first time in my friend’s kitchen. I’m confused as to when it was, but it was before Illusions. And I remember I bought Illusions I and my friend bought II. I was immediately hooked on Estranged and Don’t Damn Me specifically, (among MANY OTHERS, of course) looked at the liner notes, and saw they were credited to (Rose.) Became an Axl guy from then on. Was extremely disheartened when they disappeared the second half of 93, didn’t care for “Sympathy” all that much, and the waiting began. When Slash left, then Duff, and the whole “new band” thing began, I was extremely skeptical, but I remembered…Estranged, November Rain, Don’t Damn Me, Breakdown, and thought well, he can do this. Followed stuff as much as I could, and eventually got my hands and ears on Rio bootlegs thanks to Napster. Hearing “The Blues” made me go, yep, he’ll be fine! Euro cancellations were a bummer, but when 2002 fired up, I had a feeling about the VMAs, and swore I’d seen a rebirth and an excellent performance. Course I realized later, ok, that was a little patchy, haha.  Got tickets for both Philly nights, I was freshly 21, and I couldn’t wait. It felt almost like I would have a religious experience that night, but of course, I got nothing. Trying to find out what the F happened led me here and to HTGTH that very night, and I’ve been on the ride since. Silence from 2003-2006, basically, then the initial leaks, then to Hammerstein night one. Saw them again at MSG that year, but yes of course, the ChiDem rumored releases, and Axl’s hopeful/certain tone about the release, only for it not to show, that was a bitch. But I believed! Kept following, kept playing the hell out of whatever leaks came down the pike, much to the irritation  of my friends, and even fellow bar patrons, when I’d give the DJ my CD of said leaks (play #3, that’s the best one!) Things were quiet on and off til the Rock Band thing, the DiCaprio movie, and finally the leaked audio from the Best Buy conference. I know I’m rambling here, but it’s actually very therapeutic. The release date came, but like a lot of us, I’d mostly spoiled it for myself, though I was SURE Better and SOD would break big time…they didn’t. So then it became, alright just tour again! I didn’t mind the 2009-2014 era so much, though Rio, the Neil Young thing, and the Golden Gods were tough “losses.” But in the midst of all that I saw Axl tear the house down in East Rutherford, Camden and Atlantic City, Estranged and Civil War came back, and man those days were GREAT. Actually got to meet Axl for just a second in AC that night. I was hoping and praying for more music, but at the same time I was loving the live shows I got to see so much, as well as following along with everything here. I was a die hard Axl guy, F Slash and all that. So the reunion news was…cool. But it was also like man, I don’t want Axl to “regress” to just cock rock. That didn’t happen, and I’m delighted every time a new North American set of dates come up, and I always see them at least once. It’s still fun to be a fan, man, especially at live shows. That VIBE…it’s my total happy place. Despite the OBVIOUS flaws in how the band can operate, lack of news, no new music (at one point,) sometimes it feels like a little lack of respect for the fans, I’m still here. Axl became like a hometown football team for me. I’m just always pulling for him. And like an aging franchise QB, I know he can put on an MVP performance again, I just know it. It hasn’t always been easy, Hershey 2021 was it? That was a tough one, along with some YT vids where it was clear he was struggling vocally, and had lost what he had in 2016. But then I was at AC 2021 Night One, and goddamned if he didn’t kick motherfuckin ass there! Absurd was out, Hard Skool was coming, and it was all good stuff again. I was in Hershey again this year, and I usually watch whatever streams I can, especially pro shots when they happen. And now we’ve got Perhaps and The General. Hey, it ain’t how other bands do it, but if I could love another band like GNR, either I would, or I flat out wouldn’t want to. I’m here. Axl’s lyrics etc, Slash & Bucket’s guitar playing, Duff & Tommy, Dizzy, Fortus, Brain & Frank…they’re ALL my guys. And I’ll always be on their team as long as they’re still suiting up. Can’t wait to see what’s next, and I hope if there’s a next tour,  it’s similar to this year, with deep cuts, couple new songs, and a continuation of the energy and happiness Axl has shown, which to me, makes up for the struggles. Would I love a new record, or a ChiDem box set clearing the vault finally, or an Axl/Slash interview, or an Axl appearance on Rogan or Stern, or an Axl book? Fuck yeah. But I just take it as it comes, or I try to. I get frustrated like everyone else, but I just try to enjoy whatever we get and whatever that is, because one day, it’s all going to be over. 
Oh, and Axl’s lyrics helped me begin writing, which I’ll always be eternally grateful for. So I’m here, and I wait and anticipate, and appreciate, and hope. 
Man, thanks for this thread. That felt good haha. Never wrote it all out like that, and I’m sure I missed a lot! But thanks for reading, if you did. 

[Zeppelin]

Sometime in the early 90s. I remember my cousin would babysit me and he had a GNR poster on his wall. Always blasted them on the stereo (mostly AFD). He even looked like Axl, but had blond hair.

[Lies They Tell]

Not sure what it means to be OFFICIALLY a GNR fan. I was a kid during the Appetite and UYI days. My brother had some GNR music on tape – I think it was 'Don't Cry,' 'Don't Damn Me,' 'Bad Apples,' and 'Live and Let Die.' I liked it, and I remember trying to hold the note at the end of 'Don't Cry' as long as Axl did. I was about six years old at the time.

Later in the nineties, my brother purchased the actual CDs: AFD, UYI1/2, and Spaghetti Incident. I fell in love with 'Welcome to The Jungle' 'You Could Be Mine' and 'Coma' especially. I was a teen at that time.

At some point, I decided to take a look at what GNR is up to and learned that Slash had left the band, and GNR had new members. I listened to the new songs 'Chinese Democracy,' 'The Blues,' 'Madagascar,' 'Riad n' the Bedouins,' 'Silkworms,' and 'Oh My God.' I liked 'Chinese Democracy' and 'Oh My God' especially. I thought that what Axl was doing had a lot of potential, and he seemed ambitious, so I was intrigued. Waiting for 'Chinese Democracy' felt like an eternity at that time, even though, with hindsight, it wasn't even that long compared to how long we've waited for CD2.

My brother thought that GNR had become a joke, and so did a lot of other people during those years. So I couldn't really talk about GNR with anyone besides people online. I started visiting these forums, mostly chinesedemocracy.com. I remember the first leaks. I remember when Axl came to chat with people on all the main forums. He even answered one of my questions. I got to see GNR for the first time in 2006, and I guess at some point during all these years, I officially became a GNR fan. But I'm not really sure where the line goes between a casual fan and an official fan.

[janrichmond]

1987