Formed in 1985 by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin, over 20 musicians have joined the band, Guns N’ Roses to this day. The band released 6 studio albums, 9 video albums, 2 compilation albums, 20 singles, 4 EPs, and many others.
Their riffs, style, attire, everything was marvelous, and they were also known as one of the classic rock titans, alongside Led Zeppli, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and Queen.
Throughout their career, the members went on ventures, private jets, girls, drugs, and tours, the amount of money they spent in the past three decades was ridiculous.
Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler, and Duff McKagan, the original members of the band helped Guns N’ Roses to get recognition in the mainstream of music, including other members who joined afterward.
We can probably say that each of them has managed to entitle a hefty amount of money to their bank. Let’s take a look at the amount the members managed to earn to this day.
Tracii Guns – $500,000
Tracy Irving Richard Ulrich was a founding member of Guns N’ Roses. Tracii played a huge part in the band, in 1985. Guns and Paul Black formed L.A. Guns and Axl Rose formed Hollywood Rose. The bans then merged together and Gun N’ Roses was formed.
Tracii was the guitarist for the band originally but after a short time, he went back to perform with his initial band. In search of a new guitarist, Axl Rose recruited Slash and he became one of the biggest guitarists in the world.
Guns N’ Roses became very successful but L.A. Guns also managed to gain fame and they’re still out there making music. The band has released over 19 studio albums and the former guitarist of Guns N’ Roses has $500,000 on his name.
Gilby Clarke – $5 million
Although the band was going smoothly they had to face many challenges and one was when Izzy Stradlin decided to quit the band during their ‘Use Your Illusion Tour’.
The band was midway through the tour and they desperately needed someone to take the seat of Izzy and that’s when Gilby Clarke came with the clutch. He managed to learn the band’s three-hour set in just three weeks.
Although Clarke managed to gain fame and even released his first five solo albums afterward, he didn’t stay with the group for long. Clarke was a temporary guitarist for the band. He went on his solo venture and joined with members of Metallica and Mötley Crüe in Rock Star Supernova.
Currently, the temporary guitarist of Guns N’ Roses holds $5 million in his bank account.
Matt Sorum – $10 million
The band faced another challenge when Steven Adler, the first drummer of Guns N’ Roses was fired. Matt Sorum became the helping hand when they needed a man, he gave lengthy Illusion performances 30 songs, and a 194-date tour.
However, in 1997, Sorum was told to leave the band by Axl when he said, “Without Slash there is no Guns N’ Rose,” to Rose. Later he also joined the supergroup Velvet Revolver which Slash, McKagan, and Scott Weiland formed.
The band released their debut album ‘Contraband’ in 2004, and it was an instant hit. They sold over 4 million copies of the album. Sorum again changed his team and joined another supergroup led by Alice Cooper, Hollywood Vampires.
When the 2016 reunion happened, Matt read about it on the internet and stated, “I can’t say that when it went down, I was completely happy with the circumstances,” to Rolling Stone in 2021. With all the moments he spent with Guns N’ Roses and other super teams, he managed to earn over $1m million.
Steven Adler – $15 million
Known for his songwriting and drumming skills for Gun N’ Roses, Steven Adler joined the band in June 1985. He was there with the group when they were struggling to make a name in the mainstream of music.
Adler stayed with them when they had everything to lose but when the success came knocking right at his door, he turned away. During a tour in 1him987 with Alice Cooper, Adler broke his hand when he punched into a streetlight after getting into a brawl at a pub.
Fred Coury took the place of Adler temporarily until he was recovered but again he as seen missing during the American Music Awards performance in January 1989. and Don Henley came to rescue the team.
It was stated that Steven Adler couldn’t make it because of the flu but it was revealed that he was in a drug rehabilitation program at the time. He was then fired from the band in 1990. Matt Sorum took the place of Adler after he left the band.
Adler didn’t take it lightly and sued the band. He demanded $2.25 million in back payments and 15% from all recordings he was featured on. Nevertheless, he provided the band when they needed the most and Stradlin agreed with it.
“Yeah, a big musical difference. … [Our songs] were written with Steve playing the drums and his sense of swing was the push and pull that give the songs their feel. When that was gone, it was just…unbelievable, weird. Nothing worked. I would have preferred to continue with Steve, but we’d had two years off and we couldn’t wait any longer” said Izzy Stradlin.
Tommy Stinson – $20 million
Thomas Eugene Stinson was the bass guitarist for one of the greatest alternative rock bands, The Replacements. After Duff McKagan quit the band, Guns N’ Roses stumbled upon Stinson who drummer Josh Freese recommended.
The role of Tommy Stinson in the band was quite complicated. According to Richard Fortus, his role was “ultimate musical director” during recordings and rehearsals when Axl Rose was away.
We can say that this title was perfect for Stinson since he was with The Replacements for so long and had joined Guns N’ Roses with multiple experiences. In 2014, after the group’s tour, Stinson announced his departure from the group after McKagan returned to his former group.
“I left it in a good way. I actually had to just start turning down tours because I was unable to tour; I got into a position, personally, where my personal life was going to prevent me from doing, I don’t know — it must have been about five tours that they called me to do, and I just said I can’t do ’em.”
Throughout all these years performing for three different bands and through his solo career, Tommy Stinson managed to make $20 million.
Izzy Stradlin – $28 million
There’s no denying that Izzy Stradlin was one of the iconic members of Guns N’ Roses. Izzy was one of the sole reasons why Guns N’ Roses managed to earn a name on the mainstream of music.
Alongside Axl, Izzy Stradlin was a founding member of Hollywood Rose in 1983. Izzy played a vital role in forming a base for the band during their early days. the only thing he didn’t like was staying in the limelight.
Everything was moving at a normal pace for Stradlin until an incident occurred on an airplane in 1989. He was then known by the name ‘Whizzy” after urinating publicly on an airplane. After that circumstance, Izzy decided to quit drugs and alcohol.
Although he detoxed from such things, his relationship with the bandmates also started to weaken. He started to go to tours on his own van instead of boarding on the band’s private plane. By the time when the band released ‘Use Your Illusion,’ Izzy decided to leave the band. “Once I quit drugs, I couldn’t help looking around and asking myself, ‘Is this all there is?’ I was just tired of it; I needed to get out.” he said.
During an interview, he revealed that he was getting tired of his bandmate’s behavior.“I didn’t like the complications that became such a part of daily life in Guns N’ Roses,” he said.
“This is right before I left – demoting me to some lower position. They were gonna cut my percentage of royalties down. I was like, ‘Fuck you! I’ve been there from Day One. Why should I do that? Fuck you, I’ll go play the Whisky.’ That’s what happened. It was utterly insane,” he added.
Although Izzy avoided fame and went on his solo venture he managed to earn $28 million.
Dizzy Reed – $40 million
Alongside Axl, Dizzy Reed was another member of the band who was with the group until 2016 from the ‘Use Your Illusion’ era. He was the keyboardist for Guns N’ Roses. Axl invited Reed to record their album ‘Use Your Illusion.’
After looking at how solid his work was, he was invited to stay in the band. Some of his crafts were “November Rain”, “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, “Estranged”, and many more. Reed was the sole member who stayed beside Axl and helped the band grow.
Slash and McKagan rejoined the group in 2016, and finally, some familiar old faces of GNR were seen at that time. Dizzy Reed didn’t gain popularity and during his 33 years with the band, he didn’t have many personal marks but has done multiple side jobs.
Reed dabbled in acting and even played with the supergroup, The Dead Daisies. With such accomplishments, Dizzy Reed’s net worth is estimated to be over $40 million.
Duff McKagan – $70 million
For more than a decade, Duff McKagan was the basis of Guns N’ Roses. He joined the band in 1985, as a replacement for bassist Ole Beich and stayed with the band till 1997 and parted ways again. He then joined the band again in 2016 and is still with them.
Fudd was the third member to join the band after it was formed in 1985. He came earlier before Slash and Adler. He performed his first five studio albums with the bands and even debited in the band’s debut album in 1987.
Despite his time with Guns N’ Roses, Duff had a great solo career. He debuted his first album “Believe in Me” in 1993 and his latest album “Tenderness” in 2019.
McKagan was also featured with a few popular artists including, Revolver, Walking Papers, Loaded, Neurotic Outsiders, and Velvet Revolver.
Slash – $90 million
Slash and McKagan were a few of those members who were known to have their legendary skills on their instruments. There’s no question that Slash’s guitar work is truly legendary and he will forever be known as one of the greatest guitarists in the history of rock.
Slash joined Guns N’ Roses the same year it was formed and became a world prominence in the late 80s. When the Rolling Stones Magazine named The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time list, Slash was ranked at number 65.
His works for Guns N’ Roses will forever be special. Slash’s solo from November Rain was so epic that it was on the list of Guitar World’s 100 Greatest Guitar Solos, ranking at number 6.
The legendary guitarist of GNR was even inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Outside of his music career, Slash has managed to earn revenue in multiple ways, he helped to design a GNR pinball machine, licensing to the Guitar Hero game franchise, and a 364-page coffee table book about the details of his Gibson Guitar collection.
With all the success, Slash has managed to make a net worth total of $90 million. And how does he spend his money you may wonder. “Snakes, guitars, and cars,” he told Guitar Player back in 1991. “I try not to spend too much on women.”
Axl Rose – $200 million
Now let’s talk about the man who has been the only consistent member of Guns N’ Roses for over 37 years, and the owner of the Gusn N’ Roses, Axl Rose.
There’s no question about why Axl Rose makes the most from the group. His net worth is estimated to be around $200 million. Rose did the most from the group, he didn’t only earn when the group was at its peak or during their reunion in 2016, he did more.
Rose toured as a solo artist under the Guns N’ Roses banner and attended over 350 blockbuster gigs. Although looking at Rose, his style and personality might be eccentric he was the most sober one in the group.
If we take a look at Slash’s biography it explains that Rose nearly quit the band in 1955, so he could get buy the business immediately. “I was blindsided by it, more or less a legal faux pas, but I’d be lying to say I wasn’t a little bit peeved,” Slash told MTV at the time.
He has played in the entire studio album and has also been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Guns N’ Roses.