They are one of the most recognizable and popular rock bands of all time, but they’ve had their fair share of lineup change issues over the years. We’re talking, of course, about Guns N’ Roses, a band that’s had more members come and go than spring rainstorms. One of those members was OG guitarist Izzy Stradlin (born Jeffrey Isbell), who left the famous band in 1991 when they were at the height of their fame (he would return a few times many years later). But what triggered the separation in the first place?
Why did Izzy Stradlin leave Guns N’ Roses?
Stradlin, born in 1962, was a founding member of the famous band, which formed in 1985. He was part of the classic lineup that included singer Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, bass player Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler.
Stradlin was instrumental in songwriting in those early years and appeared on the classic album Appetite for Destruction, which went on to sell more than 28 million copies.
He co-wrote/wrote classics like “Sweet Child o’ Mine,” “Paradise City” and “Patience,” from G N’ R Lies. The more popular the band got, the more legendarily debaucherous they became.
In 1989, while opening for The Rolling Stones, Stradlin called out Slash on stage and threatened to quit if he didn’t stop “dancing with Mr. Brownstone” aka doing heroin, something Slash covered at length in his 2008 autobiography.
Still, he would stick around for the albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, and to co-write the hit songs “Don’t Cry” and “You Could Be Mine.” After a legendary peeing on an airplane incident, he got sober and started seeing things in a new light.
“I moved back to Lafayette because I thought it would be harder to score,” he said in a 1998 interview with Rolling Stone. “In the late ’80s, you had to go to Indianapolis or Chicago. It helped being far away from that. But you’ve got to really want to stop. Back home, I would never have thought to use that. But 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.”
There were other issues as well. He didn’t like Rose’s famous diva behavior (showing up hours late, if at all) and he was also bothered by a management dispute that knocked down his royalty percentages. That was the last straw.
He would return to the band in 1993 for five shows to fill in for his replacement Gilby Clarke. He joined the band again in 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom and went on the road for 13 shows in Europe. His third time returning to the band came in 2012 after they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Stradlin did a few shows but famously refused to join the band for their current lineup, which reunited in 2016. The reason? The band “didn’t want to split the loot equally.”
Slash, in an interview with Classic Rock magazine, shared his side of the story. About Stradlin quitting drugs, Slash said:
“At that time, the fact that he quit wasn’t an issue. There was no judgement about any of that. I don’t think anybody judged anybody else on how they behaved outside of being able to show up and do the gig. I was admittedly resentful of that whole trip with Izzy leaving, because whatever had gone on for him that forced that sudden change, I was like, man, I died eighteen times prior to that! It didn’t faze me!”
He also said he was resentful of Stradlin’s exit and he didn’t really appreciate where Stradlin was “coming from.”
“But when he quit, he was looking at us going: ‘These guys are gonna f*cking die!’ My whole attitude was like: ‘I’ll get on with it. Don’t f*cking worry. I’ll manage.’ So there was a certain kind of resentment there – of not really understanding or appreciating where Izzy was coming from. In hindsight, I still sort of feel the same way, I guess, about that. Like, don’t worry about me.”
He said the band “wanted to work it out, but we couldn’t seem to meet eye to eye on the whole thing. So it just never happened.”
Who replaced Izzy Stradlin in Guns N’ Roses?
The first replacement for Guns N’ Roses guitarist Izzy Stradlin was Gilby Clarke. Clarke stayed with the band from 1991 to 1994. For the Chinese Democracy era, Guns had Paul Tobias.
The band’s current rhythm guitarist, since 2002, is Richard Fortus. Fortus is the longest-tenured continuous member of the band along with Axl Rose and Dizzy Reed. But will there be a point down the road when the band will get its Izzy back? Given Stradlin’s history of coming back temporarily yet not sticking around permanently, the best answer would be a hesitatingly murmured “maybe.”
