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50 free Guns N' Roses trivia questions with answers — music quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
42 free Guns N' Roses trivia questions with answers. Guns N' Roses went from the Hell House on the Sunset Strip to the best-selling debut album in American history in about two years, then spent the next three decades feuding, rioting, rebuilding and finally reuniting for one of the biggest tours ever staged. This Guns N' Roses trivia quiz covers the formation from Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns, the classic five, Appetite for Destruction and its banned cover, Lies, the twin Use Your Illusion albums and their epic videos, the St. Louis and Montreal riots, Slash's exit, the 17-year saga of Chinese Democracy, the Hall of Fame snub and the Not in This Lifetime... Tour. The 50 questions run from easy for anyone who has heard 'Sweet Child o' Mine' at a wedding to hard for people who own the Illusion box set. Every answer is checked against the band's documented history and interviews, not fan lore.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The band formed in 1985 from members of which two Los Angeles groups?
L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose
The name combined the two; rejected alternatives included 'Heads of Amazon' and, astonishingly, 'AIDS'.
Q 02Which five musicians made up the 'classic' Guns N' Roses line-up?
Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler
The line-up was finalised on June 4, 1985 and played its first show two days later.
Q 03What was the name of the disastrous 1985 road trip on which both of the band's vans broke down?
The Hell Tour
They hitchhiked with only their guitars; McKagan called it a defining moment for the group.
Q 04Which label signed Guns N' Roses in March 1986, offering full creative control and a $75,000 advance?
Geffen
They turned down more money from Chrysalis, which wanted to change their image.
Q 05What was Guns N' Roses' 1986 EP, marketed as a concert recording but actually studio demos with crowd noise?
Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide
Only 10,000 vinyl copies were pressed on Geffen's Uzi Suicide imprint.
Q 06Who produced Appetite for Destruction?
Mike Clink
KISS's Paul Stanley was rejected after suggesting changes to Adler's drum kit; Rose insisted on recording his vocals one line at a time.
Q 07On what date was Appetite for Destruction released?
July 21, 1987
It struggled for nearly a year until MTV started airing 'Welcome to the Jungle'.
Q 08Why was Appetite for Destruction's original cover art replaced?
Retailers found the painting too controversial
Robert Williams's painting gave way to a cross bearing skull caricatures of the five members.
Q 09Which label founder personally persuaded MTV to air the 'Welcome to the Jungle' video?
David Geffen
MTV played it once at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, and viewer demand exploded.
Q 10'Welcome to the Jungle' was partly inspired by a homeless man's shout at Axl Rose in which city?
New York
'You know where you are? You're in the jungle, baby; you're gonna die!' The song was written in Seattle.
Q 11Which 1988 Clint Eastwood film featured 'Welcome to the Jungle'?
The Dead Pool
It was the fifth Dirty Harry movie.
Q 12'Sweet Child o' Mine' began as a poem Axl Rose wrote for which girlfriend?
Erin Everly
It became the band's only Billboard Hot 100 number one, and Slash admitted he 'hated that song with a huge passion'.
Q 13How did the famous 'Sweet Child o' Mine' riff come about?
Slash was playing a 'circus' melody as a warm-up joke
Izzy asked him to play it again, added chords, and the band built the song around it in Sunset Strip jam.
Q 21At 8 minutes 57 seconds, what US chart record did 'November Rain' set in 1992?
Longest song ever to reach the Top 10
It peaked at number three, a record later broken by longer songs; the video was inspired by Del James's short story 'Without You'.
Q 22Which short story by Del James inspired the 'November Rain' video?
Without You
The clips for 'Don't Cry', 'November Rain' and 'Estranged' form an unofficial trilogy.
Q 23What triggered the July 1991 riot at the Riverport Amphitheater near St. Louis?
Q 14How many Guns N' Roses songs have reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100?
One
'Sweet Child o' Mine' is the lone chart-topper; 'November Rain' peaked at number three.
Q 15Appetite for Destruction holds what US sales record?
Best-selling debut album
It has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
Q 16Which song on G N' R Lies drew lasting controversy for its lyrics?
One in a Million
ACT UP later demanded the band be dropped from the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert because of it.
Q 17Which drummer replaced Steven Adler in 1990?
Matt Sorum
Adler was fired over his heroin and cocaine use after struggling through the 'Civil War' sessions.
Q 18How did the two Use Your Illusion albums debut on the Billboard 200 in 1991?
At numbers two and one
Released the same day, they sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide.
Q 19Which Guns N' Roses song appeared in Terminator 2: Judgment Day?
You Could Be Mine
It was one of the Illusion-era singles alongside 'Don't Cry' and 'November Rain'.
Q 20Which musician joined the band on piano for 'November Rain' at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards?
Elton John
The video won that year's VMA for best cinematography and was MTV's most requested clip.
Rose dived into the crowd over a fan's camera, then walked off
He said 'thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!'; a judge later ruled he hadn't directly incited the riot.
Q 24Which founding member quit on November 7, 1991, after a near-repeat of the St. Louis incident?
Izzy Stradlin
He cited Rose's behaviour, mismanagement of the band and difficulty being around Slash.
Q 25Which band co-headlined the 1992 stadium tour with Guns N' Roses that ended in a riot in Montreal?
Metallica
James Hetfield was burned by pyrotechnics, Metallica cut their set short, and GN'R's late, shortened set sparked the riot.
Q 26What was the 1993 album 'The Spaghetti Incident?' made up of?
Punk and rock covers
It debuted at number four and was the last album with Slash and McKagan until 2016.
Q 27Which Rolling Stones cover, released in December 1994, was the classic-era band's last recording?
Sympathy for the Devil
It appeared in Interview with the Vampire; tension over the session helped push Slash out in October 1996.
Q 28How did Axl Rose inform the world of Slash's departure in 1996?
He faxed MTV
Slash replied that the two had 'not been capable of seeing eye to eye on Guns N' Roses for some time'.
Q 29Which avant-garde guitarist, known for wearing a KFC bucket on his head, joined in 2000?
Buckethead
Brian Carroll replaced Robin Finck, who went back to Nine Inch Nails; he left in 2004, and Bumblefoot replaced him in 2006.
Q 30Chinese Democracy reportedly cost about how much to make, a record for a rock album?
$14 million
After years of delays it finally debuted at number three in November 2008.