L.A. Guns is the name of a hard rock group formed in Los Angeles, California, of which two rival incarnations currently exist due to numerous line-up changes. The first incarnation of the group was formed, by Tracii Guns, in 1983 but disbanded in 1985 following its merger with fellow Los Angeles group Hollywood Rose, becoming the first lineup of Guns N' Roses. The same year, the group was reformed by Guns and singer Paul Black adding Mick Cripps 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 80's and early 90's. However, the group went through numerous lineup changes (with Guns being the only consistent member) and failed to regain mainstream attention.

The "classic lineup" of the group would reunite in 1999 and began recording new material. However, the group continued to change lineups and Guns eventually left to form the hard rock supergroup Brides of Destruction with Nikki Sixx of Mötley Crüe in 2002. L.A. Guns continued without Guns, bringing in guitarist Stacey Blades, however, following his decision to put Brides of Destruction on hiatus in 2006, Guns formed The Tracii Guns Band. The group's lineup consisted of former L.A. Guns members Black, Alexander as well as Jeremy Guns (though the lineup would eventually change), with the group eventually changing their name to L.A. Guns. Both groups continue to record and tour under the L.A. Guns moniker.

To date, L.A. Guns have released nine studio albums – L.A. Guns (1988); Cocked & Loaded (1989); Hollywood Vampires (1991); Vicious Circle (1995); American Hardcore (1996); Shrinking Violet (1999); Man in the Moon (2001); Waking the Dead (2002) and Tales from the Strip (2005), two extended plays – Cuts (1992); Wasted (1998) as well as a number of live and compilation albums.learn more about L.A Guns