In Los Angeles, during 1983. Guitarist Tracii Guns formed the L.A. Guns with singer Axl Rose, bassist Ole Beich, and drummer Rob Gardner. Axl later quit to form Hollywood Rose and was replaced by Michael Jagosz. The band demoed in 1984, but Tracii and Rob left to reform with Axl as Guns N' Roses (named after L.A Guns and Hollywood Rose, not

Tracii Guns and Axl Rose) and L.A. Guns broke up. However, Tracii soon left Guns N' Roses because he didn't like the direction of their music and reformed his own band. Guns N' Roses replaced him with guitarist Slash. Tracii recruited Faster Pussycat drummer Paul Mars Black (who switched to vocals) and guitarist Mick Cripps (who switched to bass) and teamed up with drummer Nickey "Beat" Alexander. The L.A. Guns then recorded their first album, released in 1988 on Vertigo Records, L.A. Guns. The debut album spawned the singles "One More Reason" and "Sex Action" along with many other L.A. Guns classics. In 1989, they released their second album Cocked & Loaded. It contained the smash radio and video hit, "The Ballad of Jayne" which brought the album to platinum sales status (over one million sold). This was the commercial peak of their career.