Guns N' Roses have sold more than 100 million records worldwide, including 45 million in the United States, making them one of the best-selling bands in history.

Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in March 1985 when local bands Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns merged. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic lineup" consisted of vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler. The current lineup consists of Rose, Slash, McKagan, guitarist Richard Fortus, drummer Frank Ferrer and keyboardists Dizzy Reed and Melissa Reese.

Guns N' Roses heavily toured the West Coast club circuit during their early years before embarking on the Appetite for Destruction Tour. Their debut album Appetite for Destruction (1987) failed to gain traction, debuting at number 182 on the Billboard 200, until a year after its release when a grassroots campaign for the "Welcome to the Jungle" music video brought the band mainstream popularity. 

"Welcome to the Jungle" and "Paradise City" both became top 10 singles, with "Sweet Child o' Mine" becoming the band's only single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The album has sold approximately 30 million copies worldwide, including 18 million units in the United States, making it the country's best-selling debut album and eleventh-best-selling album. 

With their stylistic mix of punk rock, blues rock and heavy metal, the band helped move mainstream rock away from the glam metal era of the mid-late 1980s. In addition, they are credited with revitalizing power ballads in rock. 

Their next studio album, G N' R Lies (1988) combined an early EP, Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide, with new acoustic songs and reached number two on the Billboard 200, sold ten million copies worldwide (including five million in the U.S.), and included the top 5 hit "Patience" and the controversial "One in a Million".

Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, recorded and released simultaneously in 1991, debuted at number two and number one on the Billboard 200 respectively and have sold a combined 35 million copies worldwide (including 14 million units in the U.S.). 

On August 31, 2006, Axl Rose appeared on MTV Video Music Awards as a presenter, noting that the band would go on a North American tour on October 24. 

Five warm-up shows for the tour were held in September 2006, with two at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas two at Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and one show in Devore for KROQ's Inland Invasion 2006.The Chinese Democracy Tour 2006 was a concert tour by Guns N' Roses promoting their upcoming album Chinese Democracy. 

It started in May 2006 when the band launched a European tour, headlining both the Download Festival and Rock in Rio Lisboa. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City, and became the band's first live concert dates since the short 2002 tour. 

The shows also marked the debut of virtuoso fusion guitarist and composer Ron Thal (a.k.a. Bumblefoot) on lead guitar, replacing Buckethead. During the course of this tour, the band's former rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and Sebastian Bach made frequent guest appearances. 

The European dates played to over 700,000 people during 32 shows in 18 countries.Their first show after the 2008 release of Chinese Democracy was in Taiwan on December 11, 2009. In the same month, the group played South Korea for the first time, as well as two dates in Japan. 

The tour continued with concerts in North America, South/Central America, Europe and Australia. As of late 2010, the entire tour had attracted a total audience of about 4,000,000 people. The ten-year tour came to a close on the final day of 2011, with a New Year's Eve show in Las Vegas, making it their second longest tour ever, just behind Use Your Illusion Tour, as well as their most-played concert tour ever, with 239 total shows.