Steven Adler was born today in 1965 in the Rock and Roll Capital of the World, Cleveland, Ohio. He was the original drummer in Guns n Roses and, according to bandmates, was an integral part of their sound.
"To Steven's credit, and unbeknownst to most, the feel and energy of Appetite was largely due to him." - Slash
"Without his groove, we wouldn't have come up with a lot of those riffs." - Duff McKagan
Adler moved to California after his parents divorced and he became friends with guitarist Slash while they were in junior high. Sadler's drug use, for which he is almost as his drumming, began by the time he was only 11 years old. It is something that would plague him throughout his life.
In 1984 Adler formed his first band, Road Crew (named after a Motorhead song), which included future GnR mates Slash and bassist Duff McKagan. Road Crew only lasted a year and Adler caught on with the band Hollywood Rose, which again included two future GnR members, singer Axl Rose and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin.
The original GnR lineup included Axl, Izzy, Tracii Guns (from L.A. Guns) and two others. Tracii and the two others left, Adler, Slash and Duff were added and the classic GnR lineup was born. The band was part of the infamous Sunset Strip scene and took part in every cliché and excess that 1980s rock had to offer.
In 1986 GnR released their debut album, "Appetite for Destruction". The album started slowly but would go on to sell over 30 million copies and become the biggest selling debut in history. (Here is more on "Appetite": http://www.elevenwarriors.com/forum/anything-else/2016/07/72323/guns-n-r... ) The band released the EP "Lies" in 1988 and it, too, was a smash hit. The band was touring heavily and had become the biggest band in the world.
Between 1987 and 1990 Alder had a number of drunken and drugged incidents that prevented him from playing with the band for various periods of time. A broken hand from a bar fight led to Alder missing part of a tour and drug rehab for his ever worsening heroin addiction caused him to miss an American Music Awards performance. In a band of hard partiers Alder was far and away the worst.
He was briefly fired from the band in 1990 and, in order to rejoin, was forced to sign a contract that would fine him $2,000 for every time he used drugs. The contract proved useless and Alder would only play on one track, "Civil War", on GnR's subsequent albums "Use Your Illusion I & II". It was the final studio recording on which Adler would be included.
Adler would later sue GnR over the contract, claiming what he thought was a $2,000 fine was really a $2,000 payment in exchange for signing over his royalty rights. Adler would eventually win the case and was awarded cash and a 15% royalty on his work.
He knocked around with various bands but none would approach the success of GnR. His drug use continued to worsen and an overdose caused Adler to suffer a partial stroke which left half of his face paralyzed. He was in and out of rehab, including an infamous stint on the VHS program Celebrity Rehab. If you haven't seen it and like Adler I recommend not watching. It wad incredibly sad to see the former fun loving drummer reduced to a mean, lying junkie.
Adler was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with GnR in 2012. He has been named to the Rolling Stone magazine Top 100 Drummers list and his early work is highly respected by rock fans. He played on one of Slash's albums and Slash guested on Adler's song "Just Don't Ask". He played a few songs on the recent GnR reunion tour but there is no indication that a true reunion is forthcoming.
