Guns N’ Roses have been involved in their share of drama over the years, so keep reading to see their five most insulting diss tracks.
Back in the late ’80s, Guns became known as “America’s most dangerous band.” Led by fiery vocalist Axl Rose, the then-quintet had developed quite a reputation. It’s no surprise that some of that anger and attitude made it into their music.
The rockers have only put out a handful of really delicate, loving and happy songs, such as “Patience,” “Yesterdays,” “Think About You” and “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” Instead, many of them are about breakups, dealing with the perils of success and wanting to beat the sh-t out of journalists.
Only one Guns N’ Roses song directly names the enemy, but they still have a handful of other “diss tracks” that were reportedly inspired by someone or something. So, let’s get into the five most insulting songs that they’ve put out.
The Five Most Insulting Guns N’ Roses Diss Tracks
“Back Off Bitch”
If you’re having a hard time thinking of happy love songs by Guns N’ Roses, it’s because there aren’t many. “Back Off Bitch,” in particular, was representative of Rose’s complicated relationships with women when he was younger, including his own mother.
“I’ve been doing a lot of work and found out I’ve had a lot of hatred for women. Basically, I’ve been rejected by my mother since I was a baby,” the singer told Rolling Stone in 1992.
“I’ve gone back and done the work and found out I overheard my grandma going off on men when I was four. And I’ve had problems with my own masculinity because of that. I was pissed off at my grandmother for her problem with men and how it made me feel about being a man. So I wrote about my feelings in the songs.”
Other reports suggest that Rose initially wrote the song about his ex-girlfriend Gina Siler, whom he moved to Los Angeles with in 1982.
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“You Ain’t the First”
One of Guns’ shortest songs, “You Ain’t the First” is another Use Your Illusion I track that’s written for a woman that the subject didn’t get along with, or perhaps several women. Featuring backing vocals from other members of the band, it sounds like an acoustic campfire song — one that’s saying “fuck you.”
Seriously, if you’re looking for a song to send to an ex and you really want to hurt them, this is the one.
“To the bar!”
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“Get in the Ring”
We know you were waiting to see this one. It’s probably one of the biggest diss tracks in rock ‘n’ roll history, directly calling out various members of the press — “Andy Secher at Hit Parader, Circus Magazine, Mick Wall at Kerrang!, Bob Guccione Jr. at Spin.”
We won’t finish the line — you can look it up if you’re unfamiliar.
Complete with boxing sounds and a cheering audience, it’s Guns N’ Roses’ most vicious song of all time.
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READ MORE: 10 of the Nicest Things Axl Rose Has Ever Done
“Shotgun Blues”
Funny enough, this one directly follows “Get in the Ring,” so it seems as if Guns wanted to remind listeners that they meant business, in case the threats in the first song didn’t get the message across.
Many have speculated that “Shotgun Blues” was written about Vince Neil after the Motley Crue frontman sucker-punched Izzy Stradlin backstage at the MTV VMAs in 1989 for allegedly assaulting his wife.
This brawl led to a years-long feud between Rose and Neil, with both singers publicly challenging each other to a fight that never happened.
It was never confirmed that the song was written about Neil, so take the theory with a grain of salt. Regardless, it has some pretty ruthless lyrics, making it deserving of a spot here.
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“Sorry”
We picked a Chinese Democracy track for the last spot here to demonstrate that Rose still had spunk in his songwriting many years after the anger-filled Illusions came out. There are a couple of offensive tracks on the 2008 release, but “Sorry” makes us feel like we did something wrong even when we didn’t.
A lot of fans have questioned whether the song was written about Rose’s relationship with Slash, as the pair were not on speaking terms throughout the 2000s and exchanged some pretty harsh words about each other in interviews.
Rose denied that the song was specifically about Slash in 2008, and instead suggested that it was about multiple situations.
“With ‘Sorry’.. like a lot of the material is drawn from a lot of different situations. The main focus on the boards with the track seems to be either Slash or ‘the fans’ (and the collective of ‘the fans’ is another thing that doesn’t work for me) and is much too restrictive or narrow and limits what I feel I intended,” he said.
“For me it’s for anyone talking nonsense at mine and the public’s expense and that many of those as well as the public don’t know who to believe.”
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