The

discography Discography is the study and cataloging of published sound recordings, often by specified artists or within identified music genres. The exact information included varies depending on the type and scope of the discography, but a discography entry ...

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...

, an American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

band, consists of 17 studio releases (14 original studio albums, 2 cover albums and 1 re-recorded album), 9

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

s, 13

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s, 4

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

s, 27

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

s, 6

video album A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s and 25

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

s. After some early lineup changes, the group – consisting of vocalist Phil Lewis, lead guitarist

Tracii Guns Tracy Irving Richard Ulrich (born January 20, 1966), known professionally as Tracii Guns, is an American guitarist best known as the co-founder of glam metal group L.A. Guns, as well as the Supergroup (music), supergroups Brides of Destruction ...

, rhythm guitarist

Mick Cripps Michael Thomas Cripps (born September 28, 1962) is an Australian musician. His current musical project is The Long Shadows, previous bands include L.A. Guns, Burning Retna, Choir Boys, Mindphazer, The Brutalists, and several other groups. Career ...

, bassist

Kelly Nickels Kelly Nickels (; born January 5, 1962) is a French-born American bassist who has played in various bands including Sweet Pain, Faster Pussycat, and L.A. Guns. Career Early years Perret was born in Montauban, France, and moved to the Unite ...

and drummer

Nickey Alexander Nickey Alexander (a.k.a. Nickey Beat) is an American drummer. Biography Born Jeffrey Ivisovich, Nickey Beat lived in San Pedro, Los Angeles before moving to Hollywood to focus on music. There in 1977, alongside Cliff Roman and brothers, John and ...

– signed with PolyGram and released its self-titled debut album in 1988. It reached number 50 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and was certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA). Alexander was replaced by Steve Riley, and the 1989 follow-up ''

Cocked & Loaded ''Cocked & Loaded'' is the second studio album by American glam metal band L.A. Guns. Recorded at Hollywood studios One on One, Music Grinder and Conway Recording, it was produced by Duane Baron, John Purdell and Tom Werman, and released on A ...

'' reached number 38 on the ''Billboard'' 200. The single "

The Ballad of Jayne "The Ballad of Jayne" (originally spelled "The Ballad of Jane" on early pressings of the album) is a 1989 power ballad by American glam metal band L.A. Guns from their 1989 album '' Cocked & Loaded''. The song was said to have been written about ...

" gave L.A. Guns its debut on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

, reaching number 33. '' Hollywood Vampires'', released in 1991, reached number 42 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Three of the album's four singles charted on the

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

chart, and "It's Over Now" charted at number 62 on the Hot 100. After the band's fourth album ''

Vicious Circle A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the shor ...

'' failed to chart in the US, L.A. Guns was dropped by PolyGram and went through a number of lineup changes, with Lewis, Cripps and Nickels leaving in 1995. The band continued to issue new albums throughout the 1990s, with limited commercial success. The group also went through a long line of personnel changes: 1996's '' American Hardcore'' featured new vocalist Chris Van Dahl and bassist Johnny Crypt, the 1998 EP '' Wasted'' featured Crypt and vocalist

Ralph Saenz Ralph Michael Saenz (born May 17, 1965), better known as Michael Starr, is an American musician who is best known as the lead vocalist of the comedic glam metal band Steel Panther. Early and personal life Saenz was born in Chicago on May 17, ...

, and 1999's '' Shrinking Violet'' featured Crypt and vocalist

Jizzy Pearl James Wilkinson (born March 17, 1958), better known professionally as Jizzy Pearl, is an American singer and songwriter. He first fronted the band Data Clan, which eventually became Love/Hate. Pearl has also sung for L.A. Guns, Ratt, Adler's A ...

. The classic lineup of Lewis, Guns, Cripps, Nickels and Riley reunited in 1999 to record '' Cocked & Re-Loaded'', a new version of the group's second album. 2001's ''

Man in the Moon In many cultures, several pareidolic images of a human face, head or body are recognized in the disc of the full moon; they are generally known as the Man in the Moon. The images are based on the appearance of the dark areas (known as lunar m ...

'' featured Mark "Muddy Stardust" Dutton on bass, and 2002's '' Waking the Dead'' was recorded by a four-piece lineup of Lewis, Guns, Riley and

Adam Hamilton Adam Hamilton (20 August 1880 – 29 April 1952) was a New Zealand politician. He was the first non-interim Leader of the National Party during its early years in Opposition. Early life Hamilton was born in Forest Hill, near Winton, Southla ...

, after which founding member Guns left the band. After three albums without the guitarist, Lewis and Guns reunited for the first time since 2002 in 2016. In 2017 the band released '' The Missing Peace'', which reached number 16 on the ''Billboard'' Hard Rock Albums chart and number 12 on the

Independent Albums The Independent Albums chart (previously titled Top Independent Albums) ranks the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays (EPs) in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by '' Billboard'' mag ...

chart. ''The Devil You Know'' was released as the album's follow-up in March 2019. '' Checkered Past'' was released on November 21, 2021. Tracii Guns' version of the band released '' Black Diamonds'' in 2023. Steve Riley's version of the band released ''The Dark Horse'' on July 14, 2023. '' Leopard Skin '' was released in April 4, 2025.

Albums

Studio albums

Cover albums

Re-recording albums

Live albums

Compilations

Extended plays

Singles

Videos

Video albums

Music videos

Other appearances

References

External links