Ex Guns N' Roses Drummer Steven Adler Says He First Tried Heroin to Fit in with Bandmates Slash and Izzy Stradlin

Mar. 15, 2025

Guns N' Roses: Axl Rose, Duff McKagan, Slash, Izzy Stradlin and Steven Adler.Photo:Ilpo Musto/Shutterstock

Ilpo Musto/Shutterstock

Guns N' Roseshas had six drummers in its nearly 40 years of existence, and the one who helped steer them to fame in the late ’80s became the band’s first casualty of excess.

Steven Adler in 1985.Marc S Canter/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Marc S Canter/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

“Who the hell do you think I was doing them with? When I started doing heroin, I wanted to be a part of what [G N' R lead guitarist]Slashand [rhythm guitarist] Izzy [Stradlin] were doing,” he recalls in episode 3. “I took two hits, I was never so sick in my whole life.”

“And wouldn’t you know what an a—— I am, I had to try it one more time,” he continues. “And the third time was the charm. I fell in love with it.”

Steven Adler (left) and Slash.Marc S Canter/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

Eventually, his addiction got so bad that he was booted from the band. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the wake-up call it should have been.

“I’ve always loved the whole team thing,” Adler says. “That’s why putting a band together was so important to me, where we work together and create something. And then when my team threw me out, I didn’t know what to do. I know I could either have gotten better, or continued doing what I was doing. I continued doing what I was doing. I was that hurt.”

“Steven didn’t leave the band,” Rose says. “Steven was fired. We gave him every ultimatum. We had Steven sign a contract saying if he went back to drugs, he was out. He couldn’t leave his drugs.”

Guns N' Roses replaced Adler with Matt Sorum from the Cult. Adler spent many of the years that followed in a sort of rock & roll wilderness. He battled health problems (including a 1996 stroke) and had run-ins with the law (a domestic violence charge in 1997). He also joined several other bands while continuing to battle addiction.

Steven Adler in 2018.Michael Tullberg/Getty

Michael Tullberg/Getty

Since being inducted into theRock and Roll Hall of Famein 2012 as a member of G N' R’s classic line-up, Adler, who has had several sober stretches since 2008, has performed with the band on several occasions.

Whether he has regrets about how things ended, Adler is apparently grateful for his contribution to the Gun N' Roses legacy and his time in the band. “I just loved being part of a team,” he says, “and Guns N' Roses, the five of us, were a great f—— team.

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source: people.com