[2] Adler grew up in the San Fernando Valley until the age of 13, when he was sent to live with his grandparents in Hollywood due to his bad behavior.

[2] After ninth grade, Adler returned to his parents' house in the Valley for the remainder of high school,[6][8] during which time he learned to play drums.

Slash disbanded the group the following year due to their inability to find an adequate lead vocalist, as well as Adler's laziness compared to himself and McKagan.

[16] In December, during a tour with Alice Cooper, an intoxicated Adler broke his hand when he punched a streetlight after a barroom brawl; Fred Coury of Cinderella was brought in as his substitute for several shows until he recovered.

[21] When problems in the studio continued, causing recording sessions to abort for several days at a time,[22] Adler was formally fired from Guns N' Roses on July 11, 1990.

In response to an interviewer's suggestion that the line-up change had turned Guns N' Roses from a rock 'n' roll band into a heavy metal one, Stradlin said, "Yeah, a big musical difference.

[28] They recorded an album and attracted attention from a major label, but due to Adler's persistent drug problems, the group disbanded shortly thereafter.

Adler then entered a prolonged, self-imposed exile from the music industry; he later recalled, "I wish I could say that I did a lot of traveling or self-improvement, but all I actually did was sit on the couch and get high—while the TV watched me.

"[2] A year after his dismissal, in July 1991, Adler filed a lawsuit against his former Guns N' Roses bandmates, contending that he was fired because the opiate-blocking drug he had been taking to aid his detox interfered with his concentration.

"[2] The case was settled out of court in 1993; Adler received a back-payment check of $2,250,000 and was granted 15% of the royalties for everything he recorded prior to his departure.

In 1996, Adler suffered a stroke and was briefly comatose after taking a particularly potent speedball—a cocktail of heroin and cocaine used intravenously—which caused a temporary paralysis of the left side of his face, resulting in a speech impediment.

[32] In June 1998, Adler joined the newly reformed hard rock band BulletBoys, along with future Guns N' Roses guitarist DJ Ashba.

[27] However, Adler's return to music was cut short the following September, when he pleaded no contest to two counts of battery stemming from attacks on two other women in separate domestic violence incidents.

With an ever-changing line-up due to members' previous commitments, the band toured the US and Europe throughout 2003 and 2004, playing mostly songs off Guns N' Roses' debut album Appetite for Destruction, as well as material by Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, and Queen.

[34] In January 2005, Adler's Appetite—minus Brent Muscat, who had departed the band—released through their official website a self-titled EP, which featured four original songs and the covers "Hollywood" by Thin Lizzy and "Draw the Line" by Aerosmith.

In July 2007, the group played another show at the Key Club, as part of their tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Appetite for Destruction, during which they were joined on stage by former Guns N' Roses members Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan.

[40] During the show's filming in July, an intoxicated Adler became so aggressive towards his cast mates that he was arrested at the Sober House premises.

He appeared on the track "Baby Can't Drive", along with Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea, Alice Cooper, and Nicole Scherzinger.

[47] Titled Back from the Dead, the album features guest appearances from Slash and John 5,[47][48] and was released on November 26, 2012, via New Ocean Media.

"[55] On the July 6, 2016 stop of the Not in This Lifetime... Tour in Cincinnati, Ohio, Adler joined Guns N' Roses for performances of "Out Ta Get Me" and "My Michelle", which marked his first appearance with the band since his firing in 1990.