Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of punk band Wasted Youth, and Scott Weiland (lead vocalist) formerly of Stone Temple Pilots.

Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum were members of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses.

However, disagreements with singer Axl Rose resulted in Slash leaving the band in 1996 and McKagan departing in 1997 shortly before Sorum was fired.

[6] Slash began working with the Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman and an unnamed bassist on a new project:[7] writing the music for what would become "Fall to Pieces".

[16] Recognizing that their musical relationship was still intact,[17] the trio began rehearsing with Todd[17] and Nelson, working on material that would become "Dirty Little Thing",[18] but eventually decided against forming a group with them.

A number of lead singers auditioned for the band, including Stephen Shareaux of Kik Tracee,[25] Steve Ludwin of Carrie and Little Hell,[26] Todd Kerns, formerly of Age of Electric,[27][28][29] Sebastian Bach, formerly of Skid Row,[30] Shawn Albro of U.P.O.,[28] Travis Meeks of Days of the New,[31] and Ian Thornley of Big Wreck.

[34] The band were also interested in auditioning Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland, who had become friends with McKagan after attending the same gym.

He was the one vocalist that I knew had the kind of voice that would serve what we were going to do: he had a John Lennon-ish quality, a little bit of Jim Morrison, and a touch of almost David Bowie.

[35] "Set Me Free" managed to peak at number 17 on the Mainstream Rock Chart[40] without any radio promotion or a record label.

[42] Prior to the recording of their debut album, Weiland took material that the band had previously written to his studio, Lavish, in Toluca Lake.

With engineer Doug Grean, Weiland rearranged the music to fit his vocals, eventually coming out with the songs "Big Machine" and "Dirty Little Thing".

[45] During recording, Weiland could only work for three hours a day due to a court order mandating that he stay in a halfway house.

[46] The marketing campaign for Velvet Revolver in the run-up to the release of the first album was profiled as part of the Frontline program The Way the Music Died, which included interviews with the band members and producers.

[56][57] Though they got clean in time for the recording of their new album, Slash felt that "[the band] lost [Weiland]" and "thought the overall spirit of everything was declining at that point.

[61] Following the completion of the album, Velvet Revolver performed for and inducted Van Halen into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with Weiland and Slash speaking on the band's behalf, on March 12, 2007.

[62] They released the EP Melody and the Tyranny on June 1[65] to serve as a precursor to the release of their new album, which featured two songs from Libertad, a cover of Talking Heads song "Psycho Killer" and a video documentary about the making of Libertad as well as a live video of the band performing "Do It for the Kids".

[88] Weiland also departed the cover band Camp Freddy,[89] which also featured Sorum, and reunited with Stone Temple Pilots,[56][89] before being fired in 2013.

Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge) was strongly rumored [91] due to his collaborations with Slash; Lenny Kravitz,[92][93] Chester Bennington of Linkin Park,[94] Steve Isaacs formerly of Skycycle and the Panic Channel,[95] Royston Langdon of Spacehog,[96] Donovan Leitch of Camp Freddy, Ours singer Jimmy Gnecco[97] and Scars on Broadway guitarist Franky Perez,[98] as well as previous auditionee Sebastian Bach.

[100] Slash, McKagan, and Sorum all contributed to the song "Kissed It" for the Macy Gray album The Sellout, which was released on June 22, 2010.

[102][103] Slash, McKagan and Sorum made a performance at the Road Recovery benefit concert on September 13 with a guest appearance from Kushner.

[104] Velvet Revolver reunited for a one-off performance with Scott Weiland at a benefit concert for the late John O'Brien, on January 12, 2012.

Kushner also stated it was then unknown what Velvet Revolver's plans were for the future after the reunion show; "I know everyone's got other commitments, but I think everyone's like, 'Let's get this thing done and get through this and then we'll see.

'"[106] In April 2012, Weiland remarked that he would like to reunite permanently with Velvet Revolver, saying that "if Maynard James Keenan can do it with A Perfect Circle and Tool, then there's no reason why I shouldn't go and do it with both bands".

[109] On May 12, 2014, in an interview at the MusiCares benefit concert, Slash told journalist Lucas H. Gordon that he "think[s] [they're] gonna audition a singer" in the future.

"[110] On June 29, 2014, in an interview to Totalrock radio, Duff McKagan talked to Hayley Leggs in Clisson France about the subject of a new lead vocalist for Velvet Revolver and revealed that there had been at least one audition for the role of lead vocalist, but said that the person that they auditioned did not properly impress the remaining members of the band.

[111] On December 3, 2015, Weiland was found dead on his tour bus around 9 pm, one day before he was to perform in Minnesota with his band the Wildabouts, which ended the possible reunion.

[113] Velvet Revolver's first album, Contraband, was described by Johnny Loftus of AllMusic as an "updated version of Guns N' Roses swagger behind Scott Weiland's glammy, elastic vocals.

"[48] David Browne of Entertainment Weekly stated that "[a]nyone expecting Use Your Illusion III, though, will be in for a slight buzzkill" and that "[t]he songs suggest the pop grunge of Weiland's old band more than the careening overdrive of GN'R.

"[116] Velvet Revolver's second album, Libertad, saw the band's style change with the presence of producer Brendan O'Brien, noted by AllMusic reviewer Stephen Thomas Erlewine.

[71] The New York Post commented that "Slash's guitar riffs throughout this new record are as aggressive as a caged cat" and "singer Scott Weiland's vocals are crisp and controlled yet passionate.