Guns N' Roses was officially formed in 1985 when members of two bands decided to form a new group. The name comes from these 2 bands:

Hollywood Rose was a band Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin' were in. In 1985 Tracii Guns from L.A. Guns joined them and that's when GNR was born. Shortly after that, Tracii Guns was out, Duff joined Guns N' Roses, and soon after that, Slash and Steven Adler also joined.

The Appetite for Destruction version of the band started to exist in the middle of 1985.

The GN'R lineup of:

plays at the Troubadour in Hollywood, CA."A Rock N Roll Bash Where Everyones Smashed"

Duff had some connections in Seattle and booked gigs for the band. Tracii was replaced by Slash since he didn't show up for rehearsal.

Late 1985:

Guns N' Roses played LA clubs like the Whiskey A Go-Go, the Roxy, the Water Club, the Troubadour and Scream. The sets used to begin with an intro tape of "What's That Noise" by the Stormtroopers Of Death. GN'R played early versions of original songs like "Welcome To The Jungle", "Reckless Life", "It's So Easy" and "Don't Cry". By the end of 1985 the band had already written fourteen original songs.

The band had to play covers to keep the club audiences happy. They played songs by Aerosmith ("Mama Kin"), Elvis Presley ("Heartbreak Hotel") and The Rolling Stones ("Jumping Jack Flash").

June 8th, 1985 - GN'R plays in Seattle with The Fastbacks. This is from Clark Humphrey's book "Loser The Real Seattle Music Story":

Fastbacks-Silly Killers-Vains-Fartz-10 Minute Warning vet Duff McKagan returned from L.A. to perform one show at the Omni Room. It was the first show on the first tour by his new band, first called Hollywood Rose but by then known as Guns n' Roses (the Fastbacks opened). The band hitchhiked part of the way when its van broke down on Interstate 5; the guys only received $50 of their promised $250 fee for a gig only 13 people saw.

GN'R rehearsed for a couple of days and started The Hell Tour. The trip to Seattle wasn't a success. After driving 100 miles their car broke down. They had to hitchhike and when they arrived in Seattle no one cared about them. Most of the shows had been cancelled and they only got $50 a show instead of the promised $250.

GN'R went back to Los Angeles and continued to rehearse. Their "home" on Sunset Boulevard was called The Hell House. They hadn't money so they lived on cheap wine and biscuits.