Velvet Revolver

As drugs, excess and Axl Rose's rampaging ego sent 1990s superstars Guns N' Roses into terminal decline, former members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum reunited for impromptu jam sessions in 2002 and - with the help of Stone Temple Pilots' front man Scott Weiland and Wasted Youth bassist Dave Kushner - the hard rocking super-group Velvet Revolver was born. Debut album Contraband (2004) became an instant success, shooting straight to the top of the US charts, scoring a UK Number 7 with the single Fall To Pieces and winning a Grammy Award for the track Slither. A performance at the Live 8 benefit concert in 2005 preceded second album Libertad (2008) and the band went on to tour with Aerosmith and Alice In Chains. In 2008 the wheels started coming off with the lads forced to cancel an Australian tour, Weiland entering rehab and album sales slumping. The band took an indefinite hiatus later that year with Weiland reforming the Stone Temple Pilots, Duff McKagan playing with his band Loaded and Slash embarking on a solo career.