Guns N' Roses

Background:

Musician Matt Sorum achieved fame with the hit group Guns N' Roses, where he replaced Steven Adler in the band, who was fired because of drug addiction. While with the Los Angeles based hard rock group (1990-1997), Sorum recorded the highly successful albums “Use Your Illusion I” and “Use Your Illusion II” (both 1991) and “The Spaghetti Incident” (1994). He also supported the group in the “Use Your Illusion” tour and can be heard in Guns N' Roses' “Live Era: '87-'93” (1999) and “Greatest Hits” (2004). Starting out as a season musician in Los Angeles in the 1980s, Sorum had his first taste with success as part of The Cult in 1989. A decade later, after being fired from Guns N' Roses, he was reunited with the group and played the drums for their 2001 album “Beyond Good And Evil.” Currently, Sorum is the drummer of Velvet Revolver, a group he founded in 2002 with former Guns N' Roses band members Slash and Duff McKagan. The group has released two albums, “Contraband” (2004) and “Libertad” (2007). On his own, Sorum released a solo debut in 2003 called “Hollywood Zen.”

A noted drummer, Sorum has endorsed numerous drum companies, including Yamaha Drums, Drum Workshop and Ludwig. He also became one of the first musicians to back the Easton Ahead sticks, which are now used by such metal drummers as Lars Ulrich of Metallica and Joey Jordison of Slipknot.

Apart from his musical career, Sorum released a clothing line called Sorum & Noce in 2006. He cites spaghetti as his favorite food and enjoys watching the movie “Cool Hand Luke.”

Californian

Childhood and Family:

Matthew William Sorum, who would later be popular as Matt Sorum, was born on November 19, 1960, in Venice Beach, California, to parents who were of English and Norwegian lineage. As a child, Matt loved snakes. He began his musical career at age 15.

Matt was once married to a woman named Kai Sorum. He is a non-practicing Catholic.

Velvet Revolver

Career:

A native of California, 15-year-old Matt Sorum emerged as a local popular musician with his first band, Prophecy, whose noted member included lead singer/guitarist Jeff Harris. It was in one of the group's performances that he was spotted by local songwriter Stephen Douglas and subsequently offered a place among other local skilled musicians in a group called Chateau. The band went to Hollywood, but he decided to leave the group and launch his career with Hollywood-based groups like Population Five. He then began to tour with a blues guitarist and they played in bars and nightclubs.

A seasonal performer in Los Angeles during the 1980s, Sorum was hired by Tori Amos to play on the Y Kant Tori Read debut album in 1988. However, he did not earn his first breakthrough until a year later when he joined The Cult as the hard rock group's live drummer for the 1989 “Sonic Temple” tour. He recalled, “Then I'm with The Cult and for the first show, we opened for Metallica in front of 25,000 people. Cool, now it's true!”

His impressive performance on the tour caught the attention of Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash (born Saul Hudson), who offered Sorum a place in the group following the departure of drummer Steven Adler. Officially joining Guns N' Roses in 1990, Sorum enjoyed his first success with 1991's “Use Your Illusion I,” an album released with the “Use Your Illusion” tour. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard chart and went platinum seven times. It was soon followed by the more popular “Use Your Illusion II” (also 1991), which became No. 1 in the U.S. and U.K. He gained additional fame with performances in the extended “Use Your Illusion” tour.

“I got very rich very quick. A lot of people came around, people who weren't really my friends and I got caught up in the wild ride. I think I lived the dream of every kid who wants to be a drummer in a rock 'n' roll band,” Matt Sorum.

After the album “The Spaghetti Incident” (1994), Sorum teamed up with Slash and Gilby Clarke, a rhythm guitarist of Guns N' Roses, to form the rock group Slash's Snakepit and played the drums and percussion for the group's first album, “It's Five O'Clock Somewhere,” which was released in February 1995. Also that year, Sorum was heard in the theme song for the motion picture “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie” and founded the group Neurotic Outsiders, whose members also included Guns N' Rose bassist Duff McKagan, Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols and John Taylor of Duran Duran. The group released a self-titled album in 1996 and briefly embarked on a tour in North American and Europe before splitting up in the fall of 1996.

“I'm making a lot of money, but I'm not being a musician anymore. Somehow I've dug myself into a hole and my life has become more about my lifestyle and the money I'm making and not so much about my drumming,” Matt Sorum.

However, after Sorum returned to Guns N' Roses, Axl Rose fired him in 1997 after a dispute over Slash's departure. Sorum resurfaced the following year by releasing a drum instructional video that demonstrated his techniques. In 1999, he returned to The Cult and was featured in their 2001 album “Beyond Good And Evil.” He went on to spend 2001 touring with the group in support of the album.

In 2002, Sorum was reunited with Slash and Duff McKagan for a charity benefit. They then formed a new group together called Velvet Revolver, which also featured STP’s Scott Weiland and rhythm guitarist Dave Kushner. The hard rock group gained success with their debut album, “Contraband” (2004), which went on to earn multi-platinum certification internationally. The band supported the album by performing in a worldwide tour that ended in late 2005. In August 2005, Sorum broke his wrist in a yachting accident and took a break to let his arm heal and Velvet Revolver recruited drummer Mark Schulman to temporarily replace him during the tour. Meanwhile, outside of Velvet Revolver, Sorum launched a solo debut album titled “Hollywood Zen” in 2003.

In July 2007, Velvet Revolver returned with their second studio album, “Libertad,” which debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. The album spawned the singles “She Builds Quick Machines,” a Top 2 hit on the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart, “The Last Fight” (both 2007) and “Get Out the Door” (2008). To promote the album, the group toured South America with Aerosmith. In April 2008, vocalist Scott Weiland quit Velvet Revolver to join his STP band members.

Sorum has contributed to several soundtracks, including music for “The Italian Job” (2003), “Mr. 3000” (2004), “xXx: State of the Union” (2005 and “Fantastic Four” (2005). He also worked as a composer for such movies as “The Last Marshal” (1999), “Fish in a Barrel” (2001) and “Now You Know” (2002) and briefly appeared in the films “Bitter End” (1993) and “Soundman” (1998) and will appear in episodes of the upcoming series “Rock N’ Roll Fantasy Camp.”

Awards:
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