The decade in which they all shared their prime was the eighties. A decade of excess, exploration, party, girls, and a lot of fun. It all came to a roaring halt, however, when the Grunge wave hit in the early 1990's.

Almost immediately, many of the once "big" bands dropped from public view. Many disbanded while others struggled to keep their record deals and their lives going forward.

Metal, however, is amazingly making a comeback. When I say amazingly, I don't mean it in a surprised way. I know that metal, though out of the view of the "popular" music world, will live just as the then 32 year-old Brian Johnson predicted when he sang "Rock and roll ain't noise pollution, rock and roll will never die." I say amazingly as a slap in the face to the freaks who claimed metal was dead 3+ times before and then were proven wrong (Britain: late 70's punk movement was supposed to overtake metal; America: 1992 Kurt Cobain claims he killed heavy metal; America: As the 2000's roll by the late 90's "old-school" resurgence metal movement disappears).

Very few of the big hair bands are still selling-out arena shows, and only a few more are still together. However, reunions are occuring like never before. Look at Van Halen last year, performing for the first time with frontman David Lee Roth in over 24 years. Judas Priest in 2004 reunited with Rob Halford, and in 2005 Motley Crue sealed the deal to do their first tour with Tommy Lee in over half a decade. It is also common, however, to see the bands split into solo projects: Sebastian Bach from Skid Row, Mike Tramp from White Lion. Only a handful have been able to renew their deals with the labels, and the others that just couldn't hold onto their deals are now recording on their laptops and are releasing their music independently.

Many then-big (now small and relatively unknown, such as Night Ranger and Bulletboys) eighties bands can only afford to tour in California and the Eastern-part of the US, where their fan-base still holds true and loyal. A few managed to change their sound to appear to the modern-day styles (Def Leppard's Slang and Songs From The Sparkle Lounge, Bon Jovi's Have A Nice Day and Lost Highway). . Others have stayed true to their roots.

Now we get the chance to look at some of the information I have found on where your favorite band-members are now. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the time machine.

1. L.A. Guns: After a 1999 reunion with the classic line-up, lead guitarist Tracii leaves to form Brides of Destruction with the then former Motley bassist Nikki Sixx  in 2002. Vocalist Phil Lewis hires Stacy Blades to replace Tracii as lead guitarist, and the band continues to record and tour. Rips The Covers Off was released in 2002, and Tales From The Strip, the latest L.A. Guns critically-acclaimed album, was released in 2005. After the Brides machine failed, Tracii Guns reunited with longtime friend Paul Black (who recorded vocals on the original L.A. Guns demos) and released The Black List, a compilation of original L.A. Guns demos. With two different bands operating under the name L.A. Guns (Phil Lewis/Stacy Blades version and Tracii Guns/Paul Black), the fanbase remains split on which version is the "true" L.A. Guns. In 2007, Paul Black parted ways with Tracii's L.A. Guns and was replaced by Marty Casey.

2. Great White: The date was February 20th, 2003. Pyrotechnics caused a fire, and the rest was music history. Great White, best-known for their cover of "Once Bitten" and their climatic original "Rock Me", were brought back into the public's eye when pyrotechnics being used by the band sparked a fire at a Rhode Island nightclub and killed over 100 people including Ty Longley, the band's guitarist. The band has since toured in support of victims and families of the tragedy. Their manager was been charged with 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter with the fire incident and was sentanced for 15 years. In 2006, it was announced that Great White would reform with its classic line-up. Back to the Rhythm (2007) is Great White's first release with the classic line-up.

3. Poison: The Unskinny Bop pretty-boys have recorded 3 albums since their reunion in 1998. May 16, 2006, marked the 20-year aniversary of their debut album, Look What The Cat Dragged In, and all was well until August 25, 2006, when their singer Bret and bassist Bobby got into a small fistfight on stage in Atlanta. However, all now seems well: Posion's album of covers, Poison'd, was released in 2007, and the band is currently on the Live, Raw, & Uncut World Tour supporting their new live DVD of the same name. Bret has also been playing bachelor in VH1's reality series, Rock Of Love, and released a solo album named Rock My World in June, 2008.

4. Skid Row & Sebastian Bach: His bandmates fired Sebastian Bach in 1996 after the release of Subhuman Race after increasing tension within the band. In 2000, Skid Row reformed with new vocalist Johnny Solinger and toured as the opening band for KISS's Farewell Tour. They have since released Thickskin and their newest album, RPM, has a very updated punk-like sound.

Since being fired from his band, Bach has formed Sebastian Bach & Friends and released Bring 'Em Bach & Alive, a live album full of Skid Row hits. Then, in 2006, Sebastian starred in VH1's reality TV series Supergroup with other bug names such as Ted Nugent and Scott Ian. Bach toured with GN'R on their 2006 Chinese Democracy World Tour, and released his new solo album, Angel Down, in 2007.

Skid Row and their former frontman have been involved in a game of 'He said-, he did' over the past few years. In an interview with podaster Michael Butler, Rachel Bolan, Skid Row bassist, says that there is an almost zero chance that the group will ever feature their original line-up again.

5. KISS & Everyone Else: We all know that in the midst of the 80's, KISS underwent some major line-up changes. Let's focus on where the band is today and where some of their most well-known former members are.

KISS: After the Farewell Tours of the early 2000's featuring the last of the original line-up (and the newest KISS merchandise: a computer videogame), the band made a comeback in 2003 with their newest album KISS Alive IV and their comeback tour: Rock The Nation. KISS just embarked on a Japanese tour this summer. The band now features original members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons, with relatively new members Tommy Thayer (formerly of Black 'N Blue) and Eric Singer. In 2006, they performed on VH1's Rock Honors. The band is currently on their 35th Anniversary World Tour named Alive: 35.

Ace Frehley: Ace was dropped from the band in 1983 and was replaced by Vinnie Vincent. In 1987, he released Frehley's Comet, which was co-produced by Eddie Kramer. The album sold nearly 500,000 copies. He released 3 more solo albums. In 1995, he reunited with KISS on MTV Unplugged and released Psycho Circus in 1998. In 2002 he was once again dropped from the band. He played in the KISS tribute band on Vh1's Rock Honors with big names such as Slash, Scott Ian, Gilby Clarke, Tommy Lee, and Rob Zombie. According to Eddie Trunk, he has been sober for a few years and his new album is set for a fall 2008 release.

Vinnie Vincent: After Vinnie's departure from KISS in 1984, he formed the Vinnie Vincent Invasion with bassist Dana Strum. In 1986, he sued KISS for royalties that Vincent believed he was owed for performance and songwriting. That suit was found in favor of KISS, as Vincent was determined to be a salaried employee of the band. He tried to work things out with KISS by appearing on their 1992 Revenge album, but was dismissed from the project again. Vinnie is currently bankrupt and has dropped from the music world.

6. Motley Crue: After 5 years with lead vocalist John Corabi, the Crue reunited with Vince Neil and released Generation Swine (1997). Tommy decided to leave the band in 1999 to persue a solo career and was replaced by Ozzy drummer Randy Castillo in 1999 for New Tattoo. Unfortunately, Castillo died of cancer in 2002 and the band eventually fell through. Tommy Lee joined Rockstar: Supernova, and Nikki formed Brides of Destruction with Tracii Guns, while Vince Neil yet again toured solo. A reunion in 2004 proved successful, and Motley has since released a new live album and their latest studio album, Saints of Los Angeles, is a commercial hit. Nikki Sixx is also currently involved in his side project, Sixx AM, which is working currently on their sophomore release. They are currently touring with Sixx A.M., Trapt, Papa Roach, and Buckcherry in their own festival called CrueFest.

7. Warrant: In January 2008, Jani Lane reunited with Warrant, replacing singer Jaime St. James (who is now back with his original band Black N' Blue). They are currently touring. Jani Lane's side project, Saints of the Underground, released their debut album, Love The Sin, Hate The Sinner, in 2008.

8. Quiet Riot: On November 24, 2007, the music community lost one of the most sincere frontmen in heavy metal history. Quiet Riot lead vocalist Kevin DuBrow died of a cocaine overdose in his Las Vegas apartment. Drummer Franki Banali says there are no plans to continue without Kevin. Be sure to check out QR's 2006 release, Rehab, to hear the latest QR line-up at their best.

9. Twisted Sister: The hated rebels of 80's metal disappeared after their 1994 live album Live At Hammersmith. Frontman Dee Snider became a well-known radio DJ, and guitarist Jay Jay French made his living by managing metal bands such as Sevendust. The classic Stay Hungry line-up reunitied for a 9/11 benefit, and came back into the underground club world with their two new albums full of unreleased material entitled Club Daze. In 2004, they rerecorded their classic Stay Hungry album called Still Hungry to mark its 20th Anniversary.Since then, they have been touring (they released Live At Wakken DVD in 2005)and released an album/DVD set full of Christmas songs named A Twisted Christmas. However, Dee Snider says there are no plans for the band to continue except for the one-off benefit shows they have become known for.

10. Guns N' Roses: In 2006, the "New GN'R" returned with a world tour. Since then, there have been many release dates announced for their new album, Chinese Democracy, though the album has failed to appear on shelves. Leaks of the new, unreleased songs are common. The band currently includes Axl Rose, Dizzy Reed (keyboards), Chris Pitman (keyboards), Tommy Stinson (bass), Richard Fortus (guitar), Bumblefoot (guitar), and Frank Ferrer (drums). For more information on Guns N' Roses, see the Only-Rock Special on the GN'R band page (click on the blue Guns N' Roses link at the bottom of our home page).

I hope you've enjoyed catching up with your favorite bands. This page was updated on July 11, 2008, and currently includes all up-to-date information as of that date.