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Ex-Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler taken to hospital after reported suicide attempt

Steven Adler performs during the 5th Annual Rock Against MS concert at Los Angeles Theatre on March 25, 2017 in Los Angeles, Calif. Timothy Norris/Getty Images

Steven Adler, the former Guns N’ Roses drummer, has been hospitalized after reportedly inflicting stab wounds upon himself on Thursday evening.

The 54-year-old musician was found in his Studio City, Calif., home by local authorities after supposedly stabbing himself in the stomach.

A Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, Jeff Lee, revealed that his team responded to an emergency call on June 27, at around 6:30 p.m., for a potential suicide attempt, as reported by People.

“Upon arrival, LAPD officers determined that there was no crime and the incident was being treated as a medical emergency only,” said Lee.

Adler was quickly transported to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening injury, according to Fox News.

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Adler was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He joined Guns N’ Roses in 1985 and is best known for his work on the band’s debut album, Appetite for Destruction (1987). It spawned five smash-hit rock anthems such as: Welcome to the Jungle, Paradise City and Sweet Child o’ Mine. 

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Appetite for Destruction has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide since its release and has been certified 18x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Adler also recorded with the band for their sophomore effort, G N’ R Lies (1988), and a number of EPs.

Guns N’ Roses, from left: Matt Sorum, Steven Adler, Duff McKagan and Slash appear in the press room after induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, on April 14, 2012, in Cleveland, Ohio. Amy Sancetta / AP Photo

While recording Guns N’ Roses’ third and fourth albums, Use Your Illusion I (1991) and Use Your Illusion II (1991), Adler’s addiction to drugs supposedly interfered with his ability to play coherently, according to Entertainment Weekly.

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Subsequently, he was officially fired from the band in July 1990. He was replaced shortly after by Matt Sorum (The Cult).

Only one of Adler’s tracks from the Use Your Illusion studio sessions made it to the final album. That was Civil War — one of the band’s most successful hits.

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READ MORE: The Cult’s Ian Astbury talks Indigenous influence and the evolution of the band

Over the last three decades, Adler has struggled heavily with substance abuse and depression. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, he suffered a cocaine-induced stroke in 1996.

He later appeared on two seasons of Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab — in 2005 and 2008 — as well as the inaugural season of its unpopular spin-off show, Sober House (2009), in an attempt to become sober.

WATCH: Steven Adler jams out to Guns N’ Roses classic ‘Rocket Queen’

On April 14, 2012, Adler was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He joined the rest of the Guns N’ Roses band members, including former bandmates, Slash and Duff McKagan, onstage in Cleveland.

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During the band’s recent Not in This Lifetime… reunion tour, Adler joined Guns N’ Roses onstage for the first time in more than 25 years on July 6, 2016, in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he performed Out Ta Get Me and My Michelle.

Furthermore, he played four additional performances with the band, including one in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

READ MORE: Slash confirms new Guns N’ Roses music in the works

While Adler never rejoined Guns ‘N Roses, he started a number of his own solo bands, including the recently rejuvenated Adler’s Appetite and the now-disbanded Adler.

Currently, Adler’s status is unknown. Global News reached out to a representative for Adler on Friday, and as of this writing, they have not yet made comment.

adam.wallis@globalnews.ca
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