Richard Fortus

Biography:
Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Fortus cut his teeth throughout the Midwest with his band, The Eyes. The four-piece alternative band independently released "Freedom in a Cage", which was produced by David Probst. After signing with Atlantic Records, they changed their name to Pale Divine. They subsequently toured the U.S. in support of their only album, Straight to Goodbye, opening for The Psychedelic Furs.

After The Psychedelic Furs split up, Fortus formed Love Spit Love with Richard and Tim Butler. When The Furs reformed in 2000, Fortus joined the group as second guitarist and played on the live album 'Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live'.

Fortus has since left Love Spit Love and is now a member of Guns N' Roses, replacing Axl Rose's childhood friend Paul Tobias. In Guns N' Roses, Richard plays both rhythm and lead guitar. Axl is very pleased with Richard's work and has said, "He's an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. He really likes the pocket that Brain sets and the two of them click with Tommy so we finally have the real deal rhythm section, as Richard is a proven professional. Basically, Richard's the guy that we always were looking for."

On November 5, 2005, Richard's wife, Jen Fortus, gave birth to a daughter. Her name is Paisley Piper Fortus [Wikipedia]


Quote:

We’re fortunate to have found Richard who has this vibe kind of like Izzy but with amazing feel. The first thing I heard Richard play was the beginning of 'Stray Cat Blues' by the Stones and he did it with the right feel. Richard likes to play rhythm. He’s an amazing lead player and very technically skilled. He really likes the pocket that Brain sets and the two of them click with Tommy so we finally have the real deal rhythm section, as Richard is a proven professional. Basically, Richard’s the guy that we always were looking for. I think that we’ll go on to write some very interesting things with Richard and he’s already done some rhythm work and some leads on the album [GN'R press release with Axl interview, gnronline.com, 2002]

Me and Richard will be jamming and talking about old Yes music. And actually, the first song that me and Richard both learned to play was Rock N' Roll Hoochie Koo! [HTGTH, September 2010]

Fortus is super focused and disciplined [Live chat, March 2012]

Richard, he’s a great player, songwriter [Boomerocity, January 2013]

Richard and Bumble are two of my closest friends, just amazing, amazing musicians.[Nightrain chat, November 2013]