GUNS N' ROSES' 'Paradise City' Surpasses One Billion Streams On SPOTIFY

GUNS N' ROSES has joined Spotify's "Billions Club" with the band's classic song "Paradise City".

Billions Club is a playlist first launched in 2020 which includes all of the songs on Spotify that have surpassed one billion streams on the platform. After the achievement, Spotify gifts artists the Billions Club plaque.

"Paradise City" joins other tracks — including METALLICA's "Nothing Else Matters", AEROSMITH's "Dream On", SURVIVOR's "Eye Of The Tiger", ABBA's "Dancing Queen", PAPA ROACH's "Last Resort" and Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" — to reach the achievement. The milestone has reportedly been achieved by nearly 500 songs so far.

"Paradise City" is the third GUNS N' ROSES track to surpass one billion streams on Spotify, following "Sweet Child O' Mine" and "Welcome To The Jungle". All three songs can be found on GUNS N' ROSES' debut album, "Appetite For Destruction", which was certified in September 2008 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for U.S. sales in excess of 18 million copies. The LP has reportedly accumulated worldwide sales in excess of 28 million since its 1987 release.

The album's original cover, based on the Robert Williams painting "Appetite for Destruction", depicted a robot rapist about to be punished by a metal avenger. After several music retailers refused to stock the album, they compromised and put the controversial cover art inside, replacing it with a cover depicting a cross and skulls of the five band members (designed by Billy White Jr., originally as a tattoo),each skull representing one member of the band: Izzy Stradlin, top skull; Steven Adler, left skull; Axl Rose, center skull; Duff McKagan, right skull; and Slash, bottom skull. The photographs used for the back of the album and liner notes were taken by Robert John.

Neither Adler nor Stradlin have been part of the GUNS N' ROSES reunion tour that started in April 2016 and is continuing later this year with singer Axl Rose, guitarist Slash and bassist Duff McKagan.

Adler did rejoin GUNS at several shows on the tour, including three stops on the U.S. leg and one gig in Buenos Aires, Argentina, playing drums on two songs. Stradlin reportedly turned down a five-figure fee to participate, writing that the band didn't want to "split the loot equally."