Quiet Riot guitarist Alex Grossi recently recalled a chaotic incident from a past tour where singer Kevin DuBrow physically choked former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler on their shared tour bus. Grossi told the story during an appearance on Beardo and Weirdo.
Grossi detailed the physical altercation, explaining how a mess made by Adler led to a sudden and intense confrontation between the two musicians.
“Kevin actually choked. He grabbed… Remember when Homer Simpson used to grab Bart Simpson and choke him,” Grossi said. “He did that in the front lounge of the bus.”
Grossi went on to explain the cause of the fight, noting that Adler’s family had brought food onto the bus, which quickly led to tension.
“Yeah, cuz Steven got mouthy with him,” Grossi continued. “We were in Ohio where Steven’s from and his family brought like, you know, plates of spaghetti and ravioli for the bus. Steven, of course, made a mess and Kevin had something to say about it. Kevin choked him out. We had to pull him off him.”
Reflecting on the surreal nature of the moment, Grossi expressed how bizarre it was to witness the altercation as a fan of both bands.
“I’m sitting there going, my first record was Appetite for Destruction,” Grossi added. “I’m watching the guy from Quiet Riot choke out the drummer from GN’R. This is awesome. This is great. We would have sold more tickets if we let people just come on the bus. Cuz the shows weren’t very well attended.”
The story connects two major hard rock acts whose histories were marked by both commercial success and internal turmoil.
Adler was Guns N’ Roses’ original drummer and played on the band’s breakthrough album, Appetite for Destruction. He was formally fired on July 11, 1990, after continuing problems related to drug use and his ability to perform in the studio.
Adler later described the dismissal as a deeply painful moment. He said, “My heart was so broken, I wanted to die.” DuBrow, meanwhile, helped lead Quiet Riot to major success during the 1980s. The band’s Metal Health album became a landmark release for American heavy metal and helped make Quiet Riot one of the decade’s biggest hard rock acts.
DuBrow was fired from Quiet Riot in 1987 before later returning to the group. His outspoken personality and tendency to publicly criticize other bands contributed to a reputation for being confrontational, adding context to Grossi’s description of the bus incident.
Quiet Riot and Guns N’ Roses also crossed paths within the touring world of late-1980s and early-1990s hard rock. Grossi’s perspective comes from his later time with Quiet Riot; he joined the group during its later era and became one of its guitarists.
This incident remains one of the many wild stories from the band’s touring history.
