Ex Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler reveals things he did to fit in

Former Guns N’ Roses drummer Steven Adler is looking back at the early years of his career.

Adler, 59, recently took a stroll down memory lane for Paramount+'s docuseries Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored Story of '80s Hair Metal, discussing his five-year stint with the band.

At some point in the documentary, the drummer revealed that his addiction was first an inspiration to fit in with the rock band.

"Who the h*** do you think I was doing them with? When I started doing heroin, I wanted to be a part of what [G N' R lead guitarist] Slash and [rhythm guitarist] Izzy [Stradlin] were doing," he recalled in episode 3. "I took two hits, I was never so sick in my whole life," the Guns N’ Roses alum said of heroin.

Adler then chronicles about how things gradually went down from there as he "fell in love" with the drug.

"And wouldn't you know what an a****** I am, I had to try it one more time," he continues. "And the third time was the charm. I fell in love with it," 

"I've always loved the whole team thing," Adler said. "That's why putting a band together was so important to me, where we work together and create something. And then when my team threw me out, I didn't know what to do."

Adler recalled how he was at the crossroads when he was fired from the band over addiction, meaning he could come out stronger or go to deeper pits of despair with the shortcomings that came with it.

"I know I could either have gotten better or continued doing what I was doing. I continued doing what I was doing. I was that hurt," the drummer added about his departure.

In an early '90s interview with MTV, frontman Axl Rose clarified how Adler's departure from the band went down during the recording of the 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

"Steven didn't leave the band," Rose said at the time. "Steven was fired. We gave him every ultimatum. We had Steven sign a contract saying if he went back to drugs, he was out. He couldn't leave his drugs."

So far, Adler has battled health problems—including a 1996 stroke—and faced a domestic violence charge in 1997. He also joined several other bands during his addiction.