Ole Beich (January 30, 1955 – October 16, 1991) was a Danish musician best known as the bass guitarist for the original lineups of L.A. Guns and Guns N' Roses.

Early life

Born in the city of

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport town and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban population of 71,698 (1 January 2022)

, Beich, in his youth, achieved a degree of fame amongst local musicians and fans. He played guitar with several Danish bands, and recorded an album in 1979 with a band called Rock Nalle & The Flames. He was also a member of

Mercyful Fate Mercyful Fate is a Danish heavy metal band from Copenhagen, formed in 1981 by vocalist King Diamond and guitarist Hank Shermann. Influenced by progressive rock and hard rock, and with lyrics dealing with Satan and the occult, Mercyful Fat ...

for a brief time, before deciding to move to Los Angeles in pursuit of a career in music.

Career

L.A. Guns (1983–1985)

L.A. Guns were first formed in 1983 by guitarist Tracii Guns and drummer Rob Gardner. The first lineup included Guns, Beich, Gardner and singer Michael Jagosz. The band recorded an EP '' Collector's Edition No. 1''. Shortly after, Jagosz left the band following an arrest involving a bar fight and was replaced by Bill Bailey (who would later change his name to

Axl Rose W. Axl Rose (born William Bruce Rose Jr.; born February 6, 1962) is an American musician. He is best known for being the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, and has been the band's sole constant member since its incep ...

). Bailey had previously fronted Rapidfire with Kevin Lawrence and

Hollywood Rose Hollywood Rose was an American glam metal group formed in 1983. They are best known as the precursor for what would eventually become Guns N' Roses. The group was founded by Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Chris Weber, while they were aided during l ...

with

Izzy Stradlin Jeffrey Dean Isbell (born April 8, 1962), best known as Izzy Stradlin, is an American guitarist. He was a co-founder and rhythm guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, which he left at the height of their fame in 1991, and with whom he r ...

and

Chris Weber Christopher Garrison Weber (born October 16, 1966) is an American musician best known as the guitarist and founder of the groups U.P.O. and Hollywood Rose (which featured future Guns N' Roses members Axl Rose, Slash (musician), Slash, Izzy Stradl ...

. Jagosz came back after Rose left playing with the band for 2 weeks and for 5 shows. When L.A. Guns was reformed in 1985, Beich was replaced by

Mick Cripps Mick is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Michael. Because of its popularity in Ireland, it is often used in England as a derogatory term for an Irish person or a person of Irish descent. In Australia the meaning broade ...

Guns N' Roses (1985)

Hollywood Rose reformed for a New Year's Eve show on New Year's Eve 1984, with Rose, Stradlin, Guns, Gardner and Steve Darrow. In March 1985 L.A. Guns merged with Hollywood Rose, changing their name to Guns N' Roses (combining the names of L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose) with the lineup composed of Rose, Guns, Stradlin, Beich and Gardner. After only two rehearsals, Beich was fired from the band. He was replaced by

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

. Tracii Guns left the group; he was replaced by Slash. McKagan went on to book shows taking place between

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, which was dubbed “ The Hell Tour“. During this time, Gardner quit the group and was replaced by Steven Adler. Rose, Stradlin, McKagan, Slash, and Adler became known as the "classic lineup" of Guns N' Roses.

Death

Beich died on October 16, 1991, drowning in Sankt Jørgens Lake in the center of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. Not long before, on August 19, Guns N' Roses had performed in the city. His family believed that he became depressed after leaving Guns N' Roses in 1985 and was heavily abusing drugs before returning to Denmark in 1988. Heroin, and a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes; it is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume or mass of blood. For example ...

of .148, are thought to have contributed to his drowning, but his family still believes it was suicide. Beich is buried in Esbjerg next to his father Aksel, who died in 1995.

Discography

;with Rock Nalle & The Flames * ''Rock 'N'alle Roll'' (1979) ;with L.A. Guns * '' Collector's Edition No. 1'' (1985)

References

External links

Ole Beich biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beich, Ole 1955 births 1991 deaths Danish rock guitarists Deaths by drowning Guns N' Roses members L.A. Guns members Danish rock bass guitarists 20th-century American musicians 20th-century British musicians 20th-century bass guitarists