Pale Divine

Richard Fortus
Fortus with Guns N' Roses in 2012
Background information
Born	(1966-11-17) November 17, 1966 (age 50) St. Louis, Missouri United States
Genres	Hard rock, alternative rock, post-punk, heavy metal, new wave
Occupation(s)	Musician, guitarist, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Guitar, violin, vocals, bass, drums
Years active	1984–present
Labels	Atlantic, Geffen
Associated acts	Guns N' Roses, The Dead Daisies, Love Spit Love, The Psychedelic Furs, Nena, X Japan, Thin Lizzy, Gravity Kills
Website	The Official Website of Richard Fortus

Richard Fortus (born November 17, 1966) is an American guitarist. He is best known as a member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he has been a member since 2002, and with whom he has recorded one studio album. Fortus has also collaborated extensively with The Psychedelic Furs frontman Richard Butler and fellow Guns N' Roses bandmate Frank Ferrer.

Alongside his work in Guns N' Roses, Fortus is a former member of Love Spit Love, Thin Lizzy and the Dead Daisies.

Fortus was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He began learning violin at 4 years old and the drums a year later.

Fortus studied at the Conservatory of the Arts in St. Louis and Southern Illinois University and also played in several youth symphonies in the St. Louis area.

Fortus founded the band The Eyes in 1984. 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 Frank Ferrer in 1992. When the Furs reformed in 2000, Fortus joined the group as second guitarist and played on the live album Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live. Love Spit Love went on an indefinite hiatus soon after.

In 1999, Fortus was contacted by Guns N' Roses to audition as a potential replacement for the departing Robin Finck. However, the spot was ultimately filled by Buckethead. In 2002, guitarist Paul Tobias left Guns N' Roses, citing stress with touring. Fortus was touring Europe as guitarist for Enrique Iglesias in May 2002 when he got a call from his friend (and Guns N' Roses bassist) Tommy Stinson asking him to fly out to audition for the band. Fortus joined Guns N' Roses officially in July 2002.