Biography - N.I.R.

When Dizzy joined Guns N' Roses in 1990, he had been a struggling keyboard player on the Los Angeles club scene for a long time. It was tough and he was near giving up on getting somewhere. He was going to be evicted from his apartment, but luckily he had friends willing to help... "I finally got a hold of Axl and I go: "Dude, it's like, you know, tomorrow there's not gonna be a place to get a hold of me. /../ Next day I got a call said: "Dude, congratulations! You're in the band."¹
   What Dizzy joined was a band in a state that seemed somewhat chaotic... Steven was fired around the same time for drug abuse. Izzy explained the situation to Vox magazine in July 1991: "One day Dizzy came down to our rehearsal. He must have had a terrible time, 'cos everyone ignored him for two weeks. I tried to be friendly. I'd say: 'Hey man, how's it going? I don't know what we're doing either! We've just been in this studio for the last two years and we're supposed to be making a record or something."²
   Eventually things turned out alright, and in January 1991 it was time for the live debut: "My first live show with Guns N' Roses was Rock In Rio. It was like a blur. It was like: "Man, I can't believe this!" I would be completely lying and ridiculous if I said I wasn't nervous for that."³
   Adding Dizzy to GN'R had been Axl's idea, and it turned out that the two of them would work together longer than any of the other members. Dizzy stayed with Axl throughout the end of the 1990's (an indescribable period if you call the time between "Lies" and "Use Your Illusion" chaotic...). When the new Guns N' Roses played the Rock In Rio III festival, Axl explained that Dizzy was "the only one from the old line up who stayed loyal."⁴
   Apart from his GN'R work, which has included songwriting during the latter years, Dizzy has contributed to albums by Duff McKagan, Snakepit, Gilby Clarke and Motörhead.