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Seeing the Beatles at the Ed Sullivan show influenced Matt to start playing drums, and in high school, he formed the band Prophecy. After he graduated, Matt left the band, and he also left Long Beach to search for other artists to play with. Matt relocated to Los Angeles, where he started playing in various local bands, and he became well known in the local music scene.

With one of his jobs being to play at a hotel, Matt met Tori Amos, and they decided to form a band together. The name became Y Kant Tori Read, and after two years playing clubs they got a record deal. In 1988, they released the selftitled debut "Y Kant Tori Read". The album did, however, fail to get attention, and the band decided to part ways. Matt then found himself working with Jeff Paris in the Jeff Paris Band, and he did the drum tracks for Paris' secnd album "Wired Up", before he again left for other things.

In 1988, Matt heard that the british band The Cult was searching for a drummer. He decided to  audition for the band. Matt landed the gig and in February, 1989, he joined the band. "I did an audition for The Cult. I thought: 'Cool, this is a great opportunity, it's a good band, I will do a tour.' I lived in a shitty place, I slept on a sofa, I had no shower, I had a shitty car, then I'm with The Cult and for the first show, we opened for Metallica in front of 25,000 people. 'Cool, now it's true!' So I stayed with The Cult for 2 years."

In the summer of 1990, Steven Adler was fired from Guns N' Roses due to problems with his drug abuse. Adam Maples from Sea Hags filled in temporarily, while Martin Chamers from Britain's Pretenders was considered briefly. The band did, however, need a permanent drummer, and as Matt Sorum had impressed Slash when he saw The Cult play the local Universal Amphitheater venue, Matt was asked to join the band. "Guns N' Roses came in my life. It was so great! Can you imagine this? My friends called me and said 'Hey, Matt, you're in The Cult, I know this band. But Guns N' Roses! Even my grandmother knew them!' It's a big name! In USA, you can ask a 80 years old woman and she knows the band!"

Obviously, Guns N' Roses gave Matt an offer he could not turn down, and suddenly he found himself working in the biggest band in the world. They rehearsed a month, and then started recording material for their next album. The first song Matt did in GnR was "Knockin' On Heavens Door", which was used for the "Days Of Thunder"-soundtrack.

Matt did his live debut for Guns N' Roses in January, 1991, at the Rock In Rio festival, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With an audience of 130.000 people two nights in a row, this was a nervous moment for Matt. Before the show, Matt was also told he had to do a drum solo. "My first gig was Rock in Rio, which is the biggest gig in South America, which is about ... 170,000 [people], something like that. That was my initial welcoming to the band gig, which was two nights, sold-out." After this concert, GnR went back to the studio to lay down finishing touches on the material done for the new album, before they went back on a two and a half year long tour. 

After the end of the tour, GnR went back to studio again, and they recorded the album "The Spaghetti Incident?". After the ending of the recording progress, Matt went back to studio, first with Duff McKagan to work on Duff's solo album "Believe In Me" and later with Gilby Clarke, on his album "Pawnshop Guitars".

Matt also helped Slash on a project he was doing with Alice In Chains bassist Mike Inez. Slash had written songs that he wanted for the next Guns N' Roses album, but Axl rejected the material. Slash wanted to record and release them, and asked Mike and Matt to rehearse with him. Later Gilby Clarke joined the band and after trying around 30 singers, Eric Dover was chosen. Slash's Snakepit recorded their debut album in 1994 and 1995, and "It's Five O' Clock Somewhere", as the title became, was released in 1995.

When the band went back on tour, Axl asked Matt not to do the tour with Snakepit: "If I toured with Snakepit, it could have caused serious consequences. It could have divided GnR. So, if a band as important as GnR would have broken up because I toured with Snakepit, I would have flagellate myself! I was in between, there was Slash 'Come on , man, tour with us,' but I told him 'Slash, for 4 months, we will fuck GnR up.' So I stayed at home and I worked a bit with Axl and Duff."

Later that year, Matt was asked by a friend to do a charity concert: "This guy, Sal, called me and asked me if I could help him for that charity concert. He called me because he knows me. So I called all the musicians that I knew. John Taylor and Steve Jones agreed immediately. Then I called a lot of people, Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode), Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon), Ian Astbury (The Cult), but they weren't interested. The last I called was Duff. We already had a bassist, John, and I was uncomfortable to ask him to play guitar. He was enthusiastic when I told him he was going to play with Steve Jones. For this concert, there was Duff, John, Steve and me. Izzy Stradlin, West Arkeen and Steve Stevens (ex-Billy Idol) were also there. So we made $10,000."

Two weeks later, Matt got a call from John Taylor. "He said: 'It was so cool. We must do it again!'. At this time, Guns N' Roses was in stand-by and it was before the Sex Pistols reunion, so we didn't had much things to do, so we said 'OK.' During 2 months, we did the Mondays Nights at the Viper Room. It then started to be great. A lot of people wanted to play with us. We had Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), a great musician, Simon LeBon (Duran Duran). Billy Idol even wanted to be a member of the band!" After a short time, Neurotic Outsiders gained interest, and they got a following of thousands. Many record companies wanted them to do a record for them, but the band turned down every offer they gots, because they were scared it could destroy the fun. Eventually, Maverick gave them an offer and they decided to go for it. In 1996, their selftitled debut "Neurotic Outsiders" was released. Neurotic Outsiders did a few short tours, but soon disbanded, because other projects were to come.

When Matt was done with Neurotic Outsiders, he went back to work with Guns n' Roses. At that time, Guns N' Roses was Axl, Duff, Paul Tobias, Matt and Dizzy, and as an attempt to get Axl and Slash back together, Matt introduced Rose to former Nine Inch Nail guitarist Robin Finck, advising that he would make a great foil for Slash. Rose liked the idea of having Robin in the band, but he didn't want him playing alongside Slash. According to Matt, Axl said that 'he would be a great replacement for Slash. In the summer of 1997 Robin Finck joined Guns n' Roses, as their lead guitar player.

Matt was fired from GnR late 1997. Axl has told the press he was forced to do so. Matt had a different view of it: "Paul Huge walked into the studio and made a bad comment about Slash. I said, 'You don't say that when I'm in the room.' Then Axl laid in, I argued with him and it was over. Huge followed me out into the parking lot and said, 'Come back.' I said, 'I can't come back, he's fired me. Do you feel good about breaking up one of the greatest bands that ever lived?' "Paul Huge is the Yoko Ono of GnR," Matt concluded.

After leaving Guns N' Roses, Matt started working on different projects, both working with other artists - as a drummer or producer - and making movie scores with Lanny Cordola. In 2000, he rejoined The Cult, for a summer tour, and they went back to the studio and recorded "Beyond Good And Evil", before going back on a world tour. 

When the tour ended, Matt was searching for new projects, and he found himself jamming with ex-bandmates Slash and Duff at various times. Matt joined the band Camp Freddy, which also featured Dave Navarro (guitar), Billy Morrison (guitar), Scott Ford (bass) as well as singer Donovan Leich. The band played clubs and was guested by artists like Moby, Robbie Williams, ex-gunners Slash and Duff, Macy Gray and many others.

While playing in Camp Freddy, Matt also worked with Slash, Duff and Dave Kushner, and it was confirmed in August, 2002, that the so called "project" was their main project. On May 13, 2003, the line-up for the band was revealed by Rolling Stone Magazine, and Scott Weiland was confirmed as the singer. The band chose the name Velvet Revolver, and started recording their debut album, which was released June 8, 2004. The band went on tour after the release. 

(Last Updated December 30, 2005)

Artist Name: Matt Sorum
Real Name: Matthew Sorum
Born: November 19, 1960 in Long Beach, California
Instruments: Drums
Other Bands: IQ, Y Kant Tori Read, The Cult, Neurotic Outsiders, Slash's Snakepit, Matt Sorum, Velvet Revolver
Worked with: Duff McKagan, Gilby Clarke

Parents: David Sorum and Joanne Alexander
Siblings: Michael, Mark, Daniel and David

Led Zeppelin: Then I got into Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith.

Aerosmith: Then I got into Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith.

Others: John Bonham, Beatles a.o.

"Duff's looking really good and healthy. At the end of the tour [1993] Duff was one foot in the grave." (1996)

"I replaced Steven Adler and many people said Use your Illusion is very different from Appetite For Destruction. It wouldn't have been constructive to do Appetite 2. Many people also said I'm better than Steven. No, I only play in a different way."

"He's [Gilby] a great guy. But I don't know if he was the good guy to write the new album with us."

"You go to Slash's house and there's not one of those things anywhere in sight. And then Axl's got them out in his garage. But he's got kind of a cool setup. He's got them in his garage hanging around an old car - he's got like this old '55 Chevy. And then you go to Duff's and they're everywhere! [laughs]. Duff's got them in his game room - but he's got a very big game room!"

"Lead singers are just difficult. They just are. I'm sorry. If you don't hold an instrument in your hand, then you're just gonna be a pain in the ass."

"I didn't write any songs on those records. But I learned, through the business, it's nice to have some songwriting. That helps a lot, because that's your bread and butter. That always will come in. Every time those songs are on the radio, you see cash. For years and years after. That's your catalogue, that's your nest egg. "

"We're [me and Duff] 75% of the band. You know, they don't wanna admit it. But it's true!"

"I didn't know people thought
I was boring in GN'R, that sucks.
I know I had some crazy hair but thats what drugs will do to ya."