In 2016, the hard rock band Guns N' Roses started a partial reunion tour. Singer Axl Rose had been the only original member left since the 1990s and had toured and recorded with a variety of musicians. It seemed impossible that the original band would ever perform together again. But lead guitarist Slash and bassists Duff McKagan decided to rejoin the band.
The band also needed a new keyboard player for the tour. They ended up hiring Melissa Reese, a young musician from Seattle originally intended to be the next Taylor Swift, who is the first female member of Guns N' Roses.
Reese's Early Life
Reese was born in Seattle in 1990. Her older sisters played violin and piano. She told Rolling Stone, "I hate saying this, because I feel like such a douche telling this story. But one day my sisters were learning Bach beginner pieces that you learn in a piano book, and my parents heard somebody practicing, and they assumed it was one of my sisters. I was only three or four. They walked in and saw that I was playing and that I learned the piece by ear."
After that, Reese began intensely studying music both during and after school at the behest of her parents. At age 13, she met songwriter Tom Whitlock who wanted to work with her. He saw her as the next Taylor Swift. Although her career didn't go that way, she would end later producing a remix of the Taylor Swift song, 'Bad Blood.'
Brain and Melissa
Bryan "Brain" Mantia was the drummer in Guns N' Roses from 2000-2006, but he was getting bored with the gig. Mantia was interested in composing which led to his meeting with Reese. She said, "He's this drummer dude and I had all the melodic stuff going. He had an interest in music theory, and we just had the same vibe, like two peas in a pod."
The two began recording together mostly for various soundtracks. Some of their tracks ended up on Gossip Girl and Keeping Up With The Kardashians.
Mantia and Reese even worked on a project remixing tracks from Guns N' Roses' Chinese Democracy album. Mantia was the drummer on every track on that album except the title track and also had a hand in writing some songs. During the remixing period, Reese became close with Chinese Democracy producer Caram Costanzo.
How Reese Joined Guns N' Roses
The original lineup of Gun N' Roses slowly disintegrated throughout the 1990s with the biggest blows being Slash's departure in 1994 followed by McKagan's in 1997. Rose had performed with a variety of musicians since. But a reunion tour finally started in 2016 although other original members Steven Adler and Izzy Stradlin did not take part.
The band needed a new keyboardist and Costanzo recommended Reese. The band also consulted Mantia who encouraged them to hire her. Reese got the gig and quickly had to learn around 50 songs.
Her role in the band includes keyboard parts, samples that represent instruments from certain recordings such as the flutes in "November Rain," guitar and bass frequencies that double and enhance the sound of those instruments, electronic parts from Chinese Democracy and background vocals for Rose.
She told L.A. Weekly in 2017, "On the keys, I add sonic layers to thicken our sound, without sticking out like a sore thumb. Anything from synths [to] organic patches and samples."
Reese Is The Band's First Female Member
Over 20 men have played with Guns N' Roses over the decades; Reeses is the first female member. She told Rolling Stone, "Guns is definitely still looked at as this dude's thing, where it's a male club and there's no place for a chick. But you could not ask for a better group of dudes. That's the band itself and everyone we work with. They're protective of me. It's beyond just having my back. We're like a family, and they're like my big brothers."
She certainly is not alone as more female rock stars have emerged in the last decade; some in their own bands such as Halestorm while others have, like Reese, joined classic bands. Alice Cooper hired his first female member, guitarist Orianthi, in 2011. She was later replaced by Nita Strauss in 2014 whose success later allowed her to start an online guitar course.
In regard to future aspirations, Reese said, "Basically, I want to do this female Trent Reznor thing. He has Nine Inch Nails, but he also is an exec at Apple and he's scoring film with Atticus Ross. That's my model, and what I plan on being and doing. Also, I want to be the first half-Asian female EGOT winner. I really, really, really, really swing for the fences."