Slash. Originally from Stoke-on-Trent, Slash, born Saul Hudson, moved to California when he was 11. He is best known as the premier axeman for Guns N' Roses, before his departure in 1996. With his top hat and dark glasses, Slash is one of the most identifiable and well respected guitarists of all-time.

Respected by everyone that is with the exception of his former bandmate Axl Rose with whom he has a long-running feud.
Slash. Slash’s quarrel with Axl Rose shows no signs of abating. Last year the singer labelled his former bandmate “a cancer”.

Slash's reposnse was rather muted, saying: “It's been a long time. It doesn't really matter.”

Most recently Slash's beef seems to be with British music. He has labelled it “tame, predictable and faceless.”

Meanwhile he’s set to release his debut solo album, with guest spots from Ozzy Osbourne and Black Eyed Peas's Fergie, next month.
David Lee. Roth David Lee Roth, sometimes known as Diamond Dave, was the lead singer with metal favourites Van Halen.

The Jump hitmakers were famous for their wild excess and once asked promoters to provide a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed.

Roth later explained this was to check their contracts had been followed to the letter.
David Lee Roth. Roth tried various career moves after leaving Van Halen in the mid-80s shortly after their biggest hit, Jump.

He was a solo artist, lounge singer, shock jock and actor, guest starring as himself in an episode of The Sopranos. In 2007 after years of speculation he rejoined Van Halen for an American tour.

An album is expected this year but in the meantime Roth has been keeping himself limber by lending his howl to the horror flick Wolfman.
Sebastian Bach (Skid Row). Bach was the lead singer of Skid Row, the first heavy metal band to have a number one album in America.

Despite their success their fame was overshadowed by several incidents involving Bach - at one concert he broke a female fan's nose by throwing a bottle in the crowd after it had been chucked on stage.

Then in a another incident he performed in a T-shirt which had an offensive anti-gay slogan written on it.
Sebastian Bach. After being fired from the touring version of Jesus Christ Superstar in 2004 for “diva like behaviour” Bach began performing with Guns N' Roses in 2006.
He has also appeared on several reality shows in recent years including Supergroup, during which fellow metal legend Ted Nugent, staged an intervention in order to persuade Bach to give up alcohol.

A friend of Axl Rose he sang backing vocals on several Chinese Democracy tracks.
Dee Snider (Twisted Sister). New Yorker Snider was the frontman of the hugely successful glam metal band Twisted Sister whose hits included I Wanna Rock and We’re Not Gonna Take It.
Known for their comic videos Snider gained a separate career as an actor, making a cameo appearance in Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

He has also worked as a radio DJ.
Dee Snider. Snider formed various groups, including a tribute act to himself Dee Snider’s SMFs.

He also continued with his radio career, hosting The House of Hair. In 2001 he provided the voice of a villain in the PlayStation 2 game Jax And Dexter: The Precussor Legacy.

In 2008 became the subject of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares when his Long Island restaurant Handlebar was converted into a gastropub by the Scottish chef.
David Coverdale (Whitesnake). Coverdale first found fame when he responded to an advert in music paper Melody Maker for a singer.

He found himself auditioning to become Ian Gillan’s replacement in Deep Purple.

After they split in the 70s, Coverdale formed Whitesnake who had a massive hit in 1987 with power ballad Here I Go Again.

The songs video was made popular largely due to the appearance of a Coverdale’s wife Tawny Kitaen cavorting across a Jaguar in white lingerie.
David Coverdale. Coverdale retired in the 90s to his home in the Nevada desert where hidden speakers piped the sound of English birds into his garden.

But the quiet life was not for him and Whitesnake reformed in 2003 before releasing their 10th studio album in 2008.

Coverdale was accused of miming by Rainbow’s Joe Lynn Turner to which he responded: "I do not, have not and will not use tapes of my voice to mime in concert. My band and I perform and sing live in concert. We’re that f***ing good!”
Blackie Lawless (W.A.S.P) Born of Blackfoot Native American ancestry, Lawless (real name Steven Edward Duren) was an outrageous showman.

Known for shocking stage antics in W.A.S.P. he would eat live worms, throw raw meat into the audience, drink blood from a skull, wear a cod piece with a circular saw attached to it and much, much worse.

Meanwhile the band's music - despite the catchy nature of their hooks - caused huge controversy, most notably the charmingly titled Kill F*** Die.
Blackie Lawless. While his satanic contemporaries such as Slayer crossed over to mainstream success W.A.S.P. never really enjoyed the same success.

Now, Lawless is their only surviving member and he plans a new album.

Lawless has also found God and refuses to sing some of his old material live, he also surprised many by attacking Barack Obama in the 2008 US election calling him a “Marxist in socialist clothing.”
Saxon. This Barnsley four-piece, led by Biff Byford (pictured), were one of the leading names in the new wave of British heavy metal of the early 80s. Alongside Iron Maiden and Def Leppard, they were among the first metal bands to achieve mainstream success.

Their second album, Wheels Of Steel, was filled with relentless riffing attached to fabulously over the top vocals and occasionally a killer tune like 747 (Strangers In The Night).

Sadly, it all went wrong when they attempted to crack America and deployed a peroxide blonde makeover.
Saxon. Since they formed in 1979 Saxon have been through nine line-up changes.

That's not too excessive by heavy metal standards but they now find themselves in the awkward position of competing with another outfit featuring several members from the original band, working under the name Oliver Dawson Saxon.

Meanwhile Biff Byford (pictured) is campaigning for Britons to be able to declare heavy metal as their religion in the 2011 United Kingdom census.