Alan Niven

Alan Niven is a New Zealand-born band manager best known for his tenure as manager of Guns N' Roses and Great White.

Biography Niven attended boarding school in England from the age of seven. He later recalled: “The first major trauma of my life. English boarding schools were all about the maintenance of empire. If you could fucking survive boarding school, there was nothing an Afghan tribe could throw at you that would be worse.”

He began working for Virgin Records in London, and later moved to Los Angeles, where he joined Greenworld. While there he signed Motley Crue to their first contract. He later brought them to Elektra through Tom Zutaut. He was fired from his post just prior to the release of Use Your Illusion. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone magazine, frontman Axl Rose forced the dismissal of Niven (against the wishes of some of his band-mates) by refusing to complete the albums until he was replaced. He was replaced by his former partner Doug Goldstein. Clarence Clemons, The Angels [from Angel City], Havana Black, The Michael Thompson Band [MTB], Izzy Stradlin and The JuJu Hounds, Razer and Storm of Perception.