Reed continues to record and play live with the current Guns N' Roses line-up, and has now been a member of Guns N' Roses longer than any other member besides Axl Rose. However, since he joined the band in 1990, five years after its formation in 1985, he cannot be described as an original member, nor a member of the "classic" lineup. Although Reed did not co write any songs during the Illusion sessions, for "Chinese Democracy" he co wrote "Street of Dreams" with Axl Rose and Tommy Stinson and "There Was a Time" and "I.R.S" with Rose and Paul Tobias, as well as the non-album single "Oh My God" with Rose and Tobias. It has also been confirmed that the unfinished demo that did not make the cut on "Chinese Democracy" called "Silkworms" was written by Reed himself and the band's other keyboardist Chris Pitman. As well as singing during Guns N' Roses live performances, Reed also serves as a backing vocalist. He sang backing vocals on a few songs on the "Use Your Illusion" albums, notable examples were "November Rain", "Garden of Eden", "Bad Apples" and "Civil War" as well as "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory" from ""The Spaghetti Incident?"".