Slash (musician)

• 1. Introduction

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  Slash, the guitarist born Saul Hudson in Hampstead, London, on the 23rd of July 1965, owes his famous name to a restless child. The actor Seymour Cassel gave him the nickname because the boy was "always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another." That description fits the career that followed. Slash spent years at the center of one of rock's loudest bands, then walked away from it and built new groups from nothing. Much later, he returned to the band that made him famous. How does a boy raised between two countries end up playing a riff that guitar fans still rank among the best? What split apart a lineup that sold records in enormous numbers? And what could possibly bring its members back together decades later?

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• 2. Between Two Countries

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  Blurton, a small suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, was where Slash spent his earliest years. His father, Anthony Hudson, an English artist, raised him there with help from his paternal grandparents. His mother, Ola J. Hudson, was an African-American fashion designer and costumier. She had moved back to her native United States to work in Los Angeles. The boy was named after the cartoonist Saul Steinberg.

  When Slash was around five, he and his father crossed the Atlantic to join her. Los Angeles has been his home since 1971. His brother Albion, known as Ash, was born in 1972. In 1974 his parents separated. Slash chose to live with his mother and described himself as a "problem child." Whenever her job took her away, he was often sent to stay with his beloved maternal grandmother. Sometimes he went along to her workplaces, where he met film and music stars.

  His mixed heritage amused him. He once said it was funny to be "both British and black," since American musicians seemed to aspire to be British. Meanwhile, British musicians of the 1960s had gone to great pains to be black. He stayed a British national from birth, yet he did not take American citizenship until 1996. In 2010 he said, "I've always felt most comfortable in England."

  In 1979, Slash decided to form a band with his friend Steven Adler. The band never materialized, but it pushed him toward an instrument. Adler had named himself the guitarist, so Slash chose bass. At his first lesson he met Robert Wolin, a teacher at Fairfax Music School. Wolin played "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones and a Cream song. Slash remembered thinking, "That's what I want to do." He switched from bass to guitar that day.

  A flamenco guitar from his grandmother became his first instrument, and he began taking classes with Wolin. Learning "Come Dancing," a track from Jeff Beck's album Wired, thrilled him. He was a champion BMX rider, but he put the bike aside and practiced up to 12 hours a day. At Beverly Hills High School, his contemporaries included the musicians Lenny Kravitz and Zoro.

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• 3. The Most Dangerous Band

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  Slash joined his first band, Tidus Sloan, in 1981. Two years later he formed Road Crew with Adler, who had learned drums by then. The name came from the Motörhead song "(We Are) The Road Crew." A newspaper advertisement for a bassist drew a reply from Duff McKagan. The group auditioned singers, including Ron Reyes, once of Black Flag. They also worked on the main riff of what became "Rocket Queen." Without a singer, and unhappy with Adler's work ethic next to his own and McKagan's, Slash disbanded the group the following year.

  Hollywood Rose was next, a band featuring the singer Axl Rose and the guitarist Izzy Stradlin. Slash and Adler joined together. Slash later played in a band called Black Sheep. He also auditioned for the glam metal band Poison and was not chosen. He later openly derided them.

  In May 1985, Rose and Stradlin invited Slash into their new band, Guns N' Roses. McKagan and Adler came along too. Slash replaced the founding member Tracii Guns, McKagan replaced Ole Beich, and Adler replaced Rob Gardner. They played Los Angeles clubs such as the Whisky a Go Go, the Roxy and the Troubadour. Through 1985 and 1986 they opened for larger acts.

  Before one show in 1985, Slash shoplifted a black felt top hat and a Native American-style silver concho belt from two stores on Melrose Avenue. He combined the hat with parts of the belt to make custom headwear. He said he "felt really cool" wearing it, and it became his trademark.

  During 1985 and 1986 the band wrote most of its classic material, including "Welcome to the Jungle," "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City." Their rowdy, rebellious behavior earned them the nickname "Most Dangerous Band in the World." Slash remarked, "For some strange reason, Guns N' Roses is like the catalyst for controversy, even before we had any kind of record deal." Trouble reached beyond the stage in 1985, when Slash and Rose were charged with felony statutory rape. Rose had had sex with a 15-year-old girl in the recording studio. Both men went into hiding, and the charges were dropped several weeks later for lack of evidence. The accuser later said she dropped them after Rose apologized. Several major labels scouted the band, and Geffen Records signed it in March 1986.

  Appetite for Destruction arrived in July 1987. By September 2008 it had sold over 28 million copies worldwide, 18 million of them in the United States. That made it the bestselling debut album of all time in the U.S. In the summer of 1988, "Sweet Child O' Mine" became the band's only U.S. No. 1 hit, driven by Slash's riff and solo. That November came G N' R Lies, which sold over five million copies in the U.S. with only eight tracks. Four of those had already appeared on the EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide.

  Success brought friction. In 1989, while the band opened for the Rolling Stones, Rose threatened to leave unless certain members stopped "dancing with Mr. Brownstone." That was a nod to their song about heroin use. Slash was among those who promised to clean up. The next year, Adler was fired because of his heroin addiction. Matt Sorum of the Cult took his place.

  May 1991 launched the Use Your Illusion Tour, which ran for two and a half years. That September the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. They debuted at No. 2 and No. 1 on the U.S. chart, a feat no other group had achieved. In November, Stradlin abruptly left, and Gilby Clarke of Candy and Kill for Thrills replaced him. The tour ended on the 17th of July 1993. That November the band released "The Spaghetti Incident?", a cover album of mostly punk songs. It proved less successful than its predecessors. Slash then wrote several songs for a follow-up to the Use Your Illusion albums. Rose and McKagan rejected the material.

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• 4. Leaving and Rebuilding

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  In October 1996, Slash announced that he was no longer part of Guns N' Roses. He said, "Axl and I have not been capable of seeing eye to eye on Guns N' Roses for some time. We tried to collaborate, but at this point, I'm no longer in the band." The inclusion of Paul Tobias in the band was another factor, since Slash had "creative and personal" differences with him. In his 2007 autobiography, Slash wrote that the decision was not about artistic differences with Rose. He pointed to Rose's constant lateness to concerts and to alleged legal manipulation Rose used to gain control of the band. Rose has since denied that claim. Slash also cited the departures of Adler and Stradlin.

  The break had been building. In 1994, while tensions grew, Slash formed a side project called Slash's Snakepit. Matt Sorum played drums and Gilby Clarke played rhythm guitar, both from Guns N' Roses. Mike Inez of Alice in Chains played bass, and Eric Dover of Jellyfish sang. The group recorded material that Slash had originally intended for Guns N' Roses. The result, It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, came out in February 1995. Critics praised it for ignoring the conventions of the alternative music then in fashion. It eventually sold over one million copies in the U.S. despite little promotion from Geffen Records. Snakepit toured with the bassist James LoMenzo and the drummer Brian Tichy of Pride & Glory, then disbanded in 1996. Slash spent the next two years touring with a blues rock cover band, Slash's Blues Ball.

  July 1999 brought an arrest, for allegedly assaulting his then-girlfriend. That year he also regrouped Snakepit with Rod Jackson on vocals, Ryan Roxie on rhythm guitar, Johnny Griparic on bass and Matt Laug on drums. Their second album, Ain't Life Grand, was released in October 2000 through Koch Records. It sold less than the first album, and its reviews were mixed. In summer 2000 the band, with Keri Kelli on rhythm guitar, toured the world in support of AC/DC. A headlining theater tour followed. Slash disbanded Snakepit in 2002.

  In 2001, at the age of 35, Slash was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a form of congestive heart failure. Years of alcohol and drug abuse had caused it. He was originally given between six days and six weeks to live. He survived through physical therapy and the implantation of a defibrillator. He has been clean and sober since 2006, which he credited to his then-wife, Perla Ferrar.

  A tribute concert for Randy Castillo in 2002 brought Slash together with Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. They realized they still had the chemistry of their Guns N' Roses days, so they decided to start a new band. Izzy Stradlin was initially involved but left once the others decided to find a lead singer. Dave Kushner, who had played with McKagan in Loaded, joined on rhythm guitar. For many months, the four listened to demo tapes from hopeful singers, a monotonous process documented by VH1. The former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland eventually joined, and the supergroup became Velvet Revolver.

  In 2003 the band played several summer concerts and released its first single, "Set Me Free." Its debut album, Contraband, arrived in June 2004. It debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. chart and sold two million copies, which re-established Slash as a mainstream performer. A tour of about a year and a half followed. In 2005 the band was nominated for three Grammy Awards, and "Slither" won its first and only Grammy. The second album, Libertad, came out in July 2007, along with a second tour.

  During a show in March 2008, Weiland told the audience it would be the band's final tour. He was fired in April 2008, and Slash insisted that "chemical issues" led to the split. The following month, Weiland rejoined Stone Temple Pilots. Velvet Revolver did not officially disband. In early 2010 it began writing new songs and auditioning singers. By January 2011 it had recorded nine demos. That April, Slash said no suitable singer had been found and the band would stay on hiatus for the next few years.

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• 5. Solo and Conspirators

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  In September 2008, Slash began work on his debut solo album and called recording by himself "cathartic." He said it let him take a break from "all the politics and the democracy that is a band." His wife, Perla, promised the album would be "Slash and friends, with everyone from Ozzy to Fergie." The album, simply titled Slash, debuted at No. 3 on the U.S. chart in April 2010. Guests included Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas, Adam Levine of Maroon 5 and M. Shadows of Avenged Sevenfold. Lemmy Kilmister of Motörhead, Dave Grohl, Chris Cornell and Iggy Pop also appeared. Former Guns N' Roses members Izzy Stradlin, Steven Adler and Duff McKagan contributed as well.

  Before the album's release, Slash put out a Japan-only single, "Sahara," with the Japanese vocalist Koshi Inaba of B'z. It reached number four on the Oricon Singles Chart and number six on the Billboard Japan Hot 100. The Recording Industry Association of Japan awarded it Western "Single of the Year" at the 24th Japan Gold Disc Award.

  For his first solo world tour, Slash recruited Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge on vocals, Bobby Schneck on rhythm guitar, Todd Kerns on bass and Brent Fitz on drums. He opened for Ozzy Osbourne on a leg of the Scream World Tour. In June 2011, Slash began his second solo album with Kennedy, Kerns and Fitz. The record was billed to "Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators." Apocalyptic Love was released on the 22nd of May 2012 and debuted at No. 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart. In 2013, Loudwire named him "Best Guitarist of the Year 2012."

  The summer of 2014 found Slash opening for Aerosmith on the Let Rock Rule Tour. World on Fire, billed the same way as the previous album, was released on the 10th of September 2014. It debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. Living the Dream followed on the 21st of September 2018. Its tour opened with a show at the KAABOO Del Mar Music Festival in Del Mar, California, and ran into 2019 with an Asian leg. Frank Sidoris, formerly a touring guitarist, joined the band full-time for the recording sessions.

  In October 2020, the bassist Todd Kerns confirmed another album was coming, referred to as SMKC4. On the 26th of July 2021 it was confirmed that Gibson's new label, Gibson Records, would release it in February 2022. The first single, "The River is Rising," arrived on the 22nd of October 2021, and the album 4 was set for the 11th of February 2022. The tour began on the 8th of February 2022 in Portland, Oregon. In 2024 Slash returned to the guest-singer format of his first record with Orgy of the Damned, his sixth solo album.

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• 6. Peace and Return

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  In 2006, Axl Rose claimed that Slash had shown up uninvited at his house the previous year to offer a truce. Rose alleged that Slash had insulted his Velvet Revolver bandmates, calling Scott Weiland "a fraud" and Duff McKagan "spineless." He said Slash had told him he "hated" Matt Sorum. Slash denied the accusations. In his 2007 autobiography, he admitted visiting Rose's home to settle a longstanding legal dispute and make peace. He said he left a note and did not speak with Rose, whom he had not met in person since 1996.

  When Rose called him "a cancer" in 2009, Slash shrugged it off. He said the remark did not affect him, and that his reply was simply "Whatever, dude." By an August 2015 interview, though, he said the two had reconciled. Looking back on the feud, he said, "We had a lot of issues born out of third-party stuff. It was very insidious, and the longer we didn't talk, the more it got blown out of proportion."

  On the 29th of December 2015, Billboard reported that Slash would rejoin Guns N' Roses to headline Coachella 2016. The report came days after a Guns N' Roses teaser reached movie theaters. He would fill the lead guitar spot left empty when DJ Ashba left the band. The band was officially announced as a Coachella headliner on the 4th of January 2016, and KROQ reported that Slash and McKagan were rejoining. Slash played with Guns N' Roses for the first time in 23 years on the 1st of April 2016. It was a secret warmup gig at the Troubadour in Los Angeles.

  The Not in This Lifetime... Tour grew into a massive success, grossing $584 million by its conclusion in 2019. In 2021, Slash appeared on "Absurd" and "Hard Skool," his first songs with the band since 1994. The band went back on tour in 2023, notably playing the Glastonbury Festival in England and the Power Trip Festival in Indio, California. It also released two new singles, "Perhaps" and "The General." In 2025, Slash performed on two more new singles, "Nothin'" and "Atlas."

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• 7. Guest Spots and Side Roads

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  In 1991, Slash played lead guitar on "Give In to Me," a single from Michael Jackson's album Dangerous. He also played in the opening skit of the video for "Black or White." In 1995 he played on "D.S.," a controversial song from HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. In 1997 he appeared on "Morphine" from the remix album Blood on the Dance Floor: History in the Mix. He also shared Jackson's stage. He made surprise appearances on the 1992 Dangerous World Tour in Spain and Japan. He played at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, and at the 1999 charity concerts MJ & Friends in Seoul and Munich. Their last shared stage was in New York City at the 2001 Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special concerts, playing "Black or White" and "Beat It."

  Bob Dylan's 1990 record Under the Red Sky opens with "Wiggle Wiggle," played by Slash. Dylan directed him to play like Django Reinhardt. Slash recalled that he "just learned it on the spot," and called the simple I, IV, V progression superb. In 1991 he collaborated with Lenny Kravitz on "Always on the Run," the lead single from Mama Said. In 1994 he appeared in Carole King's live concert and joined her on David Letterman to promote it. In 1997, several compositions by Slash's Snakepit could be heard throughout Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Rihanna's "Rockstar 101" featured him in 2009. In 2024 he added guitar to a re-release of Mark Knopfler's "Going Home: Theme of the Local Hero," in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

  A self-described "film buff," Slash has taken small parts on screen. In 1988 he appeared with his bandmates in the Dirty Harry film The Dead Pool, playing a character who attends a musician's funeral and shoots a harpoon. In 1994 he played radio DJ Hank in an episode of the horror series Tales from the Crypt. In 1999 he hosted the Miss America Bag Lady pageant in the widely panned film The Underground Comedy Movie. In 2003 he voiced a caricature of himself in the animated series Kid Notorious. On the 5th of May 2009 he served as guest mentor for the rock 'n' roll week of American Idol. In 2010 he formed the horror production company Slasher Films. Its first film, Nothing Left to Fear, was screened in select cities on the 4th of October 2013.

  Slash's autobiography, simply titled Slash, was published on the 30th of October 2007, co-written with Anthony Bozza. He is also a pinball enthusiast and collector. He took part in designing the 1994 Data East Guns N' Roses pinball machine and the 2020 Jersey Jack machine of the same theme. In Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, released in 2007, his movements were motion captured. Players unlock him by beating him in a one-on-one competition, and then they play "Welcome to the Jungle" with him. He also drew the famous circular GN'R logo. A picture of Aerosmith that he drew as a teenager appears on their 2012 album Music From Another Dimension!

  In 2012, Slash appeared on Top Gear as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, setting a wet lap time of 1:49.8 in a Kia Cee'd. In December 2025, he performed under the band name The Dirty Bats with McKagan, Andrew Watt and Chad Smith. Bruno Mars, Brandi Carlile, Anthony Kiedis, Yungblud and Eddie Vedder joined them onstage.

  On the 10th of October 1992, Slash married the model-actress Renée Suran in Marina del Rey, California. They divorced in late 1997. He married Perla Ferrar on the 15th of October 2001 in Hawaii, and they have two sons. He filed for divorce in August 2010, but the couple reconciled two months later. He filed again in December 2014. His son London debuted a band called Suspect208 in late 2020 and now drums for Return to Dust. In 2009, after his mother died of lung cancer, Slash quit smoking. He is currently in a relationship with Meegan Hodges, whom he first dated in 1989.

  Slash is an honorary board member of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit that restores music education in disadvantaged public schools. He is also a board trustee of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association. His love of reptiles was long part of his public persona, and several of his many snakes appeared in music videos and photoshoots. The birth of his first son in 2002 pushed him to find a new home for the collection.

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• 8. Gear and Honors

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  More than 400 guitars belong to Slash, and the Gibson Les Paul is his favorite. He has called it "the best all-around guitar for me." Gibson credits him and Zakk Wylde with bringing the Les Paul back into the mainstream in the late 1980s. His main studio guitar is a replica of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, built by the luthier Kris Derrig. He came to own it during the sessions for Appetite for Destruction and used it on every later album with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. For many years his main live guitar was a 1988 Gibson Les Paul Standard. Since 1997 he has worked with Gibson on seventeen signature Les Paul models: five through Gibson USA, seven through the Gibson Custom Shop and five through Epiphone.

  Marshall introduced the Slash Signature JCM 2555 in 1996, a reissue of the 1987 "Silver Jubilee" amp. It was the company's first signature amp, with production limited to 3000. In 2007, Jim Dunlop introduced the Crybaby SW-95 Slash Signature Wah. In 2010, Seymour Duncan launched the Alnico II Pro Slash APH-2 pickups, and Marshall released the AFD100, limited to 2300.

  The AFD100 recreates an amp with a story. For Appetite for Destruction, Slash rented an early-1970s Marshall 1959 from the rental company S.I.R. He liked it so much that he told the company it had been stolen. Its employees repossessed it after a roadie accidentally brought it to rehearsals at the store. For Contraband he used a Vox AC30 and small Fender tube amps, and for Libertad a Marshall "Vintage Modern" 2466.

  Honors piled up through the 2000s. In 2004, readers of Total Guitar voted his introductory riff in "Sweet Child o' Mine" No. 1 on their list of the 100 greatest riffs. His riffs in "Welcome to the Jungle," "Paradise City" and "Out ta Get Me" also made that list, at Nos. 21, 19 and 51. Esquire named him "Best Guitarist" in 2005, crediting his comeback with Velvet Revolver. Metal Hammer awarded him the title "Riff Lord" at its Golden Gods awards in 2007. That year he also received a star on the Rock Walk of Fame, alongside Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix. In 2008, Guitar World placed his "November Rain" solo at No. 6 on its list of the 100 greatest guitar solos. Time named him runner-up to Jimi Hendrix in 2009, praising him as "a remarkably precise player." Rolling Stone placed him at No. 65 in 2011.

  West Hollywood's mayor, John Heilman, presented Slash with a plaque at the 2010 Sunset Strip Music Festival, declaring the 26th of August "Slash Day." In 2012, Slash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the classic Guns N' Roses lineup. He played "Paradise City," "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Mr. Brownstone" with McKagan, Adler, Sorum, Gilby Clarke and Myles Kennedy. Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Dizzy Reed declined to attend. Later that year he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, directly in front of the Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard. In January 2015 he received the Les Paul award.

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