2010.03.15 - Spinner - Slash Rethinks 'Gay' Comment on Michael Jackson Guitar Riff

Slash Rethinks 'Gay' Comment on Michael Jackson Guitar Riff

During his keynote interview at Canadian Music Week last Thursday, Slash explained to a packed ballroom that he thought the signature hook from Michael Jackson's 'Black or White' -- for which he is sometimes credited -- was "gay."

"I never played on [Black or White']," the former Guns N' Roses guitarist said at the time. "If you listen to [the hook], that's gay. I'd never play that."

Now, with benefit of hindsight, Slash tells Spinner he may have been a bit hasty with his colloquial insult.

"I thought about that afterward 'cause really that just came right out... now I think it sounded a bit too derogatory," Slash says. "What I really meant was that the sound of the guitar is very happy. It just doesn't sound like me, anyone would know that. It's not the guitar sound you would expect from me, but somehow I got pigeonholed as the guy who played on that song."

Despite the controversy, many in the online community stand by their original mistaken belief. As of publishing, Slash's Wikipedia page still claims the guitar legend played on Jackson's smash single which topped the singles chart in 19 countries and has been certified platinum.

As Slash made clear, he did play on Michale Jackson's 'Dangerous' album, albeit on another track: 'Give in to Me.' And if he had played on 'Black or White,' he wouldn't be dissing it decades later.

"I never revisit s--- that I did before," he says. "There are some songs that I hear on the radio, obscure Guns N' Roses stuff, you sort of hear the difference between your playing now and your playing then. I can pick out a note and it's not necessarily great but I don't nitpick over those things. When you release something, it's done. If you wanted to change something you should have done it then.

"Especially with rock n' roll and the spontaneity that goes along with it -- you are definitely emotionally invested in the f---ing now. So when you listen back a year or ten years later you can't pass judgment on it because, you know, it's ten years later."

https://web.archive.org/web/20100322193554/http://www.spinner.ca/2010/03/15/slash-rethinks-gay-comment-on-michael-jackson-guitar-riff/

Related article in Exclaim! (March 15, 2010):
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Slash Backpedals over "Gay" Michael Jackson Comment

By Josiah Hughes

Last week, former Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash attempted to set the record straight on his Michael Jackson collaboration, saying, "I did not play on ['Black or White']... That's gay, I would never play that." Naturally, the statement has drawn the ire of politically correct folks who don't appreciate the use of that word in that context.

Speaking with Spinner, Slash has now backpedalled a little by insisting that he meant to use the word "gay" the old-fashioned way, intending to mean "happy."

"I thought about that afterward 'cause really that just came right out... now I think it sounded a bit too derogatory," he says. "What I really meant was that the sound of the guitar is very happy. It just doesn't sound like me, anyone would know that. It's not the guitar sound you would expect from me, but somehow I got pigeonholed as the guy who played on that song."

He adds, "I never revisit shit that I did before. There are some songs that I hear on the radio, obscure Guns N' Roses stuff, you sort of hear the difference between your playing now and your playing then. I can pick out a note and it's not necessarily great but I don't nitpick over those things. When you release something, it's done. If you wanted to change something you should have done it then."

Strangely enough, some fans insist that the guitar solo on "Black or White" is definitely Slash regardless what he says. Just take a look at Wikipedia.

https://exclaim.ca/music/article/slash_backpedals_over_gay_michael_jackson_comment