Slash

by **Soulmonster** Thu Aug 05, 2010 2:23 pm

SLASH

Real name:
Saul Hudson.

Date of birth:
July 23, 1965.

Band position:
Lead guitar.

Time with Guns N' Roses:
1985-1996. 2016-present.

Shows with the band:
As of {UPDATEDATE} Slash has played at least {SLASHSHOWS}shows with Guns N' Roses.

Biography:
Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965.

My parents were in the business so I was weaned on music when I was a kid. My dad used to do all the album covers for Geffen Records. I've known David Geffen all my life, which is a real nice connection. I picked out what I liked and didn’t like real early. I listened to Who albums, I listened to Cat Stevens. I was into Sabbath albums. I got into a few albums which made me start playing guitar: Rocks, by Aerosmith, Cheap Trick Live at Budokan, any Ted Nugent album at the time, and Zeppelin. Then I started listening to UFO, Strangers in the Night [Guitar, September 1988]

I picked [guitar playing] up pretty quickly. I started a band as soon as I started playing. I was so single-minded that I played 12 hours a day. I can’t say that I was so talented; I can say I was so into it I had no choice but to learn what I was doing. When I first started playing I was naive and ignorant about it. I didn't know what lead guitar was. I didn’t know if I wanted to play bass. I just wanted to play. I thought if I’m going to play I need lessons. I went into this music place without an instrument and said I want to learn how to play. The teacher asked me did I want to play bass or guitar or what? I said, ‘What’s the difference?' He said the bass has four strings, the guitar has six. I said I’ll take the guitar because it’s got more strings. But I couldn’t take lessons because I didn’t have a guitar. I started playing this guitar that had one string on it, doing UFO and Aerosmith songs on one string by ear. I finally got an acoustic guitar and went back to the music school and started learning how to play. They started teaching me "Mary Had a Little Lamb." It wasn't Aerosmith, so I quit and started learning from records. I’m completely taught by ear. If there was something that I liked, that I thought was cool, I’d learn it. I'd learn Jeff Beck like you wouldn’t know. I'd learn any lick that I thought was really good from Wired, Truth and Blow by Blow. Then he got into There and Back and it was too jazzy for me. Jeff Beck is the most amazing guitar player out of anybody that I can think of. He is the only guy that blows me away. So I would sit down and learn licks that hit me. With Aerosmith and Ted Nugent songs it was basically any song that I liked. I wouldn't learn whole albums, just whatever hit me in the heart. I didn't learn because I wanted to be a rock star or to be able to play it live. It was nothing like that. I learned it because I liked it and because if I wanted to play that way or be as good as that then obviously I had to learn it [Guitar, September 1988]

I’ve never had a relationship with another guitar player. I’ve known Tracy from L.A. Guns for a long time and that was a rival thing that I’ve had with him since junior high. I've never played with another guitarist except for Izzy. I had bands from junior high all the way to now, but they weren't cover bands. I wrote songs, and that's the way it's always been. I had a real hard time coming up in bands. In junior high I had a guitar and a killer Fender Twin, which I sold because I was an idiot. I had a drummer and bass player. I could never find a singer. Axl was the only singer in L.A. I’ve ever met who could sing and I didn’t meet him until way later on. I'd go in with these guys and I was very serious about it. I was going to go the whole nine yards. I didn’t know if I was going to be a big rock star and play at the Colosseum; I just wanted to go out and do it. I'd stick with the drummer and he’d have fits and eventually we’d split up. I was real ignorant. I didn’t have any goals, but I had a subconscious drive that I couldn’t stop. If somebody couldn’t hack it I would move on [Guitar, September 1988]

Quotes:

First meeting: One day I was skateboarding up this ramp, taking off a pretty good speed. While in the air, I attempted a 180 and messed up big-time. My head slammed down against the pavement (...) and it felt like a bomb went off in my head. I was in so much pain, bordering on passing out. As these two kids were walking by, they saw me hit the ground. They ran over to see if I was okay. One of them asked, "Dude, are you all right?". I remember half rolling up to face them, holding my head. "Yeah..." "Well, let's try to be a little more careful next time" ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010]

Saul was the coolest, smoothest guy ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010]

Although Saul had just started playing guitar, he was really amazing from the very beginning ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010]

When we were both fourteen we said, "Let's do that blood brother thing." We got a knife, slit our hands, pressed them together, and said, "We're going to make it in a rock band and we're going to be huge." ("My Appetite for Destruction", 2010]

I noticed how Seymour [Cassel, friend of Slash] would always call Saul "Slash". It was just his personal nickname for Saul and for some reason, that really stuck with me. I couldn't forget it because it just seemed to fit Saul so well. The name "Slash" must have resonated with a lot of people, including the man himself. After a while , Saul made it known that he had taken a keen liking to his new name and the rest is history ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010]

There's nothing more annoying than a guitarist just noodling. Shredding, it's horrid. It's the same thing when you try to get a band together, you always end up with these noodlers, y'know...[...] when I first met him, yeah. Slash was a noodler, man. I think he still is. Like in Guns N' Roses he would noodle but then the vocals would come back in and that would shut him up! [Total Guitar Magazine, August 2001]

Tracii: I thought Slash was much better for that band than I was. You know, I thought that like: Wow -- you know, this guy's really got a creepy image, you know. But different than a, you know, white guy with black leather on. You know, it was like a creepy dude, you know? He's like really cool-looking, played really cool -- one style, all the time -- and, you know, just like a real like Joe Perry type guy, you know? And that was -- pretty much, it had to be Axl's decision [Spin Magazine, Outtakes for Axl Rose issue, 1999]

First meeting of Slash and Steven: I walked in [at Canter's], looked at the first booth on the left, and saw all this fucking hair. Somehow I had expected these guys to look like Social Distortion. Instead, even though they appeared about my age, the dudes in Rodker [="Road Crew"] had long hair an rocker chick girlfriends [...]. Slash's long hair, it turned out, hid a shy introvert. He was cool, though. He had a bottle of vodka stashed under the table [...] [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p 29-30]

When I met Slash, it was when I answered an ad in The Recycler and I came to Canter's. I had like short red and blue hair and I met Slash and Steven. That night we went back to Slash's mom's house [...] and he showed me all these Joe Perry pictures. This guy started playing guitar and I'm looking at him, this kid, thinking, "Yeah!" [Reckless Road, 2010]

[...]it was culture shock to me to see [Slash's] long hair, but he was a cool guy. And when he started playing his guitar — that’s the universal thing, the equalizer — it was like, “Oh, he’s not some long-haired metal guy, he’s like an old blues guy" [Youngstown News, April 2010]

We all went back to Slash's place [after Canter's] - he was living with his mom. It was obvious even on the acoustic guitar he played that first night that Slash was a special player. I was absolutely stunned by the raw, emotive power he so easily tapped. Slash was already in a league of his own and watching him play guitar was a "holy shit" moment [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p 30]

Slash was an eccentric guy. He had a snake in his room [...]. Still he was cool. If nothing else, I thought, he's a genius guitar player - and I like him [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p 31]

Talking about leaving the band and Slash taking his place: I figured that would be the obvious choice. He had played with everybody in the band except Duff. He was one of my closest friends, and had actually come up with the original GNR logo before he was in the band. He was a real fan of Guns N’ Roses. I think that having him see the band from the audience, made him appreciate it more. As soon as he was in the band, I really started enjoying the band more. I think it worked out the best for everybody. I really do. [Tales From The Stage, February 2013]

About Slash joining the band in June 1985: Slash was inclined to try [Guns N' Roses] because Guns seemed more where he wanted to go musically than Black Sheep [his current band at the time]. [...] Slash liked the idea of joining a band with the intention of making its own mark [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p 69]

But, you know, we met Slash. We ran an ad for "heavy metal punk glam guitarist. Blues influenced". And Slash showed up and we said "Nah". But he kept popping up everywhere we were at and all of a sudden we started working together. It took a long time, but I mean...I guess it took a long time for me to learn to accept things out there, you know. He had been there the whole time and nothing was really that new [Interview with Axl and Slash, 1988]

Slash was the Aerosmith guy [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 96]

I have to watch Slash, though. You know, after a few too many he will try to drink n' drive things, you gotta grab him [Interview with Axl Rose by Steve Harris, December 1987]

When we started to write the songs that would become Appetite, it was clear that Slash saw this as a chance to finally perfect his sense of melody on leads and his crunch when it came to riffage. Slash wrote and perfected those classic parts from some dark and beautiful place within himself. The shy introvert I'd first met had at last found the true medium to express himself [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 96-97]

Responding to Slash saying 'If it falls apart tomorrow, you know what I mean. You're history. No one gives a shit about you anymore': I'll be your friend. I still be your friend [Interview with Axl and Slash, 1988]

Slash is one of the most emotional guitar players that I've ever met or ever seen. Coming from Indiana I used to play with this guitar player named Paul and I learned about blues and emotionalism through him and he was a big Page fanatic. And then I came to L.A. and I saw all these people trying to to be [unknown guitar player] and it took 5 years to find somebody who played more from the heart rather than just trying to be the fastest or trying to be this or that to be a big rock star, someone who, like, he'd be really quiet [...] most of the time and really won't let a lot of himself out till he picks up a guitar and then his heart and soul seems to pour out through the guitar. I sit down a lot of times at shows, I sit down right at the stage right in front of him amp when he's doing a solo, because, to me, it means just so much to me to hear that [Interview with Axl and Slash, 1988]

I’ve seen him go from this kid who’s just this great guitar player, to, I don’t know, just this total monstrosity! To me he is anyway. Maybe I’m over playing him. But just to me as a musician, I appreciate so much [Kerrang, March 1990]

One change I didn't see coming [after getting signed to Geffen]: heroin use in the band started to expand. Certain guys you just don't peg as the type to fall for the romantic image of the rock-and-roll junkie. Slash and I were really big drinkers - alcoholic addicts, if you will. Of course, if you are easily addicted to one thing, then chances are pretty good you'll be easily addicted to others. Bingo. Though he'd dabbled a bit in the past, after we signed our deal and were all relatively flush with dough, Slash got himself strung out [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 116]

As 1986 wore on, Slash, Steven and Izzy were in a constant cycle of cleaning up and going back out on the dope. It was hard to watch sometimes, but we were young ad they held it together for the most part for the sake of the band - nothing was more important to us [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 116]

Recounting an episode in-between from 1989: [Slash] was sitting by the pool. He was so out of it, just blindly stabbing a syringe into his arm, over and over. I said "Dude. Stop it. Look, just come into the house. We'll watch a movie, and after that if you want to party some more, we will. Just stop it for now." He didn't listen. He just gazed at me, but at least he had stopped the pincushion routine ["My Appetite for Destruction", 2010, p186]

Slash had one foot out of the band as a result of feeling betrayed [by Axl for not showing up in Chicago for writing and rehearsals] [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 154]

About the period after Chicago: I would hang out with Slash from time to time, but things were getting dark up there at his house in Laurel Canyon, One day he pulled out a stack of Polaroid pictures he had taken around his house. "Duff, look at these," he said. "It's some of those Martian bugs I was telling you about. They're infiltrating my house and watching me all the time." There was, of course, nothing on those Polaroids. But he kept flipping through the stack and pointing. "See, there's another one - right there, in the corner!" [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 155]

Despite the work we needed to do to prepare for the [Rolling] Stones shows [in October 1989], Slash and Steven showed no sign of pulling out of their drug habits, and Izzy slipped back into heroin use, too. Sometimes those guys put their drug use in front of band practise. One or the other often showed up late or left early from rehearsal - if they showed up at all [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 156]

He is always working on something, working on his house, working on someone else's record, or something like that. We don't really hang that much, but we call each other up on the phone and tell each other what we did, you know. We're best friends even though we have separate lives, somewhat. And we brought that friendship back together, you know, because otherwise it was getting to a point where 'Okay, we are going to go separate' [Famous Last Words, MTV, 1990]

I hear he's doin' better, y'know. Haven't seen him in three to four weeks but I hear he's doin better than in a long time. He seems to realize now that with this new album to be made there's like a... uh, time period he has to be sustainin' right. Which he couldn't do before because of the way he's livin' his life [The Face, 1990]

And Slash, well, let's say he can pronounce his syllables better now. He was pretty bad though. Fuck, he was a mess. He's a great guy an' all, but he can't monitor his own intake, with the result that he's always fuckin' up big-time. Like leaving dope hanging out on the table when the police come to call; nodding out into his food in restaurants - shit like that. I love the guy a lot, but the fact is, man, Slash is not what you'd call your thinkin' man's drug-user. He's real careless, doing really shitty things like OD-ing a lot in other people's apartments. A lot [The Vox, 1991]

It’s like the first time I met Slash, I said, “The world’s gotta see this guy.” That’s why when he plays with other people or does solo things it totally gets me off and makes me happy. It secures his place in rock history as a guitarist. [Hit Parader, 1992]

I don't think [Slash] really wanted another guitar player, but it was kind of a package deal, Axl and I. We had periods where we actually wrote songs together and worked out our parts. There was a little bit more interplay on Appetite than Illusion. He was like a brother, but a brother who really wanted to be out on his own [Musician, 1992]

Let me say something about us being at each others throats: We haven't really been that way in the past year and a half. l love the guy. We're like opposite poles of energy, and we balance each other out. We push each other to work harder and complement each other that way. We had a run-in in Dayton (Ohio), because both myself and Dougie thought he said something shitty to me onstage. That was the night I cut my hand to the bone. Backstage we have monitors much like the ones onstage; and while l was back there dealing with my hand, I thought I heard him take a potshot at me. I wrapped my hand up in a towel and was like, "Lets get it taken care of, so l can finish the show." I came back onstage and was a dick to him and told him I'd kick his fucking ass in front of 20,000 people. That was fucked up. l was wrong, and l apologized the second l realized I was mistaken. Someone who is supporting me as strongly as he does is a hand I never want to bite ["I, Axl" Del James, RIP Magazine - 1992]

[...] Slash and I, more than anyone else, are very much a team [Shadow Boxing with Axl Rose, April 1992]

The bottom line is that nothing can come between Slash and I, and as long as we have that bond we have Guns N’ Roses [Hit Parader, 1992]

Gilby:The first that struck me when the album [Appetite] came out was Slash. He was the best guitarist I've heard in a l-o-n-g time [Metal Hammer, 1992]

Gilby:I played far down on a Les Paul before Slash started playing guitar. But while I'm from a classical blues-school and had Beatles and Stones as mayor model Slash mixes blues with metal. That side I've always ignored but Slash has brought the hard-rocker inside of me to life [Gilby Clarke - A "Pawned" Rocker, Heavy Mental, June 1994]

[...] the movie Interview with the Vampire came out, featuring a cover of the Stones' "Sympathy for the Devil" credited to Guns N' Roses. Guitar work by Paul Huge, Axl's childhood friend, had been added to the track and Slash was more furious now than ever [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 261]

A press release went out in late 1996 announcing that Slash had officially quit Guns N' Roses. It barely registered with me - I had long since come to grips with the fact that he was done. And anyway, it wasn't as if Guns was active. He left behind an empty studio being paid for by an entity that itself barely existed [Duff's autobiography, "It's So Easy", 2011, p. 261]

Slash will not be involved in any new Guns N' Roses endeavors? as far has not been musically involved with Guns N" Roses since April 1994 with the exception of a BRIEF feel period with Zakk Wylde and a 2 week initial period with Guns N' Roses in the late fall of '95. He (Slash) has been "OFFICIALLY and LEGALLY" outside of the Guns N' Roses Partnership since December 31, 1995 [Fax sent to MTV, October 1996]

He's a maniac. That guy'll play anywhere, at anything...He'd probably play at a department store opening if someone asked him [Total Guitar, January 1997]

You could find ways to blend all kind of things. It really just takes the right song. I don't personally believe that was the interest of Guns or Slash, I don't believe the right song was the interest. I mean, what people don't know is, the [Slash's] Snakepit album, that is the Guns N' Roses album. I just wouldn't do it. (...) Duff walked out on it, and I walked out on it, because I wasn't allowed to be any part of it. It's like, "No, you do this, that's how it is." And I didn't believe in it. I thought that there were riffs and parts and some ideas, I thought, that needed to be developed. I had no problem working on it, or working with it, but you know, as is, I think I'm with the public on that one [Axl Rose - A conversation with Kurt Loder, MTV US November 8th 1999]

I never said that I was bitter. Hurt, yeah. Disappointed. I mean, with Slash, I remember crying about all kinds of things in my life, but I had never felt hot, burning tears...hot, burning tears of anger. Basically, to me, it was because I am watching this guy and I don't understand it. Playing with everyone from Space Ghost to Michael Jackson. I don't get it. I wanted the world to love and respect him. I just watched him throw it away [Axl Speaks, Rolling Stone, January 2000]

Nothing about happiness and love made sense to him. That was the reason why he hated "Sweet Child O' Mine". He only wanted to write songs about drugs and sadness[Axl talks by the poolside, January 2001]

Originally I don't think Slash ever wanted to play with another guitarist. But we both really loved Aerosmith and the Stones and we just used that idea to make it all work. My favourite band was always the Ramones - just four guys wailing with power chords. At some point he and I hooked up and we started making it work. It became fun, just working with another guy like him, opposites attract, I suppose (...) He's a great guitar player - he'll go, he's a guy if you let him go, he's just off, out there. You gotta reel him in now and then, but that's what he loves to do. Listen to the end of Paradise City, I'm just doing the power chords, G and D. And Slash just goes manic in the last four bars. It's incredible. Those were great times...[Total Guitar, 2001]

Being asked about the downfall of Guns N' Roses: Everything started when Slash turned his back and said: « This is shit. » [referring to their musical differences.] He and Axl didn’t talk to each other anymore. It had become quite irrational. (...) I was always in the middle, the one both came to see, and I got the impression I arbitrated little kids’ quarrels [Duff McKagan Interview, Hard Force Magazine June 1999]

Originally I intended to do more of an Appetite style recording but with the changes in the band's dynamics and the band's musical influences at the time it didn't appear realistic. So, I opted for what I thought would or should've made the band and especially Slash very happy. Basically I was interested in making a Slash record with some contributions from everybody else. (...) It seemed to me that anytime we got close to something that would work, it wasn’t out of opinion that Slash would go ‘hey it doesn’t work’, but it was nixed simply because it did work. In other words, ‘Whoa, wait a minute. That actually might be successful, we can’t do that.’ (...) Slash chose not to be here over control issues. Now people can say ‘Well Axl, you’re after control of the band too.’ You’re damn skippy. That’s right. I am the one held responsible since day one. When it comes to Guns n’ Roses, I may not always get everything right but I do have a good idea about getting things from point A to point B and knowing what the job is that we have to do. Within those parameters, I give everyone as much freedom to do what they want something Slash has verified in several interviews. Had Slash stepped up and written what we captured glimpses of, it would have created an environment that was beyond Slash’s ability to control. He did not want to do that or put himself through the rigors of taking the band to that level even if he was capable of writing it. Was he capable of doing it? Absolutely 100%. I think that some of the riffs that were coming out of him were the meanest, most contemporary, bluesiest, rocking thing since Aerosmith’s Rocks. The 2000 version of Aerosmith Rocks or the 1996 Aerosmith Rocks by the time we would have put it out. I don’t know if I would have wanted to even do a world tour at the time but I wanted to put that record together and could we have done it? Yes. It’s not something I would want to approach (without Slash) because at the time there was only one person that I knew who could do certain riffs that way. We still needed the collaboration of the band as a whole to write the best songs. Since none of that happened, that’s the reason why that material got scrapped. (...) As a friend and former friend of Slash said to me in regards to working with Slash, "you can only do so many pull ups." (...) Slash has lied about nearly everything and anything to nearly everyone and anyone. It's who he is. It's what he does. (...) For the fans to attempt to condemn me to relationships even only professional with any of these men is a prison sentence and something I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I'd say my parole is nearly over. I'm practically a free man and if you don't like it you'll have plenty of time to get used to the idea [GN'R press release with Axl interview, gnronline.com, 2002]

To his credit Slash could play great guitar on a lot of drugs [Detroit Radio Interview, 2002]

'Use Your Illusion' is...[sigh] basically Slash wanting to take over the band, Izzy being in his drug world, and the only way that we were able to even survive as a band was to make this double thing you know, like Slash's solo record, Izzy's solo record, and then I wrote stuff, but I mean, I had the phone calls of calling these guys going: "I'm not doing yours, if you don't do his!", and then calling Izzy and saying: "I'm not doing yours, if you don't do his! And I'm not doing either of yours, unless we do mine, and we'll do mine last!" But, it was that kinda fight for years. You know...[Eddie Trunk Interview, 2006]

W. Axl Rose, on Friday March 3, 2006 responded to one of Saul "Slash" Hudson's baseless lawsuits by filing a counterclaim asking the Federal Court to confirm his ownership of his own creative works. Slash and Michael "Duff" McKagan had previously filed cases both in Federal Court and in the Los Angeles Superior Court making numerous false allegations about Axl. (...) More surprising to Axl are recent media reports that Slash (Saul Hudson) is claiming that he has always been supportive of Axl Rose and the new Guns N' Roses. Slash's actions in recent years have in fact been anything but supportive. Besides the lawsuits filed against Axl Rose, claiming, among other things, that Axl does not own the copyright in the songs that Axl co-authored with his former Guns N' Roses band mates, Slash has continually made negative and malicious statements about Axl in order to garner publicity for himself. (...) For over 10 years Slash, a consummate press, photo and media opportunist and manipulator, has attacked Axl Rose on a number of levels. Slash's actions whether in or out of Guns N' Roses have been a complete betrayal across the board of his alleged friendship and business relationship with Axl and the so called brotherhood and band loyalties that are supposed to have existed. Instead Slash has publicly attempted, by soliciting public and media support, to take credit for something that was not his or anyone else's to take, notwithstanding that Slash played a major part in the success of the band as Axl has continually acknowledged. In October of 2005 Slash made an unannounced 5:30 AM visit to Axl Rose's house. Not appearing to be under the influence, Slash came to inform Axl that: "Duff was spineless," "Scott was a fraud," that he "hates Matt Sorum" and that in this ongoing war, contest or whatever anyone wants to call it that Slash has waged against Axl for the better part of 20 years, that Axl has proven himself "the stronger." Based on his conduct in showing up at Rose's home, Axl was hopeful that Slash would live up to his pronouncements that he wanted to end the war and move on with life. Unfortunately that did not prove to be the case (...) [Axl Rose Responds To Lawsuit, 2006]

We both loved Aerosmith and the Stones and we used that idea to make it all work. It became fun, just working with a guy like Slash. Opposites attract, I guess. He's a great guitar player - if you let him go, he's just off, out there. You got to reel him in now and then, but that's what he loves to do [Scare Monsters, Guitar & Bass Magazine, July 2007]

About his favorite guitarist: I've got to say Slash, the guy I've been playing with for 22 or 23 years is one of the best. Not just because I play with him, he really is. Hendrix was amazing. Prince is also a killer of a guitar player. He doesn't get as many props as he should. But Slash is probably up there with anybody [Duff McKagan 'On the Record', Fox News, July 2008]

About musical differences leading to split: A lot of people bought that crap and me having gone in other directions seems to many to have verified that. Then you have the mind twisting equally as true horseshit in Slash’s book but I have the rehearsal tapes. There’s nothing but Slash based blues rock and he stopped it to both go solo and try to completely take over Guns. I read all this if Axl would’ve put words and melodies on it could’ve… That was denied and I didn’t walk till several months after having 3 to 4 hour phone conversations nearly every day with Slash trying to reach a compromise. I was specifically told no lyrics, no melodies, no changes to anything and to sing what I was told or fuck off [mygnrforum.com, December 14, 2008]

Guns did not have specific lifelong criteria to follow and many of the influences on Appetite were abandoned by the others long before me. In fact Slash hated a good portion of those on Appetite and wasn’t all that into the involvement or association but knew it worked at the time and realized it was the cusp of a wave that was growing. It’s a trip for me to witness as so many of the people he performs with etc he hated then, them, their bands and their music where the others or I were the fans [mygnrforum.com, December 14, 2008]

The beginning was fun but it started going bad our first gig opening for the Cult in Halifax between Slash and I. That’s when the ok I put up with all Axl’s and Izzy’s crap now I’m gonna be the man trip started with him runnin’ right out front on the ego ramp for the whole show. It was pretty funny [mygnrforum.com, December 14, 2008]

In regards to Slash, I read a desperate fan's message about, what if one of us were to die and looking back I had the possibility of a reunion now, blah blah blah. And my thoughts are, "Yeah, and while you're at the show your baby accidentally kicks a candle and burns your house down, killing himself and the rest of your family." Give me a fucking break. What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man. There are acts that, once committed between individuals, they are what they are. To add insult to injury almost day after day, lapsing into year after year, for more than a decade, is a nightmare. Anyone putting his own personal entertainment above everything else is sickening [The Billboard Q&A: Axl Rose, Billboard February 2009]

[...]There's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty [Del James interview with Axl, February 2009]

There is the distinct possibility that having his intentions in regard to me so deeply ingrained and his personal though guarded distaste for much of 'Appetite' other than his or Duff's playing, Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after 'Lies.' In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better [Del James interview with Axl, February 2009]

On being quoted as saying he love Slash in 2006: No. I said "loved," as in past tense. It was a misquote by a writer I mistook as a fan [Del James interview with Axl, February 2009]

It's just so wonderful to have a relationship with Slash again. He is one of my biggest supporters, and one of my biggest supports when it comes to sobriety and getting my life together. I've always looked up to him. Even when we were kids, I looked up to him ["Slash helps ex-Gunner get off drugs", by Darryl Sterdan, QMI Agency, 2010]

There's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty. He wrote that whole bit about not having his guitar in Vegas, I'd assume, to save face. I was told by both the Hard Rock and different Guns industry people who had come out to be supportive of the new band and were a bit surprised to see him there, especially guitar in hand, but just assumed it was a surprise for the show and we were in on the arrangement. (...) There is the distinct possibility that having his intentions in regard to me so deeply ingrained and his personal though guarded distaste for much of 'Appetite' other than his or Duff's playing, Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after 'Lies.' In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better. (...) I prefer listening to others in general, especially those who both push their talents and infuse them with a level of energy that I've seldom heard in his efforts over the years. I'm not taking anything away from the man that are his to claim for his past efforts; it's just that for whatever reason for me, whether the approach, style or basic hands-on technique is there, the passion and true dedication to the art of guitar in his chosen area other than being, in my opinion, a whore for the limelight has generally seemed absent or lacking with most efforts for a long time. To me, it's sad. I don't get it [spinner.com Axl interview by Del James, 2009]

Musically we contributed stuff mutually, and we tried to play more powerfully than the others. (Laughter) And at a personal level, well, we took many drugs together back in the 80s, but after a time it became repetitive (boring) and we quit. I still consider him as a friend and we stay in contact [loveloveloen, July 2010]

I know together we are a force to be reckoned with — and I'm working on it — I'm getting him to realize that [reviewfix.com, September 2010]

It’s really great to see Slash and his kids, that’s really neat. They’re two little mini versions of him and he is just a dad, he’s a good dad. I was really happy to see that when I was hanging out at his house with him on thanksgiving, it was so great, he’s a really good daddy. I was trying to get the kids all nuts, yelling and throwing food and things and Slash was like ‘calm down Stevie, settle down stop it’. Everybody has a crazy Uncle Right? Yeah I’m definitely the crazy uncle [AFD Interview with Steven, July 2011]

I cut my teeth on guys like Slash and have the utmost respect for his guitar playing and style. I feel I get where he was coming from. No one will ever replace him [Guitar World, October 2011]

I have tons of respect for Slash's guitar playing and what he's done, so I just wanted to stay as true to his vision as I possibly could [CRIBNOTES, October 2011]

It was really a fight with me and Slash. Izzy was doing the same thing, but the fight with me and Slash started the day I met him. He came in, popped my tape out and put his in and wanted me in his band. And I didn't want to join his band. We've had that war since Day 1 [Los Angeles Times, December 2011]

I have no history or beef with Slash. I don't know the guy personally. I have a lot of respect for him and all the guys in the band, for their musicianship [Washington Examiner, February 2012]

Slash is really the main person from that band [AFD lineup] that is really super-duper…they’re all important, but Slash is the most important, because we grew up together, we started the whole thing together, so it was really great ending that chapter with him [Rolling Stone, April 2012]

[Stephanie Seymour, Slash and Duff] did more damage to my ability as a writer. To those three, it was all crap. It beat me down so much. At the time of the (Use Your Illusion) tours, Slash and Duff said, 'You're an idiot, you're a loser.' I didn't write for years. I felt I was hindered for a very long time [USA Today, October 30, 2012]

He was such a part of what made the band huge [Total Guitar, December 2012]

[...] if we hated Slash, we wouldn't be doing this gig [Total Guitar, December 2012]

Being in a band with Slash as your guitar player can make guitar playing seem like an unattainable mastery. Dude is just so damn good and gifted. But he DOES practice all of the time, and constantly challenges himself. [rewerb column, May 2013]

Talking about relationships with former members: That one [with Slash] I steer clear of, simply because there is such a heated relationship between Axl and Slash. I don't want Axl to feel betrayed. [Vorterix.com, November 2013]

Talking about being compared to Slash: I don't really take [the criticism] personal. It doesn't matter who's stepping in those shoes, you are stepping in one of the biggest guitar slots [?] in rock and roll. It's kinda, damned if you do and damned if you don't. If anybody can honestly look at a picture of me and of Slash next to each other and go, "Wow, these guys are just alike," I mean, okay, I don't see it. You know, I have a lot of respect for what he's done for this band and I am a fan of his [or "this"] band. And that's the one thing that kinda shocked me, that they immediately tried to pin me against him and him against me. I've run into him a couple of times, I don't know the guy, we don't know each other well enough to have issues with each other. It's the Internet running wild and they are going to make their own opinions and I just kinda stay numb to it. [Talking Metal, April 2014]

by **Soulmonster** Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:08 pm

Photographer: Robert John. Visit his page here: http://www.robertjohnphotography.com/

Slash 3

by martingonzo Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:41 pm

by puddledumpling Sun Mar 10, 2013 1:29 am

by **Soulmonster** Sat Oct 10, 2015 10:16 am

I'll be going to Slash's show at the Palladium in Hollywood on October 23. Rock on!

by **Uli** Mon Oct 12, 2015 4:21 pm

Yeah, why not. I'd go see him if he comes nearby. (Actully I missed his Munich show(s), but if he'll continue his touring schedule like he's done so far, I'm sure he'll be closer one day!)

by **Soulmonster** Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:55 pm

I am spending a weekend in LA and as I usually do I checkec to see if there was any interesting shows. Lo and behold, Slash is playing. Unfortunately, Miles is singing, so it is with mixed feelings I bought the ticket Razz

by **Uli** Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:33 pm

Soulmonster wrote: Lo and behold, Slash is playing. Unfortunately, Miles is singing, so it is with mixed feelings I bought the ticket

Myles. Just buy yourself earplugs which filter out his frequencies. Teasing

by **Soulmonster** Thu Aug 04, 2016 6:55 am

Slash wanted to join The Stone Roses after he quit GN'R, but was turned down. Read about it here: http://consequenceofsound.net/2016/08/slash-almost-joined-the-stone-roses-after-leaving-guns-n-roses-in-1996/

by **Soulmonster** Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:14 am

Slash's old B.C. Rich Warlock guitar has been found and is about to be auctioned off: http://www.guitarworld.com/gear-news-electrics-artist-news/slashs-long-lost-guitar-used-write-early-guns-n-roses-hits-going

by **Soulmonster** Tue Nov 01, 2016 9:23 am

It is getting ugle between Slash and Perla: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/guns-n-roses-slash-denies-he-was-ever-really-married-his-wife-13-years-amid-divorce-battle-1589143

by **Uli** Mon Nov 14, 2016 9:26 am

Slash F1+Grand+Prix+of+Brazil+msNkHAYG5FTl

Slash of Guns n Roses with Mercedes GP non-executive chairman Niki Lauda in the Mercedes garage before the Formula One Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 13, 2016 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/L9ky50HWCHp/F1+Grand+Prix+of+Brazil/msNkHAYG5FT/Niki+Lauda

by **Uli** Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:04 pm

Finally, one exception to the "no interviews" rule! Cool

https://tinyurl.com/y88v6u8k

Leslie West and Slash have long admired each other's work, but the two didn't become personally acquainted until West asked the Guns N' Roses lead axeman to play on his 2012 song Mudflap Mama.

As part of his interview series for Music Aficionado, West sat down with Slash, who had just returned from Dubai where Guns N' Roses wrapped the latest leg of their Not In This Lifetime tour.

West: It's always the best when it's the guys just jamming together. We didn't have that in Mountain.

Slash: Yeah, that's the way it starts out, with just the original members in a room doing it. It's hard to recapture that innocence as you start to become successful. You have people coming in from all over the place; they have ideas for the music or the show. It's inevitable. You don't know who it's going to be, but it's going to be somebody. You have to fight and claw to keep the integrity. A lot of the time you try to go along with stuff, but your gut is telling you this isn't right.

West: Well, you had the talent and the drive, and you had the songs. And what made it work was, you were a great fucking group.

Slash: When it was firing on all cylinders, I like to consider it a great rock 'n' roll group on its own merit. It wasn't because of gimmicks. Obviously, it was highly volatile. Now that we're back together, without getting too much into it, we're able to talk about it and identify people who got in the way. It's great to be past all that without having to listen to anybody's input—not managers, not business people. We just do what we're good at, and it's nice that it's been well received.

Read more at:
https://web.musicaficionado.com/main.html#!/article/leslie_west_interviews_slash_by_joebosso

by **Soulmonster** Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:41 pm

Thanks, I have been planning to add that interview to our section sice yesterday but been swamped at work. Tomorrow. Tomorrow! Tomooooroooow!! Smile

by **Soulmonster** Tue Aug 14, 2018 8:39 am

According to Syfy.com, Slash almost inadvertently helped to reveal the appearance of Juggernaut in the Deadpool 2 movie when he came to the set while filming and people took selfies of Slash, themselves and with Juggernaut behind.

"Slash showed up and the crew lost their f***ing minds, and rightly so," says Reynolds in a featurette on the digital edition. "Slash is a legend, and suddenly, all of these pictures of Slash were on people's phones with Juggernaut in the background. You're like, 'Guys, you can't post any of those, or at least Photoshop the crap out of them.' "

Source: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/deadpool-2-trivia-digital-edition

by **Soulmonster** Thu Aug 23, 2018 9:02 am

Slash has created the soundtrack to Universal Studios Hollywood's all-new Halloween Horror Nights attraction. Read more about it here: https://www.dailynews.com/2018/08/22/halloween-horror-nights-guns-n-roses-guitarist-slash-gives-universal-monsters-a-soundtrack/

by **Soulmonster** Fri Nov 22, 2019 10:24 am

Slash is featured on the second single off Ozzy's new record:

by **Blackstar** Wed Oct 28, 2020 11:45 am

Slash has just released his version of Theme for Love Story/"Where Do I Begin?" as a tribute to film producer Robert Evans who passed away last year and Slash had worked with in the past (he was the producer of the film Slash's studio version of the Godfather is on, and Slash was featured in Evans' animated series Kid Notorious).

by **Soulmonster** Mon Nov 02, 2020 10:10 am

Blackstar wrote:Slash has just released his version of Theme for Love Story/"Where Do I Begin?" as a tribute to film producer Robert Evans who passed away last year and Slash had worked with in the past (he was the producer of the film Slash's studio version of the Godfather is on, and Slash was featured in Evans' animated series Kid Notorious).

Uhm, I don't like it much. Don't like the arrangement and Slash's playing is only okay. Too abrasive, it doesn't suit the composition, in my humble opinion.

by **Uli** Sat Nov 14, 2020 12:06 pm

Slash's son now has a band with other sons...

https://consequenceofsound.net/2020/11/sons-stone-temple-pilots-guns-n-roses-metallica-band/

Suspect208 features Noah Weiland, Tye Trujillo, and London Hudson (Slash's son)

by **Blackstar** Fri Jul 15, 2022 3:45 pm

Slash will be featured in the upcoming first issue of the relaunched Creem magazine.

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