Slash
| Videos | |
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| Best of Slash Video Montage |
Slash w/ Michael Jackson - 'Black or White' |
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| Slash plays the Godfather theme |
Slash w/ Billy Gibbons - 'La Grange' |
| Guitarist Quick-Facts |
| Name: Saul Hudson |
| Born: July 23, 1965 |
| Origin: Stoke-on-Trent, England |
| Guitar Gear |
| Guitars: Gibson |
| Amplifiers: Marshall & Vox |
| Bands: Past & Present |
| Guns N' Roses, Velvet Revolver, Road Crew, Slash's Snakepit |
Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965, in Stoke-on-Trent, England. He was born into the music industry, with a mother who designed costumes for David Bowie and a father who created album covers for Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, among others. He lived in Stoke-on-Trent for the first few years of his life. When he was 11, Slash's parents relocated the family to Los Angeles. While in Los Angeles, Slash's parents separated and his mother took custody of him. Around this time, he was given the nickname Slash by a family friend, who said he was “always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another.”
As a boy, Slash got his first interest in music from a school teacher who had a Les Paul and would play Cream and Zeppelin licks. Once the youth heard the teacher play he knew that playing guitar was what he wanted to do. His first attempt at a band, however, almost saw him on bass duties instead of lead guitar duties. He formed the band with his friend Steven Adler, who had declared himself lead guitarist. Slash decided to take up bass guitar, but was told by his teacher, Robert Wolin, that he would need to have a bass of his own in order to learn. When he asked his grandmother for one, she gave him a worn out flamenco guitar. Upon hearing Wolin play the Rolling Stones classic “Brown Sugar”, Slash was convinced that he wanted to play guitar.
Slash had what he called a big awakening when he was fourteen. He explained to Rolling Stone magazine, “My big awakening happened when I was fourteen. I'd been trying to get into this older girl's pants for a while, and she finally let me come over to her house. We hung out, smoked some pot and listened to Aerosmith's Rocks. It hit me like a fucking ton of bricks. I sat there listening to it over and over, and totally blew off this girl. I remember riding my bike back to my grandma's house knowing that my life had changed. Now I identified with something.”
Slash dropped out of High School to pursue music full time. His first band, with Steven Adler, was a Motorhead tribute band named Road Crew, after the Motorhead song “We Are The Road Crew”. The band found their bassist, Duff McKagan through a newspaper ad. The Road Crew didn't last long, but Slash quickly joined another band, Black Sheep. Black Sheep and a band with whom they shared an agent, Hollywood Rose, got a gig opening for Christian metal band Stryper. After the show Slash met Hollywood Rose members Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin.
Hollywood Rose would go on to combine with members of L.A. Guns and become Guns N' Roses. Duff McKagan, who had played with Slash in Road Crew eventually joined the band as bassist and when guitarist Tracii Guns left, Slash was invited to come on board as a replacement. With the new lineup in place, Guns N' Roses would spend 1985 and 1986 touring bars and opening for established acts.
While on the bar circuit, GNR wrote many of the songs that would go on to be their biggest hits, including “Welcome to the Jungle”, “Sweet Child o' Mine”, and “Paradise City”. The band drew the attention of several major labels, but it was Geffen that finally signed them. Fueled by the mega hit quality songs, the band's debut album, “Appetite for Destruction”, is the most successful debut album of all time.
In 1990, Slash recorded guitar tracks for two hit singles from Michael Jackson's album, “Dangerous.” The tracks, “Black or White”, and “Give in to Me”, led to Slash appearing onstage with Michael several times during the support tour as well as during the 1992 and 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Slash would go on to also contribute to Jackson tracks, “D.S”, “Morphine”, and “Privacy”.
In the mid-90s, Slash wrote several songs intended for Guns N' Roses, but Axl Rose turned down the contributions. Determined to record his songs, Slash formed a side project which he called “Slash's Snakepit”. The results of that effort were realized with the release in 1995 of “It's Five O'Clock Somewhere”. The album was a critical and commercial success. After leaving Guns N' Roses, Slash played a few shows with Slash's Snakepit before that project also disbanded.
Slash didn't remain idle though, he became an in demand session guitarist, playing with a wide range of successful acts from Alice Cooper to the Insane Clown Posse, to Ray Charles. Before long, Slash reunited with all of his ex Guns N' Roses bandmates with the exception of Axl. After a while Izzy Stradlin became less involved with the group and was replaced by Dave Kushner. They spent many months listening to demo tapes and actively seeking out a new lead singer. They were almost ready to give up on finding the right match when Stone Temple Pilots broke up and Scott Weiland joined the band. The band became known as Velvet Revolver.
Velvet Revolver released two successful albums, but as work started on their third in 2008, Scott Weiland left. Slash, who had been planning on recording a solo album after the next Velvet Revolver album, decided to record his solo album first. The album is to be called “Slash and Friends”.
