Slash (musician)

Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965), known professionally as Slash, is a British-American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success beginning in the late 1980s. He has received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest guitarists in history.

Born in Hampstead, London, and raised in Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, Slash moved to Los Angeles with his father when he was six years old. His parents were both active in the entertainment industry, and he was given the nickname Slash as a child by actor Seymour Cassel. In 1983 he joined the glam metal band Hollywood Rose, then in 1985 he joined Guns N' Roses (which was composed of former members of Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns), replacing founding member Tracii Guns.

While tensions were rising within Guns N' Roses, Slash formed the supergroup Slash's Snakepit in 1994, and in 1996, after growing tensions with Axl Rose, he left Guns N' Roses. In 2002, he co-founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver with vocalist Scott Weiland, which re-established Slash as a mainstream performer in the mid- to late 2000s. Slash has released six solo albums: Slash (2010) and Orgy of the Damned (2024), featuring a variety of guest singers; Apocalyptic Love (2012); World on Fire (2014), Living the Dream (2018) and 4 (2022) with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. He returned to Guns N' Roses in 2016.

Time magazine named him runner-up (to Jimi Hendrix) on their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009, while Rolling Stone placed him at number 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. Guitar World ranked his guitar solo in "November Rain" number 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" in 2008, and Total Guitar placed his riff in "Sweet Child o' Mine" at number 1 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Riffs" in 2004. Gibson Guitar Corporation ranked Slash as number 34 on their "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time", while their readers landed him number 9 on Gibson's "Top 25 Guitarists of All Time". In 2012, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Guns N' Roses.

Early life

Saul Hudson was born in Hampstead, London, on 23 July 1965, but raised in Blurton, a small suburb in Stoke-on-Trent, until age 6, before moving to Los Angeles, California. He was named after cartoonist Saul Steinberg. His mother, Ola J. Hudson (née Oliver; 1946–2009), was an African American fashion designer and costumier. His father, Anthony Hudson, is an English artist. Although there has been speculation, Slash has refuted the claims that his father is Jewish. Of his mixed background, Slash has remarked, "As a musician, I've always been amused that I'm both British and black; particularly because so many American musicians seem to aspire to be British while so many British musicians, in the '60s in particular, went to such great pains to be black."

During his early years, Slash was raised by his father and paternal grandparents in Stoke-on-Trent while his mother moved back to her native United States to work in Los Angeles. When he was around five years old, he and his father joined his mother in Los Angeles. His brother, Albion "Ash" Hudson, was born in 1972. Following his parents' separation in 1974, Slash became a self-described "problem child". He chose to live with his mother and was often sent to live with his beloved maternal grandmother whenever his mother had to travel for her job. Slash sometimes accompanied his mother to work, where he met several film and music stars. He was given the nickname "Slash" by actor Seymour Cassel because he was "always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another".

In 1979, Slash decided to form a band with his friend Steven Adler. The band never materialized, but it prompted Slash to take up an instrument. Since Adler had designated himself the role of guitarist, Slash decided to learn how to play bass. During his first lesson, Slash decided to switch from bass to guitar after meeting Robert Wolin, a teacher at Fairfax Music School, and hearing him play "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones and a Cream song. As a result, Slash stated, "When I heard him do that, I said, 'That's what I want to do.'" Equipped with a flamenco guitar given to him by his grandmother, he began taking classes with Wolin. He vividly recalls the feeling after learning "Come Dancing" from Wired by Jeff Beck, which he described as "fucking awesome".

A champion BMX rider, Slash put the bike aside to devote himself to playing guitar, practicing up to 12 hours a day. Slash attended Beverly Hills High School and was a contemporary of musicians Lenny Kravitz and Zoro.

Career

1981–1985: early years

Slash joined his first band, Tidus Sloan, in 1981. In 1983, he formed the band Road Crew—named after the Motörhead song "(We Are) The Road Crew"—with his childhood friend Steven Adler, who by then had learned to play drums. He placed an advertisement in a newspaper looking for a bassist, and received a response from Duff McKagan. They auditioned a number of singers, including one-time Black Flag vocalist Ron Reyes. They worked on material that included the main riff of what became the Guns N' Roses song "Rocket Queen". Slash disbanded the group the following year due to them not being able to find a singer, as well as Adler's lack of work ethic compared to himself and McKagan. He, along with Adler, then joined a local band known as Hollywood Rose, which featured singer Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin. Following his time with Hollywood Rose, Slash played in a band called Black Sheep and auditioned but wasn’t chosen to play in Poison, a glam metal band that he later openly derided.

1985–1996: first stint with Guns N' Roses

In May 1985, Slash was asked by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin to join their new band Guns N' Roses, along with Duff McKagan and Steven Adler (replacing founding members Tracii Guns, Ole Beich and Rob Gardner, respectively). They played Los Angeles-area nightclubs‍—‌such as the Whisky a Go Go, The Roxy, and The Troubadour‍—‌and opened for larger acts throughout 1985 and 1986. Before one of the shows in 1985, Slash shoplifted a black felt top hat and a Native American-style silver concho belt from two stores on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles. He then combined the hat with parts of the belt to create a piece of custom headwear for the show. He said he "felt really cool" wearing the hat, and it became his trademark. It was during 1985–1986 that the band wrote most of its classic material, including "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine", and "Paradise City". As a result of their rowdy and rebellious behavior, Guns N' Roses quickly received the moniker "Most Dangerous Band in the World", causing Slash to remark, "For some strange reason, Guns N' Roses is like the catalyst for controversy, even before we had any kind of record deal." After being scouted by several major record labels, the band signed with Geffen Records in March 1986.

In July 1987, Guns N' Roses released its debut album, Appetite for Destruction, which, as of September 2008, had sold over 28 million copies worldwide, 18 million of which were sold in the United States, making it the bestselling debut album of all time in the U.S. In the summer of 1988, the band achieved its only U.S. No. 1 hit with "Sweet Child O' Mine", a song spearheaded by Slash's guitar riff and solo. In November of that year, Guns N' Roses released G N' R Lies, which sold over five million copies in the U.S. alone, despite containing only eight tracks, four of which were included on the previously released EP Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide'. As their success grew, so did interpersonal tensions within the band. In 1989, during a show as opening act for the Rolling Stones, Axl Rose threatened to leave the band if certain members of the band did not stop "dancing with Mr. Brownstone", a reference to their song of the same name about heroin use. Slash was among those who promised to clean up. The following year, Adler was fired from the band because of his heroin addiction; he was replaced by Matt Sorum of the Cult.

In May 1991, the band embarked on the two-and-a-half-year-long Use Your Illusion Tour. The following September, Guns N' Roses released the long-awaited albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II, which debuted at No. 2 and No. 1, respectively, on the U.S. chart, a feat not achieved by any other group. Stradlin abruptly left the band in November; he was replaced by Gilby Clarke of Candy and Kill for Thrills. The tour ended on July 17, 1993. In November of that year, the band released "The Spaghetti Incident?", a cover album of mostly punk songs, which proved less successful than its predecessors. Slash then wrote several songs for what would have become the follow-up album to the Use Your Illusion double album. Rose and McKagan rejected the material.