* En anglais uniquement
As the lead guitarist for
Guns N' Roses,
Slash established himself as one of hard rock's finest and most soulful soloists during the late '80s. His guitar playing was technically adept, yet always firmly grounded in the gritty
Aerosmith and
Stones licks he loved, and his image was as iconic as his playing. After
GNR splintered in the early '90s,
Slash formed the on-again/off-again side project
Slash's Snakepit and joined the successful hard rock supergroup
Velvet Revolver. He issued his debut solo album in 2010 and later teamed up with touring partners
Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, who became his de facto solo band on subsequent efforts
Apocalyptic Love (2012), World on Fire (2014),
Living the Dream (2018), and
4 (2022).
Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965 in Stoke-on-Trent, England, to artistic parents both involved in the entertainment industry; his mother was a clothing designer who worked on
David Bowie's film The Man Who Fell to Earth, and his father designed album art for such artists as
Neil Young and
Joni Mitchell. The family eventually moved to Hollywood, where Hudson attended junior high, received his first guitar, and met future
GNR drummer
Steven Adler. With Hudson adopting the nickname
Slash, given to him by a family friend, the two formed a band called
Road Crew; although it proved unsuccessful, it was the vehicle through which they met each other, and the other members of what would become
Guns N' Roses.
GNR debuted in June 1985, and even before
Appetite for Destruction was released in 1987, the bandmembers acquired a reputation as notorious alcohol and drug abusers. As their popularity soared, the reserved
Slash established himself as an important part of the band's visual image, with a top hat and a mound of shaggy black hair covering his face as he typically staggered around the stage with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Hedonistic excess consumed most of the band, with such incidents as
Slash and
Duff McKagan's drunken, profane acceptance of the band's American Music Award on live television. In 1990, opening for
the Rolling Stones,
Axl Rose's infamous on-stage pronouncement that he would leave the band if certain members did not stop "dancing with Mr. Brownstone" (using heroin) was primarily directed at
Slash and
Adler;
Slash kicked his habit within a year, but
Adler did not and was fired. In 1992,
Slash courted controversy again with a product endorsement for Black Death vodka. Later that year, he was married to actress and model Renee Sorum, a union that lasted five years.
Meanwhile, in spite of controversy and personnel turnovers,
Guns N' Roses had actually continued to record music. After the
Use Your Illusion sets of 1991 and the 1993 punk covers album
The Spaghetti Incident?, the band went on hiatus.
Slash formed a side project called
Slash's Snakepit, which consisted of fellow
GNR bandmates
Matt Sorum (drums) and
Gilby Clarke (guitar), plus bassist
Mike Inez and vocalist
Eric Dover. The group released an album in 1995 titled
It's Five O'Clock Somewhere;
Slash hit the road with a slightly different touring lineup, with
Brian Tichy and
James LoMenzo signing on as the rhythm section. In 1996,
Slash put together a different band to play at a blues festival in Budapest, an endeavor that evolved into Slash's Blues Ball. Featuring vocalist/harmonica player Teddy Andreadis, rhythm guitarist
Bobby Schneck, saxophonist Dave McLaurin, bassist Johnny Griparic, and drummer
Alvino Bennet, Slash's Blues Ball devoted themselves primarily to a repertoire of classic blues covers, plus occasional
GNR and
Snakepit material.
Rumors about the status of
Guns N' Roses had been swirling for some time, and in October 1996 it was confirmed that, owing to his unwillingness to follow
Axl Rose's interest in industrial and electronic music,
Slash was no longer a member of the band (although he left the door open for a reunion if
Rose decided to return to guitar-based rock & roll). He gigged off and on with the Blues Ball into 1998, although a rumored live album never materialized. Instead,
Slash decided to re-form
the Snakepit in 1999 with an entirely different lineup (the original members were by this time involved in other projects, and the Blues Ball was more suited to touring than developing original material). Raspy-voiced singer Rod Jackson and ex-
Venice drummer
Matt Laug came on board, along with Blues Ball bassist Griparic (now Johnny Blackout) and Teddy Andreadis, who contributed keyboard and harmonica work. After trying out ex-
Alice Cooper guitarist
Ryan Roxie,
Slash settled on rhythm guitarist Kerry Kelly, who had previously worked with
Warrant and
Ratt.
The new
Snakepit played some gigs together and in the spring of 2000 completed a new album, which was originally slated to be released on Interscope/Geffen. However, feeling that a more traditional guitar rock album would get lost in the promotional shuffle,
Slash moved over to Koch, which finally released
Ain't Life Grand in October 2000. A few years later,
Slash teamed up again with
McKagan,
Matt Sorum, and
Stone Temple Pilots lead singer
Scott Weiland to form the supergroup
Velvet Revolver, who released their first album in 2004.
Velvet Revolver released a second album called
Contraband in 2007 and fell apart not long afterward.
Slash regrouped by releasing his memoir in 2007 and cutting his eponymous first solo album, drafting a bunch of friends -- including
Ozzy Osbourne,
Chris Cornell,
Kid Rock, and
Fergie -- to sing lead vocals. For the supporting tour,
Slash had
Alter Bridge vocalist
Myles Kennedy sing lead. This union proved strong, as
Kennedy was the only singer on
Slash's second album, 2012's
Apocalyptic Love, which hit number four on the American album charts upon release. Two years later,
Slash released World on Fire, his second album with
Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators; it debuted at number ten on the U.S. charts upon its September 2014 release.
Slash turned his attention to the reunited
Guns N' Roses in 2016. Following a headlining spot at Coachella in 2016,
GNR embarked on an international tour called Not in This Lifetime, which lasted into 2018. Even though
Guns N' Roses were busy on the road,
Slash kept
Myles Kennedy & the Conspirators active.
Living the Dream, the group's third album, appeared in September of 2018; the band supported it with a brief tour which resulted in a 2019 concert LP
Living the Dream Tour. 2021 saw the release of the single "The River Is Rising," ahead of the arrival of his fourth collaboration with the
Conspirators, the aptly named
4, which appeared in 2022. ~ Steve Huey