Slash’s Background

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This will be a quick little background check on our lord and Savior Slash. 

Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965 in London, England. His nickname “Slash” was given to him by a family friend because he was constantly in motion. He was always in a hurry. Slash lived with his grandparents in Stoke-on-Trent, England until the age of five when he moved to Los Angeles. His parents got divorced several years later and Slash became some sort of a “problem child.” He lost interest in his schoolwork and took up BMX racing. He was considered very good at that sport but quit as soon as he was introduced to music. As kids, Slash and Steven Adler, future Guns N’ Roses drummer, wanted to build a band and since Steven had a guitar and an amp and they would spend hours just banging on the guitar. Steven was automatically named the guitarist, which left Slash to choose the bass and get bass lessons. During Slash’s first lesson, he decided to switch from bass to guitar after hearing his teacher play ”Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones. His decision to play guitar was further influenced by one of his school teachers, who would play songs by Cream and Led Zeppelin for his students. From then on, Slash never stopped playing the guitar.

In 1981, he joined his first band, Tidus Sloan, and dropped out of high school to tour. For the next four years, Slash formed a series of bands. Among them was Hollywood Rose, the precursor of Guns N’ Roses. The band didn’t last but in 1985, Axl and Izzy Stradlin asked Slash to come back to the band which would now be Guns N’ Roses. As you may know, this band had a hell of a lot of success. Unfortunately, by this time, Slash and other band members had developed a drug problem. Good thing Axl Rose did a public announcement in 1989 during a show saying he would quit the band if the other members wouldn’t stop using heroin. The rest accepted and stopped for a while. During the Guns period, members were leaving and being replaced and in 1996, Slash announced he was no longer a part of the band. According to Slash’s autobiography, he claims that he quit because Steven and Izzy had quit and it wasn’t the same anymore. Slash would reunite with Guns twenty years later in March of 2016. It was announced that Guns would be reuniting for a 21-city North American tour. Of course, I didn’t go because the tickets were ranging from $250 to $500 and even though I’ve had more chances to see them, I haven’t gone. Stupidity to it finest.

While he was with Guns, Slash pitched ideas of songs and riffs to Axl and if he didn’t like it then they wouldn’t even give them a try. So, Slash created a side band to get that material out. The band was called Slash’s Snakepit. So, when Slash left Guns, he kept jamming and playing in bars for Snakepit. Slash liked the idea of playing in small places like bars and not in huge arenas like with Guns. Snakepit gave us two albums. I loved the first one way, way more than the second. This is not because of Slash, but because of the singer. I don’t hate him, but they changed the singer and I loved Eric Dover so very much. When we get to the Snakepit Vlog, I’ll recommend a few songs for you to hear and understand why Eric Dover is a beast. After Pit, he would form a blues cover band called Slash’s Blues ball that he would only tour for a couple of years. Both Snakepit and Slash’s Blues Ball ended shortly.

In 2003, a miracle happened. Slash formed Velvet Revolver, which would consist of three ex-Guns members and two new fellas. Velvet Revolver was largely praised and considered a successful comeback. It was only after a couple of years that the band would go into hiatus because the singer, Scott Weiland, was suffering with drug addiction and the band couldn’t find another suitable singer. Thank God Velvet Revolver gave us two albums to rejoice in. During this time the rest of the band members would each focus on their individual projects. This right here is where Slash exploded! He released a sick solo album in 2010 called Slash R&FK’R (Rock & Fucking Roll!) It is one of my favorite albums because this shows how beast Slash is. Similar to Snakepit, he already had the base of the songs done, the majority of the track finished. What Slash needed were singers and not just any singers. He knew that his songs require different voices because they were different in rock categories and so he already had in mind the voices he needed for every single song. Slash called up an array of guest musicians including Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie, Adam Levine, M Shadows, Lemmy Kilmister, Dave Grohl, Myles Kennedy and many more. The album debuted at #3 on the U.S chart upon its release.

After his Rock n’ fucking roll album, he wanted to tour his new album but seeing as all the songs were from different artists, he knew he had to find a singer that could do them all. Myles Kennedy, who Slash had only done two songs with him on his solo album, came to his mind.  He noticed that he had a very malleable and trustworthy voice with the ability to sing a whole range of different songs. He seemed like the best option and he definitely was. Slash asked him if he wanted to tour his Solo project with him and Myles accepted. On the tour, they played songs from Guns, Velvet Revolver, Snakepit, and his solo album and Myles crushed them. This is when Slash came to realize that the band he formed just for touring purposes had to become a band because they were doing very good and he enjoyed it much.

Slash would start his new and current band called Slash Featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. SMKC is easier to say. This band has now three records from 2012 to this day and they are the sickest. Once again, I could’ve gone to see SMKC two years ago and here I am feeling so stupid.

More on Slash’s personal life, he married twice and got divorced twice. He has two boys, London and Cash, and is currently living with his girlfriend Meegan Hodges. In 2001, at the age of 35, Slash was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which is a form of heart failure caused by his many years of alcohol and drug use. He was originally given between six days and six weeks to live, but he survived through physical therapy and the implantation of a defibrillator. Slash has been clean and sober since 2005. Imagine all the music we wouldn’t have gotten to enjoy if Slash had died within that time period. Velvet Revolver, Rock n’ fucking roll, SMKC and his many collaborations just gone. We were blessed. A couple of years later he would release his autobiography which would fall at number six on the New York Times Hardcover Nonfiction list only a few weeks after its release. His autobiography simply named “Slash” tells his story of playing on his several bands, his addiction and his many close calls with death. The book’s tagline is: “It seems excessive, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen…”

In conclusion, Slash is a beast. He is amazing. His music has kept me entertained and happy for so long, for over a decade! Please do us both a favor and check him out right now.

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