Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965), better known by the stage name Slash, is a guitarist best known as the former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses and as the current lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver.[1][2][3][4]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Biography
Early life
Saul Hudson was born on July 23, 1965 in West Hampstead, London, England [5] Slash's African-American mother, Ola Hudson, worked as a costume designer for David Bowie among many other actors and musicians, and his British father, Anthony Hudson, was an artist who contributed live ensembles for famous musicians including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.[6]
Slash was raised in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, until the age of 11, when his parents relocated the family to Los Angeles, California. His parents separated and he lived primarily with his mother. He was given the nickname "Slash" by family friend Seymour Cassel because he "was always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another."[7][8]
As a young boy, Slash was influenced by a musical school teacher:“ Tangerine from Led Zeppelin III was the very first song I mastered. I had a teacher at school who had a Les Paul and he was always playing Cream and [Led] Zeppelin licks and whatever. And when I heard him do that I said "That's what I want to do".[9] ”
After deciding to form a band with friend Steven Adler, Slash decided to pick up the bass guitar. This is due to the fact that Steven had declared himself lead guitarist. Slash stopped in at Fairfax Music School and told the receptionist he wanted to play the bass, and at that time met his teacher Robert Wolin. Robert told him to learn he would need a bass of his own. Slash went home and asked his grandmother and was given a worn-out, single stringed flamenco guitar. After hearing Robert play "Brown Sugar" by ear Slash realized that the guitar was his calling. He subsequently dropped out of high school to focus on music. In a Rolling Stone magazine article, he remarked:
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.[10]
Guns N' Roses (1985–1996)
Guns N' Roses toured bars and opened for larger acts throughout 1985 and 1986. It was during this period that they wrote most of their classic material, including "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine", and "Paradise City." During this time, they were scouted by several major record labels, and signed with Geffen. From the start, they spent half of their advance on clothes, and the other half on alcohol and drugs. It was during this period that the "Most Dangerous Band In The World" tag was first attached to them. In 1988, Slash remarked:
For some strange reason, Guns N' Roses is like the catalyst for controversy, even before we had any kind of record deal.[citation needed]
With 28 million copies in worldwide (18 million only in the US), their album Appetite for Destruction is the highest selling debut album of all time in worldwide and US[11][12]. By 1988, Guns N' Roses scored its first #1 hit with Sweet Child o' Mine, a song spearheaded by Slash's riff and guitar solo.
In 1988, Guns N' Roses released G N' R Lies. Though this album only had eight tracks (four of which had already been released), it sold over 5 million copies. After a four year hiatus, Guns N' Roses returned with Use Your Illusion discs. The albums indicated a change in musical direction for Guns N' Roses, including more artistic and dramatic songs like "November Rain" and "Estranged". As Rose expressed a desire to pursue more progressive genres, Slash and McKagan fought to maintain their traditional sound as a punk/blues-based hard rock band.
In 1991, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II. In 1991, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month long Use Your Illusion Tour, to promote their new albums. Upon completion of the tour, Slash was naturalized, becoming an American citizen.
In the mid-'90s, Slash wrote several songs for what would have become Guns N' Roses' follow up album to Use Your Illusion I and II. Rose rejected the material, leading Slash to form Slash's Snakepit, a side-project that saw support from Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke, Dizzy Reed, Mike Inez, and Eric Dover. The band recorded Slash's material and released It's Five O'Clock Somewhere in 1995. Critically, the album was praised for ignoring the conventions of grunge and alternative music. It also fared well on the charts, eventually selling over 1.2 million copies in the United States with little promotion from Geffen Records.
Velvet Revolver and future endeavors (2002–present)
Velvet Revolver began as "The Project", a venture by Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum to find a new lead singer. On rhythm guitar, they initially worked with Izzy Stradlin, and they were offered to open for The Rolling Stones but Slash, Duff and Matt wanted to have a lead singer; after this Izzy became less involved. They would find their second guitarist in the form of Dave Kushner, who had previously played with McKagan in "Loaded" prior to this project. For many months, the four of them listened to demo tapes of potential lead singers, a monotonous process (documented by VH1). After many months, Slash and the others were almost ready to give up. However, Stone Temple Pilots had recently imploded, allowing lead singer Scott Weiland to volunteer to record a song with the band. Realizing there was chemistry between each member, Weiland officially joined the band in 2003.
Velvet Revolver played several concerts in the summer of that year and released their first single, "Set Me Free" as part of the soundtrack for The Hulk. In June 2004, they released their first studio album, Contraband. A 19-month long tour ensued, as the album went double platinum and re-established Slash as a mainstream performer. After the tour concluded, he and his bandmates took a lengthy break before beginning work on their second album. In July 2007, Velvet Revolver released the critically acclaimed Libertad, a follow-up to their multi-platinum debut. Following their second studio album, Velvet Revolver also began a second tour. On March 20, 2008 during a glasgow gig, Weiland announced to their audience that it would be Velvet Revolver's final tour. Matt Sorum posted a message on his website the next day discussing the band's situation and said, "You could tell who was unhappy last night," and "some people in this business don't realize how great of a life they have." Weiland shot back by telling Blabbermouth.net, "Well, first of all, the state of my family affairs is really none of his business, since he is too immature to have a real relationship, let alone children. So don't attempt to stand in a man's shoes when you haven't walked his path." On 1 April 2008, Scott Weiland officially split from Velvet Revolver.
On May 31, 2006, Slash was joined by Rob Zombie on vocals, another former Guns and Roses axeman Gilby Clarke on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on guitar, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on drums, and surprise guest Ace Frehley of Kiss for a rendition of God of Thunder. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the VH1 Rock Honors Award Show.
