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guitars]] Saul Hudson, better known to the world as '''Slash''', was the chain-smoking, hard-drinking (yet technically proficient) Lead Guitar ist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses , and is currently the lead guitarist of rock band Velvet Revolver . He is noted for his long curly black hair, his signature oversized top hat, his love for Jack Daniels , and an ever-present cigarette. He currently resides in Beverly Hills with his wife Perla, and his two sons, London Emilio and Cash Anthony. BIOGRAPHY Early Life Hudson was born on 23 July , 1965 in Stoke-on-Trent , Staffordshire to a White English father and a Black American mother, both of whom were involved with show business (his mother designed David Bowie's costumes from "The Man Who Fell To Earth"). Although he is mentioned in the book 100 Jews Who Rock by Gary Oseary , possibly because of his Old Testament first name, he is not considered Jewish under Jewish law (halacha), as only his father had Jewish blood. In the mid-1970s, his parents split up and he moved in with his grandmother. He was raised in Stoke-on-Trent until the age of 11 when he and his mother moved to Los Angeles, California in the United States . His father remained in England . In the U.S., Hudson attended Beverly Hills High School along with other future stars including Lenny Kravitz and Nicolas Cage . At about age 15, Hudson was given a one string Acoustic Guitar with which he was able to learn to play. Slash's early influences include Led Zeppelin , Rory Gallagher , Eric Clapton , The Rolling Stones , Queen , Aerosmith , Jimi Hendrix , AC/DC and Jeff Beck . The first song he learned to play was "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple . Hudson began to devote up to 12 hours a day to playing guitar, which evidently affected his school work. Eventually, Hudson gave up on school, dropping out in eleventh grade. While a part of the Los Angeles band scene he auditioned for the Glam Metal band Poison and was a finalist until ultimately losing out the unique looks of C.C. DeVille . He then met Drummer Steven Adler and the two formed the "band" Road Crew (which generally had trouble retaining any members besides themselves). Guns N' Roses Hudson and Adler later met future Guns N' Roses Rhythm Guitarist Izzy Stradlin who played them a tape of Axl Rose singing. Hudson and Adler met Axl shortly thereafter. Later, when guitarist Tracii Guns and drummer Rob Gardner of Axl's new band, Hollywood Rose , could not make the band's first few shows in Seattle, Slash and Adler volunteered and quickly joined as full time members. The band became Guns N' Roses shortly thereafter. After Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion Tour , Slash became an American citizen. Some of the GN'R Records included ''Appetite For Destruction'' and ''G N' R Lies'' While serving as GN'R's guitar player, Slash was involved in many projects with artists as varied as Lenny Kravitz , BLACKstreet , Michael Jackson and Queen . Slash is also more ominously known for his alcohol induced acceptance speech at the 1989 American Music Awards . Upon receipt of GNR's second award at the 1989 American Music Awards , he and Duff McKagan stumbled to the stage appearing very drunk, holding drinks and smoking cigarettes. Within a span of 20 seconds, Slash managed to curse twice in his slurred speech before being interrupted by a music overdub and positioning of a camera on a curtain with the AMA logo. After the first f-word, an audible gasp was heard from the crowd, prompting Slash to cover his mouth and laughingly utter "oops". Since then, many live shows are delayed a few seconds to prevent a similar incident. In 1991, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month long Use Your Illusion Tour , coinciding with the release of their new albums, '' Use Your Illusion I '' and '' Use Your Illusion II ''. The albums indicated a change in musical direction for Guns N' Roses, including more artistic and dramatic songs like " November Rain " and " Estranged ". These kinds of songs, along with balads like " Don't Cry ", contributed to tensions that tore the band apart just a few years later. Slash would later cite this issue as a key component to his inability to work with Axl Rose. The infamous world tour went on, and Slash began to establish himself among the world's greatest active guitarists. Almost every show included an extended guitar solo that would go on for anywhere from five to fifteen minutes, where Slash continued to amaze crowds with his exceptional skill. He is also known to be a fan of the Godfather films, and played the Godfather theme during every guitar solo. At the end of the tour, after the release of '' The Spaghetti Incident? '', GN'R's final studio album to feature Slash, he began to drift in and out of the band. In 1994 and 1995, he started a side project called Slash's Snakepit (which included GN'R guitarist Gilby Clarke and drummer Matt Sorum ) that released its debut album, '' It's Five O'Clock Somewhere ''. In addition, Slash performed alongside Michael Jackson at the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. Slash played guitar in the Black Or White segment of the performance, which included a seemingly unplanned 90 second solo, during which Jackson had undergone a costume change for the next song, Billie Jean. Slash would later perform alongside Michael Jackson again in 2001, at Jackson's 30th Anniversary Celebration at Madison Square Garden in New York City . After Guns N' Roses Slash officially quit GN'R in 1996 after he declared that he could not work with Rose. Allegedly, he and Axl had several disagreements regarding the band's musical direction, and Slash was infuriated when Axl replaced his guitar track with Paul Tobias's on the song " Sympathy For The Devil ". He then focused on Slash's Snakepit, playing a few tour dates before disbanding the group later that year. He re-formed Snakepit in 1998, only to disband it again in July 2001 after releasing a second album, '' Ain't Life Grand '', the year before. In 2003, he participated in the Yardbirds ' comeback record " Birdland " (which consisted mostly of re-recordings of some of their greatest hits, with guest appearances by former member Jeff Beck , Joe Satriani , Steve Vai , Brian May , Steve Lukather , Jeff "Skunk" Baxter , Johnny Rzeznik , Martin Ditchum and Simon McCarty ), released on the Favored Nations label. He played lead guitar in the track "Over, Under, Sideways, Down". From the mid-90s into the early 2000s, Slash spent his time playing with many different bands, often as a guest on many different albums and tours including all different kinds of music. However, he was not truly in a band again until 2002 , when he reunited with Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum for a benefit/tribute concert for Randy Castillo . Realizing they still had a lot of chemistry, they decided to form a new band together. Velvet Revolver and Beyond Velvet Revolver began as "The Project", a venture by Slash, McKagan, and Sorum to find a new lead singer. To play rhythm guitar, they initially sought out Izzy Stradlin , but he declined due to his aversion to touring and working with a lead singer. They eventually settled on Dave Kushner , from a band Duff had been in before reuniting with Slash. 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 just broken up, and lead singer Scott Weiland was encouraged to try out for "The Project". Slash, Duff, and Matt worked well with him immediately, and so Velvet Revolver was formed. The band played several concerts in the summer of 2003 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 platinum and re-established Slash among the masses who had forgotten him over the years. The tour finally ended in January 2006, and Slash and his bandmates took a well-deserved break before beginning work on their second album. Controversy In March 2006 Axl Rose 's lawyer released the following statement: "In October of 2005 Slash made an unannounced 5:30 AM visit to Axl Rose's house. Not appearing to be under the influence, Slash came to inform Axl that: 'Duff was spineless,' 'Scott Weiland was a fraud,' that he 'hates Matt Sorum' and that in this ongoing war, contest or whatever anyone wants to call it that Slash has waged against Axl for the better part of 20 years, that Axl has proven himself 'the stronger.' Based on his conduct in showing up at Rose's home, Axl was hopeful that Slash would live up to his pronouncements that he wanted to end the war and move on with life. Unfortunately that did not prove to be the case." Slash didn't comment on Axl's press release - but a Velvet Revolver spokeswoman did promise we would hear from Slash "within days" - Slash's press release never came however Scott Weiland (of Velvet Revolver) posted this on their website: ''Go to the gym motherfucker, or if you prefer, get a new wig motherfucker. I think I’ll resist the urge to “stoop” to your level. Oh shit, here it comes, you fat, botox faced, wig wearin’ fuck! O.K. I feel better now. Don’t think for a second we don’t know where those words came from. Your unoriginal, uncreative little mind, the same mind that had to rely on its bandmates to write melodies and lyrics. Who’s the fraud now bitch? Damn, I couldn’t imagine people writing for me. How many albums have you put out man and how long did it take the current configuration of this so-called “band” to make this album? How long? And without the only guys that validated the name. How dare you! Shame on you! How dare you call our bass player “spineless”. We toured our album over a year and a half. How many shows have you played over the last ten years? Oh, that’s right - you bailed out on your long awaited comeback tour, leaving your remaining fans feeling shall we say a trifle miffed?! I won’t even list what I’ve accomplished because I don’t need to. What we’re talking about here is a frightened little man who once thought he was king, but unfortunately this king without his court is nothing but a memory of the asshole he once was.'' It was removed two days later. On 25 April , 2006 , Duff McKagan appeared on The Opie & Anthony Show on XM Satellite radio. He shot down all rumors of Slash leaving Velvet Revolver saying that they were just "Bullshit". Two days later, Slash and his wife Perla filed for divorce in Los Angeles. It is believed that Perla, who is also the manager of Velvet Revolver, may have been the source of the false rumors regarding Velvet Revolver's supposed breakup as well as those regarding Slash rejoining Axl Rose. Slash has yet to officially comment, but it seems extremely unlikely that he has left the band, as they are currently working on their second album, '' Libertad ''. Guitars Slash owns over 100 guitars. Among them are the following.
Amplifiers Slash is the first musician to have a signature amplifier created by Marshall for him.
Effects
Other
SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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