GUNS N’ ROSES, SLASH: “THIS IS WHY AXL ROSE IS DIFFERENT FROM ANY OTHER SINGER I’VE EVER MET” In 1981, when he was sixteen years old, Saul Hudson, known as Slash (the nickname was given to him by the actor Seymour Cassel, a friend of his mother Ola Hudson, because he never sat still) decided to leave BMX, of which he was a small champion, to dedicate himself exclusively on the guitar. In 1979 he started playing with his childhood friend Steve Adler and in 1983 he formed his first band with him, Road Crew, taking its name from a Motorhead song, (We Are) The Road Crew. He places an ad in a music magazine, to which bassist Duff McKagan responds and starts looking for a singer. Ron Reyes (who was the lead singer of Black Flag in 1980) also showed up at the auditions but after a year Slash dissolved the band because he couldn’t find the right voice for his riffs, including the one that would become one of the band’s first singles. Guns N’ Roses, Rocket Queen. Shortly thereafter, Slash joined Hollywood Rose with Steven Adler and met Axl Rose for the first time He was the only singer I had met up to that point who brought emotional content to the songs. He hit me, he gave me energy » said Slash in an interview, « Suddenly the songs reached another level». Slash plays with Hollywood Rose, then joins a band called Bad Sheep and auditions with Poison and in 1985 he receives a call from Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin asking him to join their new band, Guns N ‘ Roses. Members Ole Beich, Rob Gardner and Tracii Guns are gone, Slash, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler arrive in their place and the band begins to make inroads in Hollywood clubs, from the Whiskey a Go Go to the Roxy to the Trobadour, before leave for the first legendary tour from Sacramento to Seattle, the infamous The Hell Tour which inspired the single Paradise City (when their van breaks down, Guns N’ Roses are forced to abandon all their equipment and hitchhike taking with them just the guitars to go back to Los Angeles). «Before Axl all the singers I worked with didn’t give me anything. I didn’t need them, I preferred to make instrumental pieces. With him I understood that music and voice can find a true meeting point. When the two things connect they create an intense sensation.”

August 31, 2025 Gistblogger 0

    In the vast tapestry of rock history, few partnerships are as iconic as the one between Saul Hudson — better known as Slash […]