Slash

His mother, Ola J. Hudson (née Oliver; 1946–2009), was a Black American fashion designer and costumier from the United States.

His father, Anthony Hudson, is a Jewish English artist.

Of his mixed background, Slash has remarked, "As a musician, I've always been amused that I'm both British and Black; particularly because so many American musicians seem to aspire to be British while so many British musicians, in the '60s in particular, went to such great pains to be Black."

Despite rumors, he does not consider himself Jewish.

During his early years, Slash was raised by his father and paternal grandparents in Stoke-on-Trent while his mother moved back to her native United States to work in Los Angeles.

When he was around five years old, he and his father joined his mother in Los Angeles.

Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), known professionally as Slash, is a British-American musician who serves as the lead guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Slash has received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Born in Hampstead, London, Slash moved to Los Angeles with his father when he was five years old.

His parents were both active in the entertainment industry, and he was given the nickname "Slash" as a child by actor Seymour Cassel.

Saul Hudson was born in Hampstead, London, on July 23, 1965, but raised in Blurton, a small suburb in Stoke-on-Trent, until age 6, before moving to Los Angeles, California.

He was named after cartoonist Saul Steinberg.

His brother, Albion "Ash" Hudson, was born in 1972.

Following his parents' separation in 1974, Slash became a self-described "problem child".

He chose to live with his mother and was often sent to live with his beloved maternal grandmother whenever his mother had to travel for her job.

Slash sometimes accompanied his mother to work, where he met several film and music stars.

He was given the nickname "Slash" by actor Seymour Cassel because he was "always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another".

In 1979, Slash decided to form a band with his friend Steven Adler.

The band never materialized, but it prompted Slash to take up an instrument.

Since Adler had designated himself the role of guitarist, Slash decided to learn how to play bass.

During his first lesson, Slash decided to switch from bass to guitar after meeting Robert Wolin, a teacher at Fairfax Music School, and hearing him play "Brown Sugar" by the Rolling Stones and a Cream song.

As a result, Slash stated, "When I heard him do that, I said, 'That's what I want to do.'" Equipped with a one-string flamenco guitar given to him by his grandmother, he began taking classes with Wolin.

He vividly recalls the feeling after learning "Come Dancing" from Wired by Jeff Beck, his greatest influence, which he described as "fucking awesome".

A champion BMX rider, Slash put the bike aside to devote himself to playing guitar, practicing up to 12 hours a day.

Slash attended Beverly Hills High School and was a contemporary of musicians Lenny Kravitz and Zoro.

Slash joined his first band, Tidus Sloan, in 1981.

In 1983 he joined the glam metal band Hollywood Rose, then in 1985 he joined Guns N' Roses (which was composed of former members of Hollywood Rose and L.A. Guns), replacing founding member Tracii Guns.

In 1983, he formed the band Road Crew—named after the Motörhead song "(We Are) The Road Crew"—with his childhood friend Steven Adler, who by then had learned to play drums.

He placed an advertisement in a newspaper looking for a bassist, and received a response from Duff McKagan.

They auditioned a number of singers, including one-time Black Flag vocalist Ron Reyes, and worked on material that included the main riff of what became the Guns N' Roses song "Rocket Queen".

Slash disbanded the group the following year due to them not being able to find a singer, as well as Adler's lack of work ethic compared to himself and McKagan.

In 1994, amid growing tensions within Guns N' Roses, Slash formed the supergroup Slash's Snakepit, and in 1996, after growing tensions with Axl Rose, he left Guns N' Roses.

In 2002, he co-founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver with vocalist Scott Weiland, which re-established Slash as a mainstream performer in the mid to late 2000s.

Guitar World ranked his guitar solo in "November Rain" number 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" in 2008, and Total Guitar placed his riff in "Sweet Child o' Mine" at number 1 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Riffs" in 2004.

Gibson Guitar Corporation ranked Slash as number 34 on their "Top 50 Guitarists of All Time", while their readers landed him number 9 on Gibson's "Top 25 Guitarists of All Time".

Time magazine named him runner-up (to Jimi Hendrix) on their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009, while Rolling Stone placed him at number 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011.

Slash has released five solo albums: Slash (2010), Apocalyptic Love (2012), World on Fire (2014), Living the Dream (2018) and 4 (2022).

All but the first of these were billed to "Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators".

In 2012, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Guns N' Roses' classic lineup.

He returned to Guns N' Roses in 2016.