Slash...

"Happy 47th Birthday"

Slash...

As the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, Slash established himself as one of hard rock's finest and most soulful soloists during the late '80s, technically adept yet always firmly grounded in the gritty Aerosmith and Stones licks he loved. 

Slash was born Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965, in Stoke-on-Trent, England, to artistic parents both involved in the entertainment industry; his mother was a clothing designer who worked on David Bowie's film The Man Who Fell to Earth, and his father designed album art for such artists as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. 

Slash's Mother...

Born in 1946, Ola Hudson was an African American costume designer whose clients included Ringo Starr, John Lennon and David Bowie. She died of lung cancer in 2009.

Slash's Father...

Anthony Hudson is an English artist who created album covers for musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

Slash's Brother...

Albion Hudson,

Born in 1972, Albion "Ash" Hudson is a designer who founded ConArt Inc. which is a graff-inspired brand for clothing, surf and skate items, printables that also credits graffiti art and artists. He has designed several album covers for Slash.

(High School pic.)

The family eventually moved to Hollywood, where Hudson attended junior high, received his first guitar, and met future GNR drummer Steven Adler. With Hudson adopting the nickname Slash, given to him by a family friend, the two formed a band called Road Crew; although it proved unsuccessful, it was the vehicle through which they met and eventually joined up with the other members of Guns N' Roses.

Slash's early bands

"The first thing I did as soon as I could put three chords together was start a band. At a really young age, I was going around trying to find people to form a group." (Slash)

 Tidus Sloan

"Tidus Sloan was a purely instrumental band because we never found a singer and I certainly wasn't going to sing myself." (Slash)

Slash played in this band from 1981 to 1983.

• Slash: guitar
• Ron Schneider: bass
• Adam Greenberg: drums
• Louie Metz: bass

Played songs: When The Five Dies / Metal On Metal / What A Change / Rats Ass Rock N' Roll / Funky And Stormbringer / Heaven And Hell (Black Sabbath) / What You're Doing (Rush) / Dazed And Confused (Led Zeppelin) / Message In A Bottle (Police) / Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones) / Feelings (Morris Albert)

Tidus Sloan at Fairfax Highschool on June 4, 1982

Road Crew

"We would rehearse every week and it became a big party. Steven joined and eventually it stopped working out for Slash." (Chris Torres)

Slash played in this band from 1983 to 1984.

• Slash: guitar
• Chris Torres: vocals
• Ron Schneider: bass
• Adam Greenberg: drums
• Steven Adler: drums

Played songs: When The Five Dies / Road Crew Eats First / Shot Down / Natural Regression / Stand Alone / Discusses / Young Killer / Rock N' Roll Survivor

Road Crew promotional picture, taken in 1984

Hollywood Rose

"Axl thought Izzy and I would make a great pairing, but since they had never actually discussed it before he put it in motion, I was in but Izzy was gone." (Slash)

Slash played in this band in 1984.

• Slash: guitar
• Axl Rose: vocals
• Steven Adler: drums
• Steve Darrow: bass

Played songs: Reckless Life / Anything Goes / Back Off Bitch / Shadow Of Your Love / Everything's OK / Rock N' Roll Survivor / Cold Hard Cash / Rock N' Roll Rose / Nice Boys (Rose Tattoo) / Hair Of The Dog (Nazareth)

Hollywood Rose at Madame Wong's East on June 28, 1984

Black Sheep

"I went on to join a band called Black Sheep with Willie Basse, which was a rite of passage for a succession of talented musicians. He is a really tall black guy who sings and plays bass and he had a penchant for landing the hottest shredder guitar players of the day." (Slash)

Slash played in this band in 1985.

• Slash: guitar
• Willie Basse: vocals
• Paul Carmen: bass
• Todd Devito: drums

Black Sheep at the Country Club on May 31, 1985

Guns N' Roses

"After three nights we had a fully realized set and so we unanimously decided that we were now fit for public consumption." (Slash)

Slash played in this band from 1985 to 1996.

• Slash: guitar
• Axl Rose: vocals
• Izzy Stradlin: guitar
• Duff McKagan: bass
• Steven Adler: drums

Played songs: Move To The City / Reckless Life / Don't Cry / Shadow Of Your Love / Think About You / Back Off Bitch / Anything Goes / Jumpin' Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones) / Nice Boys (Rose Tattoo) / Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis Presley)

Guns N' Roses at the Troubadour on September 20, 1985

-Slashparadise.com

The Gunners debuted in June 1985, and even before Appetite for Destruction was released in 1987, the band-members acquired a reputation as notorious alcohol and drug abusers. As their popularity soared, the reserved Slash established himself as an important part of the band's visual image, with a top hat and a mound of shaggy black hair covering his face as he typically staggered around the stage with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. 

Hedonistic excess consumed most of the band, with such incidents as Slash and Duff McKagan's drunken, profane acceptance of the band's American Music Award on live television. In 1990, opening for the Rolling Stones, Axl Rose's infamous on-stage pronouncement that he would leave the band if certain members did not stop "dancing with Mr. Brownstone" (using heroin) was primarily directed at Slash and Adler; Slash kicked his habit within a year, but Adler did not and was fired.

In 1992, Slash courted controversy again with a product endorsement for Black Death vodka. Later that year, he was married to actress and model Renee Sorum, a union that lasted five years.

Meanwhile, in spite of controversy and personnel turnovers, Guns N' Roses had actually continued to record music. After the Use Your Illusion sets of 1991 and the 1993 punk covers album The Spaghetti Incident?, the band went on hiatus. 

Slash formed a side project called Slash's Snakepit, which consisted of fellow Gunners Matt Sorum (drums) and Gilby Clarke (guitar), plus bassist Mike Inez and vocalist Eric Dover. The group released an album in 1995 titled It's Five O'Clock Somewhere; Slash hit the road with a slightly different touring lineup, with Brian Tichy and James LoMenzo signing on as the rhythm section. 

In 1996, Slash put together a different band to play at a blues festival in Budapest, an endeavor that evolved into Slash's Blues Ball. Featuring vocalist/harmonica player Teddy Andreadis, rhythm guitarist Bobby Schneck, saxophonist Dave McClarem, bassist Johnny Griparic, and drummer Alvino Bennet, Slash's Blues Ball devoted themselves primarily to a repertoire of classic blues covers, plus occasional GNR and Snakepit material.

Rumors about the status of Guns N' Roses had been swirling for some time, and in October 1996 it was confirmed that, owing to his unwillingness to follow Axl Rose's interest in industrial and electronic music, Slash was no longer a member of the band (although he left the door open for a reunion if Rose decided to return to guitar-based rock & roll). He gigged off and on with the Blues Ball into 1998, although a rumored live album never materialized. Instead, Slash decided to re-form the Snakepit in 1999 with an entirely different lineup (the original members were by this time involved in other projects, and the Blues Ball was more suited to touring than developing original material). Raspy-voiced singer Rod Jackson and ex-Venice drummer Matt Laug came on board, along with Blues Ball bassist Griparic (now Johnny Blackout) and Teddy Andreadis, who contributed keyboard and harmonica work. After trying out ex-Alice Cooper guitarist Ryan Roxie, Slash settled on rhythm guitarist Kerry Kelly, who had previously worked with Warrant and Ratt.

The new Snakepit played some gigs together and in the spring of 2000 completed a new album, which was originally slated to be released on Interscope/Geffen. However, feeling that a more traditional guitar rock album would get lost in the promotional shuffle, Slash moved over to Koch, which finally released Ain't Life Grand in October 2000. 

2nd wife...

Perla Ferrar first met Slash in 1992, backstage at a Guns N' Roses concert in Las Vegas. They married on October 15, 2001 in Hawaii.

Slash and Perla have two children, London Emilio and Cash Anthony, born in 2002 and 2004 in Los Angeles.

Slash teamed up again with McKagan, Matt Sorum, and Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland to form the supergroup Velvet Revolver, who released their first album in 2004. Velvet Revolver released a second album called Contraband in 2007 and fell apart not long afterward. 

Slash regrouped by releasing his memoir in 2007 and cutting his eponymous first solo album, drafting a bunch of friends -- including Ozzy Osbourne, Chris Cornell, Kid Rock, and Fergie -- to sing lead vocals.

 For the supporting tour, Slash had Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy sing lead and this union proved strong, as Kennedy was the only singer on Slash's second album, 2012's Apocalyptic Love.

-Allmusic.com