Slash

Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965), known professionally as Slash, is a British and American musician, best known as the lead guitarist of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success beginning in the late 1980s. He has received critical acclaim and is considered one of the greatest guitarists in history.

Born in Hampstead, London, and raised in Blurton, Stoke-on-Trent, Slash moved to Los Angeles with his father when he was six 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. 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.

Slash formed the supergroup Slash's Snakepit in 1994, 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. Slash has released six solo albums: Slash (2010) and Orgy of the Damned (2024), featuring a variety of guest singers; Apocalyptic Love (2012); World on Fire (2014), Living the Dream (2018) and 4 (2022) with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. He returned to Guns N' Roses in 2016.

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

Saul Hudson was born in Hampstead, London, on 23 July 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 mother, Ola J. Hudson (née Oliver; 1946–2009), was an African-American fashion designer and costumier. His father, Anthony Hudson, is an English artist. Although there has been speculation, Slash has refuted the claims that his father is Jewish. 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."

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.