SLASH!

Imagine… you can feel the rumble of the speakers all the way to your soul. The guitar riffs winding their way through the air and into the stadium packed with people to the brim. People are leaping all around the place as the music grabs hold of them, and you do your best to look over the shoulder of the man in front of you, a surprisingly tall man. You see what you are looking for. The top hat. One of the iconic symbols of the band Guns and Roses and one of the favorite fashion pieces of the lead guitar player, Slash. At that moment, you see and hear the passion for music that pours from every inch of the rock legend.

The musician known as “Slash” was born in Hampstead, London as Saul Hudson on July 23, 1965. From an early age, music had been an influence in his life because of his mother and father. His mother was an African-American costume designer, whose clients included David Bowie, and his father was an English artist who created album covers for musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

When Hudson was young, his family moved to L.A. and his love for music began to take off, and while he lived in L.A he got his nickname Slash. He was given the nickname “Slash” by actor Seymour Cassel, because he was “always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another.”

I had no aspirations to be a musician, but I picked up a guitar for two seconds and haven’t put it down since. -Slash

Eventually, Slash decided that he wanted to play the guitar after listening to “Brown Sugar” by The Rolling Stones. This lead him to want to play the guitar for a band, but this proved to be much more difficult than he imagined. He went to band after band in search of one where everyone there was equally passionate about music as he was. Time after time again he would join a band only to find out that the members were not serious about making music. Eventually, he met a man by the name of Axl Rose.

This meeting lead Slash to join the newly formed Guns and Roses with Axl Rose and guitarist Izzy Stradlin. Finally, Slash had found a place where people were passionate about the music that they were making. The band made music for a while without a record deal, and during this time the band made some of it most famous music: “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Sweet Child O’ Mine,” and “Paradise City.” This just goes to show that their life is fueled by their love for music and not the want to be rich or famous. This is a life of passion for the art of music.

Then came the icon for the band, Slash’s top hat. Slash had always been shy when it came to large crowds so he liked to wear hat so that he could conceal himself from the large crowds. One day he was walking around a street full of stores and he was looking for something to wear that night, and out of the corner of his eye he saw a top hat in one of the shops. He decided that he liked the hat and went in and stole the hat from the store. He then cut a belt that he was wearing, that he stole from the store next door to where he got the hat, and tied it around the top. From there the icon was born and the hat became synonymous with Slash.

The reputation of the band began to grow to enormous proportions and even was labeled the “ Most Dangerous Band in the World”. Guns and Roses got offers from multiple record labels and eventually signed with one to create their debut album: Appetite for Destruction. This album sold around 28 million copies worldwide with the band reaching its only U.S. #1 with “Sweet Child O’ Mine”.

Slash even decide to share his passion with the world by joining Little Kids Rock, which is a non-profit organization that helps to revitalize the education of music in disadvantaged school. He would donate equipment to the school and even play with the children that were in these programs to inspire them to pursue their love for music.

The life of Slash has been a life that is full of his love for music. He has always found a way to play his guitar no matter what the circumstances may be because he was in it for the music, not the fame that came with it. He even went so far as to help children find their passion for music and made sure that money would not hinder them from music. This is why Slash is an influential guitar player because he loves what he does and whats people to feel the same way that he does. He believes that through finding something you love and following it blindly with passion is the path to true happiness. Slash, truly, has lived a life that is fueled by his passion for rock and roll.

“You know, when you really connect with the instrument and everything just comes out on an emotional level very naturally through your playing. That’s, you know, a great night. And I think the reason I love touring so much is you’re chasing that high around all the time, trying to have another good night.”

— Slash