Saul Hudson, better known to the world as Slash, was one of the guitarists of hard rock band Guns N' Roses. He is noted for his long, black, afro hair, his large top hat, and his occasional Metallica t-shirt.

Hudson was born July 23, 1965 in Hampstead, London, England to a British-Jewish father and a black mother. He was raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire until the age of 11 when his family moved to the United States. In the United States he attended Beverly Hills High School along with other future stars including Lenny Kravitz and Nicolas Cage. At about age 15 Hudson was given a one string Acoustic guitar, with which he was able to learn to play. Slash's early influences include Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix, Jeff Beck, and Neil Young. Hudson began to devote at least 12 hours a day to playing guitar, which evidently affected his school work. Eventually, Hudson gave up on school, dropping out in eleventh grade. While a part of the Los Angeles band scene, he met drummer Steven Adler and the two formed the band Road Crew .

Hudson and Adler later met future Guns n' Roses rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin who played him a tape of Axl Rose singing. Hudson and Adler met Axl shortly thereafter. Later, when Axl's new band, Guns N' Roses, needed a drummer and guitarist to play their first few shows, Slash and Adler volunteered and quickly joined as full time members.

While serving as G'N'R's lead guitarist, Slash was involved in many projects with artists as varied as Lenny Kravitz, BLACKstreet, Michael Jackson and Queen.

Slash left G'N'R in 1996 after disagreeing with Axl Rose over musical direction. He then formed a group called Slash's Snakepit, which he later disbanded in July 2001. Slash has currently embarked upon a musical endeavour with old Guns N' Roses musicians Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and former Stone Temple Pilots frontman Scott Weiland, called Velvet Revolver.

Slash maintains an impressive collection of guitars, the backbone of which is made up of Gibsons - particularly his trademark Les Paul model. He has at this stage well over 100 guitars, not only Gibsons but Fenders as well and several BC Rich guitars.

Slash was the first musician ever to have a signature amplifier created for him by Marshall.

With his second wife Perla, he has two sons, London and Cash.

External Links

• Slash's Official Website
• Official Velvet Revolver web site
• Slash Guitar Page
• Slash's World
• Slash Online