Slash has opened up about his incredible career, admitting that he can’t remember any of his band’s very first concerts.
The Guns N’ Roses legend, known for hits including November Rain and Sweet Child O’ Mine, took a step into the blues genre in the 90s, and formed Slash’s Blues Ball in 1996.
He teamed up with Bobby Schneck, Johnny Griparic, Teddy Andreadis, Alvino Bennet and Dave McLaurin for the project.
However, when reflecting on his time with the group, the 58-year-old shared that he doesn’t have any recollection of gigs due to alcohol.
‘It was such a drunken kind of thing, and it was just for the fun of it,’ Slash – real name Saul Hudson – told People Magazine. ‘I do not recall any of those gigs.’
Slash’s Blues Ball was around for two years until 1998, and the group didn’t release any music during that time, instead performing covers at a string of venues.
‘When I first met them, a couple of the guys, they were playing in a band called The Screaming Cocktail Hour, which was a great blues band that used to play at the local Rogie’s and Baked Potato and Cozy’s and all these small little blues dives around LA,’ he added.
‘And I would go and hang out with them and get there 10 or 11pm and jam until two o’clock in the morning.
‘And so we started doing the same circuit, but then that turned into an actual tour, and we did it on and off for a couple of years, even managed to make it to Europe.’
Slash joined Guns N’ Roses in the 1980s and quicky shot to superstardom – before briefly leaving the group in the 90s and forming Slash’s Blues Ball, and later working on his solo career.
He got back into the Blues for his latest solo release, Orgy of the Damned – which was inspired by his past efforts.
He is due to get on the road with the album for the S.E.R.P.E.N.T Festival tour later this month, but vowed it will be a very different experience.
‘I can’t remember that much about the Blues Ball, but [S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival] is not the same as just a drunken club band that was just touring around for beer,’ he insisted.
Slash previously raised eyebrows when he opened up about hearing one of his most famous songs in public, confessing that he cringes every time.
During an appearance on Absolute Radio Classic Rock in 2022, he shared that it can be a ‘vulnerable’ thing to hear his art in the wild.
‘Because if I walk into a place and Sweet Child O’ Mine comes on, it’s a cringe moment,’ he said. ‘Like, very awkward!’
‘It’s always exciting if you hear [your music] on the radio.
‘[But] you’re in a bar or some other sort of public place, and all of a sudden your material comes on, it sort of stops you dead in your tracks.
‘Because for a second you’re like, “Oh God, that sounds familiar!” And then you realize it’s you.
‘Even if nobody in the room knows you’re in there, you just feel sort of very vulnerable for a second.’
Sorry Slash but we will be playing that on repeat…
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