Saul Hudson was born on July 23^rd, 1965 in London, England, and he was raised in Los Angeles, where he earned the nickname “Slash” for being “always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another.”

 "My big awakening happened when I was 14. I'd been trying to get into this older girl's pants for a while, and she finally let me come over to her house. We hung out, smoked some pot and listened to Aerosmith’s Rocks. It hit me like a f***ing ton of bricks. I sat there listening to it over and over, and totally blew off this girl. I remember riding my bike back to my grandma's house knowing that my life had changed. Now I identified with something." - Slash

 In the late 70s, Slash learned to play bass, before switching to guitar after hearing someone play classic rock songs on the six-string.

 In 1985, he joined the newly formed Guns N’ Roses with vocalist Axl Rose, guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKagan, and drummer Steven Adler, all of whom Slash had played with in previous bands.

 GN’R established themselves on the LA club circuit before releasing their hugely successful and highly influential debut album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987.

The band put out several more successful releases, including 1991’s Use Your Illusion I and II, but after three years of inactivity, Slash announced that he was finished with Guns N’ Roses in 1996 due to the actions and the attitude of their frontman and the departure of Steven and Izzy.

In 1994, Slash formed Slash’s Snakepit with members of GN’R, Alice in Chains, and Jellyfish. They released their debut album in ’95 and then toured before disbanding in 1996. Slash reactivated the project with all new members in 1999, and another album came out in 2000, followed by extensive touring. Slash’s Snakepit disbanded again in 2002.

 2002 saw Slash reuniting with his former GN’R bandmates Matt Sorum (who had replaced Steven Adler before Use Your Illusion) and Duff McKagan in a new band, Velvet Revolver, which also featured guitarist Dave Kushner and then former Stone Temple Pilots vocalist Scott Weiland.

 VR found success with their two albums, 2004’s Contraband and 2007’s Liberted, before Scott left the band in 2008.

Slash’s self-titled debut solo album, which featured contributions from a wide range of vocalists including Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop, and Fergie, came out in April 2010.

 For the follow-up full length, Slash worked closely with his band, Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators—vocalist Myles of Alter Bridge, rhythm guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Todd Kerns (formerly of Age of Electric), and drummer Brent Fitz—and the resulting Apocalyptic Love was released in May 2012.

 “What I love so much about Slash’s playing is the immense emotion he devotes to his craft. There is a certain ache to the way he bends a note, the vibrato. He plays so brilliantly on this record, as he has on all the records he’s made, but there’s a touch more beautiful pain in his technique now. Being a guitar player myself, I’m just in awe of his method and style.” – Myles Kennedy

 “It’s been an interesting road from the mid 90s up until now. I never stopped to think, ‘What am I gonna to do in the long term?’ Or ruminated on my solo career, where it was heading. I’ve just been jamming around, going wherever the muse has taken me. And this is the first time where I feel like I’m in the saddle and riding my own destiny with some genuine focus.” – Slash