Saul Hudson was born July 23, 1965 and better known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician. He is the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he performed and recorded between 1985 and 1996. He later formed Slash's Snakepit and co-founded Velvet Revolver with his former bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, and his debut solo album, Slash, was released in April 2010.

Slash has received critical recognition as a guitarist. In August 2009, Time Magazine ranked him on its list of the "10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time". He was also ranked on Gigwise's list of the "50 Greatest Guitarists Ever".

According to Slash, he was born in Hampstead in West London, and raised in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. His African-American mother, Ola Hudson, was born in Tennessee, and worked as a costume designer for David Bowie, among many other actors and musicians. His English father, Anthony Hudson, was an artist who created album covers for musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.

When Saul was eleven, his parents moved the family to Los Angeles, California. His parents separated and he lived primarily with his mother. He was given the nickname "Slash" by family friend Seymour Cassel because he was "always in a hurry, zipping around from one thing to another".

As a young boy, Slash was influenced by a musical school teacher:

'Tangerine' from Led Zeppelin III was the very first song I mastered. I had a teacher at school who had a Les Paul and he was always playing Cream and Zeppelin licks and whatever. And when I heard him do that I said "That's what I want to do".

After deciding to form a band with friend Steven Adler, Slash decided to pick up the bass guitar as Adler had declared himself lead guitarist. Slash stopped in at Fairfax Music School and told the receptionist he wanted to play the bass, and at that time met his teacher Robert Wolin. Wolin told him that in order to learn he would need a bass of his own. Slash went home and asked his grandmother and was given a worn-out, single stringed flamenco guitar. After hearing Wolin play "Brown Sugar" by ear, Slash realized that the guitar was his calling. He subsequently dropped out of high school to focus on music. In a Rolling Stone magazine article, he remarked:

My big awakening happened when I was fourteen. 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 fucking 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.

In 1983, Slash formed the band Road Crew (named for the Motörhead song "(We Are) The Road Crew") with childhood friend Steven Adler. He placed an advertisement in a newspaper for a bassist, and received a response from Duff McKagan. When Road Crew disbanded, Slash joined a local band known as Hollywood Rose, fronted by Axl Rose, who Slash had previously met when Axl and his bandmate Izzy Stradlin were looking for new band members. After his experience in Hollywood Rose, Slash briefly played in a band called Black Sheep. In June 1985, Slash and Steven Adler were invited to join with Axl Rose, Duff McKagan and Izzy Stradlin as the band Guns N' Roses.

Guns N' Roses toured bars and opened for larger acts throughout 1985 and 1986. It was during this period that they wrote most of their classic material, including "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine", and "Paradise City". During this time, they were scouted by several major record labels, and signed with Geffen and they were tagged the "Most Dangerous Band In The World". In 1988, Slash remarked:

For some strange reason, Guns N' Roses is like the catalyst for controversy, even before we had any kind of record deal.

With 28 million copies sold (18 million in the United States alone), Appetite for Destruction is the best-selling debut album of all time worldwide and in the US. By 1988, Guns N' Roses scored its first hit with "Sweet Child o' Mine", a song spearheaded by Slash's riff and guitar solo.

In 1988, Guns N' Roses released G N' R Lies. Though this album only had eight tracks (four of which had already been released), it sold over 5 million copies. In 1991 the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II.

That year, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month Use Your Illusion tour. Upon completion of the tour, Slash was naturalized, becoming an American citizen.

In 1992, the band appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performing a two-song set which included "Paradise City" and "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". Slash later performed "Tie Your Mother Down" with the remaining members of Queen and Def Leppard vocalist Joe Elliott, while Axl Rose performed "We Will Rock You" and sang a duet with Elton John on "Bohemian Rhapsody".

In the mid-1990s, Slash wrote several songs for what would have become Guns N' Roses' follow-up album to Use Your Illusion I and II. Rose rejected the material, leading Slash to form Slash's Snakepit, a side-project that saw support from Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke, Dizzy Reed, Mike Inez, and Eric Dover. The band recorded Slash's material and released It's Five O'Clock Somewhere in 1995. Critically, the album was praised for ignoring the conventions of grunge and alternative music. It also fared well on the charts, eventually selling over 1.2 million copies in the United States with little promotion from Geffen Records.

After his departure from Guns N' Roses, Slash focused on his side-project, Snakepit, playing a few tour dates before disbanding the group in 1998. Over the next decade, Slash became an in-demand session musician, recording music with the likes of Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper, Sammy Hagar, Insane Clown Posse, Ronnie Wood, Bad Company, Cheap Trick, Michael Jackson, and Ray Charles.

In 1990, Slash was contacted by Michael Jackson to work on his upcoming album, Dangerous. Slash played guitar on the single "Give In to Me"; he also appeared in the music video of the latter. He also played guitar on "Black or White". On several occasions, Slash appeared onstage with Jackson, performing "Black or White" during the Dangerous World Tour. Slash and Jackson appeared together at the MTV 10th Anniversary in 1991, where Michael and Slash performed "Black or White" live for the first time and at 1995 MTV Video Music Awards where Michael performed a medley of his hits while Slash played guitar for "Black or White". Slash played guitar on "D.S.", a controversial song from the HIStory album of 1995 and "Morphine" from the 1997 remix album Blood on the Dance Floor. In 1999 Slash joined Michael to perform 1995 MTV VMA Medley and "Earth Song", and again in 2001, Slash joined Jackson on stage at the Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special playing guitar while Jackson performed his songs "Black or White" and "Beat It". Slash also plays the guitar solo for the Michael Jackson song "Privacy", of the Invincible album, right after Michael screams: "Slash!", Michael also does this right before Slash's solo on "D.S."

In 1995, Quentin Tarantino asked Slash to contribute some songs to the soundtrack of his adaptation of the film Jackie Brown. Several Snakepit compositions can be heard throughout the film. In 1996, Slash collaborated with Marta Sánchez to record the flamenco-inspired song, "Obsession-Confession" for the Curdled soundtrack. The song was received well by Smooth Jazz radio stations. Later that year, Slash also played live with Alice Cooper at Sammy Hagar's club Cabo Wabo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The show was recorded and released the following year as A Fistful of Alice.

In 1997, Slash (alongside the late Ol' Dirty Bastard and hit alternative rock band Fishbone) appeared on BLACKstreet's rock remix version of their hit single "Fix". In 2003, he participated in the Yardbirds' comeback record Birdland, released on the Favored Nations label. He played lead guitar in the track "Over, Under, Sideways, Down". In early 2003, Slash also made an appearance at a rally to protest the coming War in Iraq called "Peace on the Beach", performing the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. Ed Kowalczyk provided vocals during this performance.

In 2000, he chose to regroup Slash's Snakepit to release his second solo effort, titled Ain't Life Grand. The album did well on the charts, reaching platinum status. To promote it further, Slash embarked on an extensive world tour with AC/DC in the summer of 2000.

In 2002, he reunited with Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum for a benefit/tribute concert for Randy Castillo. Realizing they still had the chemistry of their days in Guns N' Roses, they decided to form a new band together. The band that featured Slash, McKagan, and Sorum also featured former Buckcherry members Keith Nelson and Josh Todd. Later Duff put out a statement that Josh and Keith didn't quite fit with the band, and they added Dave Kushner as rhythm guitar and, after a long search, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. In 2006, Slash performed a guest spot on keyboardist Derek Sherinian's solo album Blood of the Snake covering the 1970 Mungo Jerry hit single "In the Summertime", also featuring Billy Idol on vocals. A video was also made featuring Slash, Billy, and Derek for this song.

Velvet Revolver began as "The Project", a venture by Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum to find a new lead singer. On rhythm guitar, they initially worked with Izzy Stradlin, and they were offered to open for The Rolling Stones but Slash, Duff and Matt wanted to have a lead singer; after this Izzy became less involved. They would find their second guitarist in the form of Dave Kushner, who had previously played with McKagan in "Loaded" prior to this project. For many months, the four of them listened to demo tapes of potential lead singers, a monotonous process (documented by VH1). The band recorded a song with Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), a long time friend of Guns N' Roses, but this line-up did not last. In his autobiography simply titled Slash, Slash reported that this combination was unsuccessful due to the fact that on one side, it sounded too much like Skid Roses , and on the other, Sebastian Bach was concerned that this project would interfere with his relationship with Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose. The main riff from this Skid Roses song would later be found on the 2010 Slash solo album. After many months, Slash and the others were almost ready to give up. However, Stone Temple Pilots had recently imploded, allowing lead singer Scott Weiland to volunteer to record a song with the band. Realizing there was chemistry between each member, Weiland officially joined the band in 2003.

Velvet Revolver played several concerts in the summer of that year and released their first single, "Set Me Free" as part of the soundtrack for The Hulk. In June 2004, they released their first studio album, Contraband. A 19-month long tour ensued, as the album went double platinum and re-established Slash as a mainstream performer. After the tour concluded, he and his bandmates took a lengthy break before beginning work on their second album. In July 2007, Velvet Revolver released the critically acclaimed Libertad, a follow-up to their multi-platinum debut. Following their second studio album, Velvet Revolver also began a second tour. On March 20, 2008 Weiland announced to their audience that it would be Velvet Revolver's final tour. Matt Sorum posted a message on his website the next day discussing the band's situation and said, "You could tell who was unhappy last night" and "some people in this business don't realize how great of a life they have". Weiland shot back by telling Blabbermouth.net, "Well, first of all, the state of my family affairs is really none of his business, since he is too immature to have a real relationship, let alone children. So don't attempt to stand in a man's shoes when you haven't walked his path." On April 1, 2008 Weiland officially split from Velvet Revolver.

On May 31, 2006, Slash was joined by Rob Zombie on vocals, another former Guns N' Roses axeman Gilby Clarke on rhythm guitar, Scott Ian of Anthrax on bass, Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee on drums, and surprise guest Ace Frehley of Kiss for a rendition of God of Thunder. The occasion was a one-time supergroup tribute to Kiss for the VH1 Rock Honors Award Show.

Slash is a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and his likeness appears on the game cover. Slash did motion capture with RedOctane to record his movements for the game. Beating Slash in a one-on-one competition (playing an original composition he recorded solely for the game), unlocks him as a playable character. Beating him in this challenge leads to the player and Slash playing the master track of "Welcome to the Jungle" as an encore song.

In 2007, Slash performed with Paulina Rubio on the hit Latin single "Nada Puede Cambiarme". On March 12, 2007. Slash and Velvet Revolver paid tribute to Van Halen by inducting the band into the Rock N' Roll hall of fame. The band also played two covers.

Slash appears on the cover of Guitar World for their July 2007 issue, the "20 year salute to Appetite for Destruction", entitled "The Cat In The Hat Is Back". It pictures Slash holding his guitar with a snake crawling up the neck.

Slash made numerous contributions to The Heroin Diaries: A Year in the Life of a Shattered Rock Star by Nikki Sixx, published September 18, 2007. He also played guitar with them at Crüe Fest.

An autobiography titled simply Slash was published on October 30, 2007. It was co-written with Anthony Bozza. Slash will also be appearing in the HBO book and Documentary The Black List Vol. 1, he can be seen in a portrait on the cover of the book. It was announced by Kerrang! Magazine that Slash was going to appear on Ace Frehley's next solo album.

Slash planned to record a solo album after the third Velvet Revolver album, but after the departure of singer Scott Weiland and time-consuming searches for a new singer for the band, he decided to record a solo album first. On September 30, 2008, he began recording demos for the upcoming album. Slash was quoted saying that the work alone in the studio on the solo album was "cathartic", and that he really enjoyed working alone in the studio. He also said he plans to bring a different singer for each song on the album, and that he has a list of guests to appear on the album, and most of them are already committed, though he refused to tell who are those guests. Rumored singers for the project include Lenny Kravitz, Sebastian Bach, Alice Cooper, Vince Neil, and past Guns N' Roses bandmates Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan.

According to Slash's wife during an interview with Rockerrazzi.com, both Ozzy Osbourne and Fergie will make appearances on Slash's upcoming solo album, saying, "It's going to be Slash and friends, with everyone from Ozzy [Osbourne] to Fergie." Other musicians set to appear on the release include Josh Freese, Chris Chaney, Travis Barker, M. Shadows and Jason Bonham. In 2009, he played the guitar parts on the film score of The Wrestler, composed by Clint Mansell.

On June 30, 2009, Slash performed his first solo show, at the Quart Festival in Norway. His band was composed of Franky Perez (Scars On Broadway) on vocals, John 5 (Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson) on guitar, Chris Chaney (Jane's Addiction) on bass, Jason Bonham (Foreigner) on drums and Teddy Andreadis on keyboards. Special guests included Chris Cornell, Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie and Ron Wood. His touring band will be fronted by Alter Bridge vocalist Myles Kennedy, who provided vocals on Slash's songs "Back From Cali" and "Starlight" from his self-titled debut solo album.

Slash's guitar solo is featured in Rihanna's 2009 album Rated R''s fourth single Rockstar 101.

Slash's self titled album recently was certified "platinum" in New Zealand with sales over 35,000.

Slash was the honoree at the 2010 Sunset Strip Music Festival, on August 26, 2010, which included members of the West Hollywood City Council and Mayor John Heilman presenting Slash with the official plaque for "Slash Day."

Slash appeared on stage at the Arena, Stockholm, 2 November 2010, accompanying Alter Bridge on the track "Rise Today".

Slash appeared as a recurring caricature of himself in Robert Evans' animated television series Kid Notorious which aired in 2003 on Comedy Central. As in real life, Slash is Evans' close friend and next-door neighbor. He appeared as the guest mentor for rock n roll week of American Idol on May 5, 2009. In addition to performing twice on Lopez Tonight with Andrew Stockdale and Myles Kennedy, respectively, Slash also made a guest appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on October 29, 2010. He has also had spots on the The Drew Carey Show, South Park, and Metalocalypse.

In 1990, a heavy metal video called "Hard N' Heavy" was released containing music, concert footage and interviews. The video included Slash and McKagan appearing with the band Great White at a "Children of the Night" Benefit concert in LA for abused homeless children, the performance helped raise money for housing to aid the underprivileged.

Slash is married to Perla Ferrar, with whom he has two sons, London Emilio and Cash Anthony. The family lives in Los Angeles. As of August 30, 2010, Slash had petitioned for the marriage's dissolution through family law attorney Laura Wasser, citing "irreconcilable differences", However as of November 1st, the divorce has been called off.

In 2007, Slash admitted to going to Rose's home with the intention to settle a long standing legal dispute and make peace with his former band mate. Slash elaborated on the incident in his autobiography, claiming that what actually occurred was that he simply went to Rose's house while intoxicated and left a note asking Rose to contact him to settle a pending lawsuit. He also added that he has not spoken to Rose in person since his departure from Guns N' Roses in 1996. Slash further stated that incident's publicity created a rift in Velvet Revolver as his bandmates were unsure of what Slash had actually done. Slash had confronted Weiland over his scathing reply to Rose, feeling that Weiland did not have the "right" to criticize Rose, not actually knowing him. In March 2009, Slash responded to an interview in which Rose referred to him as "a cancer", saying that "It doesn't really affect me at all. At this point, it's starting to become a little bit.. he's just sort of like 'whatever'."

Slash owns more than 100 guitars. The guitar he recorded Appetite For Destruction with was a hand made flame-top 1959 Les Paul replica with no pick guard and two Seymour Duncan pickups. His main live guitar is a 1988 Les Paul Standard with three piece top (Factory Second). It has a cracked neck in two places, but he has had it repaired and continues to use it. Most of Slash's electric guitars have Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro low output pickups.

One of Slash's favorite guitars is the aforementioned hand-made Gibson Les Paul Copy. He received it during the recording sessions for Guns N' Roses debut album, "Appetite for Destruction". When he couldn't get the right sound he was looking for, the band's manager found a 1959 Les Paul Standard copy. He has used that guitar on every album he has recorded with Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. The guitar was also the basis of the instrument his doppelgänger used in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

On stage, he only uses Marshall amps. He used a rented vintage 1960s Marshall 1959 modified by Frank Levi at SIR studios for the recording of Appetite for Destruction. Slash liked the amp so much he tried to keep it, telling the store that it had been stolen, but it was returned accidentally by a roadie. During the 1980s Slash was using a Marshall JCM 2555 Silver Jubilee Anniversary amplifier made in 1987. It featured EL34's power tubes and three ECC83 preamp tubes.

For the recording of Velvet Revolver's debut, he used a Vox AC30 and small Fender tube amps (for "oddball" sounds). For the recording of Velvet Revolver's second album, he used the new Marshall Vintage Modern 2466 amp.

The Gibson Guitar Corporation custom made two guitars for Slash in 1988. The first "Inspired" Slash Les Paul is a replica of one of the two guitars given to Slash by Gibson in 1988. The guitar is finished in a faded Heritage Cherry Sunburst, fitted with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups and the neck is made to the exact specs of Slash's original Les Paul.

Slash Les Paul Standard is a recreation of Slash's favorite Les Paul and is made of solid mahogany and is finished with a Antique Vintage Sunburst. Just like the custom shop version the guitar is fitted with Seymor Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups and a neck modeled after Slash's original. The guitar will be made in a limited run of 1,600 guitars.

The Epiphone Les Paul Standard Plustop is made to be a more affordable version of the two Gibson versions while still being able to offer a high quality instrument. As the Gibson versions it is equipped with Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups which he says he decided to place in all his guitar models, and is finished in Dark Tobacco Burst.

In 2008, the Slash signature Les Paul "Gold Top" limited edition guitar became available. Epiphone's Les Paul model has a solid mahogany body with a gold top finish, and the standard long neck he came to request on all his guitars, preferring the closest similarity in the neck as his first Les Paul. Again, Seymour Duncan Alnico II pro humbuckers, a standard item on all his guitars. This version also features Epiphone's LockTone stop tailpiece and tunomatic bridge system, which Slash feels makes it an easier instrument to play, particularly for newer guitarists.

The BC Rich Handcrafted Mockingbird SL is an unofficial signature model of Slash's Mockingbird guitar. The SL features a maple neck through a mahogany body with a quilt maple top (Slash's Mockingbird does not have a quilt maple top), Grover Super Rotomatic tuners, ebony fingerboard with large diamond inlays, an Original Floyd Rose, Seymour Duncan Alnico II humbuckers, partial active electronics, and is finished in a transparent red.

Slash was the first musician to own a signature amplifier created by Marshall for him. In 1996 the Marshall Slash JCM 2555SL was launched, it was built with the specs of Slash's own original 1987 Marshall Silver Jubilee 2555 amplifier. A total of 3,000 of these amplifiers were made before it was discontinued.

Slash won the "Best Guitarist" prize in the 2005 Esky Music Awards in Esquire magazine.

In January 2007, Slash was honored with a star on the Rock Walk of Fame, his name being placed alongside Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix. In 2007, Slash was awarded the coveted title of "Riff Lord" during the fourth annual Metal Hammer Golden Gods awards.

In August 2009, he was honored by Time Magazine by being named on its list of the 10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time.

"Welcome to the Jungle" ranked on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs, on the Rolling Stone Magazine list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, on Q Magazine's 1001 Best Songs Ever and on VH1's 100 Greatest 80s Songs. Most recently, the song was named the "Greatest Song About Los Angeles" by a poll in Blender magazine.

"Sweet Child o' Mine" placed on Guitar World's list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Solos", number three on Blender's 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born, number 196 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and in March 2005 Q magazine placed it at number 6 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks. The introduction's D-flat based riff was also voted number-one riff of all-time by the readers of Total Guitar magazine. It was also in Rolling Stones 40 Greatest Songs that Changed the World.

"Paradise City" is ranked on VH1's 40 Greatest Metal Songs of All Time, in Total Guitar Magazine's list of the 100 greatest solos of all time and on Rolling Stones' "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".

"November Rain" holds the record for the longest guitar solo in a U.S. top 10 hit. The song is also listed at number 6 in "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" by Guitar World. Additionally, "November Rain" was voted on the Rock 1000 in 2006, an annual countdown of the top 1,000 rock songs by New Zealand radio listeners.

On VH1's Top 100 Hard Rock Songs of All Time, hosted by Bret Michaels, the hit song Welcome to the Jungle was announced as the number 1 hard rock song of all time.