Saul Hudson - Slash

Saul Hudson (born July 23, 1965), better known as Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N' Roses, Slash formed the side project Slash's Snakepit. After leaving Guns N' Roses in 1996, he co-founded the supergroup Velvet Revolver, which re-established him as a mainstream performer in the mid to late 2000s. Slash has since released three solo albums: Slash (2010), featuring an array of famous guest musicians, and Apocalyptic Love (2012) and World on Fire (2014), recorded with his band, Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators. He returned to Guns N' Roses in 2016, nearly 20 years after he had left.

Slash has received critical acclaim as a guitarist. Time named him runner-up on their list of "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" in 2009, while Rolling Stone placed him at No. 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2011. Guitar World ranked his solo in "November Rain" No. 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos" in 2008, and Total Guitar placed his riff in "Sweet Child o' Mine" at No. 1 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Riffs" in 2004.In 2012, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Guns N' Roses' classic line-up.

Awards and accolades

Slash has received critical acclaim as a guitarist. In 2005, he was named "Best Guitarist" by Esquire, which congratulated him on "beating the comeback odds with a surprisingly legitimate and vital outfit, Velvet Revolver." Slash was awarded the title of "Riff Lord" during Metal Hammer's fourth annual Golden Gods awards in 2007. In 2008, he was ranked No. 21 on Gigwise's list of "The 50 Greatest Guitarists Ever," and in 2009, he was named runner-up on "The 10 Best Electric Guitar Players" list in Time, which praised him as "a remarkably precise player." In 2011, Rolling Stone placed Slash at No. 65 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

In 2007, Slash was honored with a star on the Rock Walk of Fame; his name was placed alongside Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix. He was the honoree at the 2010 Sunset Strip Music Festival, where he was presented by West Hollywood mayor John Heilman with a plaque declaring August 26 as "Slash Day." In 2012, Slash was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the classic lineup of Guns N' Roses. He performed three songs—"Paradise City", "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Mr. Brownstone"‍—‌with fellow inductees Duff McKagan, Steven Adler, and Matt Sorum, one-time Guns N' Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke, and his frequent collaborator Myles Kennedy. Inductees Axl Rose, Izzy Stradlin and Dizzy Reed declined to attend. Later that year, Slash received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, located directly in front of the Hard Rock Cafe on Hollywood Boulevard.

In 2004, Slash's introductory riff in "Sweet Child o' Mine" was voted No. 1 on a list of "The 100 Greatest Riffs" by the readers of Total Guitar; his riffs in "Out ta Get Me" (No. 51), "Welcome to the Jungle" (No. 21), and "Paradise City" (No. 19) also made the list. In 2006, his solo in "Paradise City" was voted No. 3 by Total Guitar's readers on a list of "The 100 Hottest Guitar Solos"; his solos in "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "November Rain" were ranked No. 30 and No. 82 respectively. In 2008, Guitar World placed Slash's solo in "November Rain" at No. 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos," while his solo in "Sweet Child o' Mine" was ranked No. 37 on the list. In 2010, the readers of Total Guitar voted his riff in "Slither" runner-up on the list of "The 50 Greatest Riffs of the Decade," while his riff in "By the Sword" was ranked No. 22. Slash received a Radio Contraband Rock Radio Award in 2012. In January 2015 Slash received the Les Paul award.