Slash Admits to Not Remembering His Early Years of Performing Due to Drinking

Although remembered for his time with Guns N’ Roses and landing in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band, Slash explored his musical talents with more than the iconic group. Outside of Guns N’ Roses, the musician formed an ongoing solo career with the release of his recent album Orgy of the Damned. It was his first solo album in nearly 14 years. While excited about the new album, Slash took a trip into the past and discussed how his alcohol consumption at the time made remembering his younger years extremely difficult.

While part of Guns N’ Roses, Slash also helped form the group Slash’s Blues Balls with the help of Johnny Griparic, Alvino Bennet, Bobby Schneck, Dave McLaurin, and Teddy “Big Bag Zig Zag” Andreadis. Recalling his lifestyle at the time – he said, “It was such a drunken kind of thing, and it was just for the fun of it. I do not recall any of those gigs.”

Although not able to recall his past all that great, Slash explained how the group came together. He told People, “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 L.A. And I would go and hang out with them and get there 10 or 11 o’clock at night and jam until two o’clock in the morning.”

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Slash Getting Back To The Stage With New Festival

What started as fun turned into a job as Slash added, “I got a couple of other guys. And so we started doing the same circuit, but then that turned into an actual tour, and we did it for on and off for a couple of years, even managed to make it to Europe.”

With the success of Orgy of the Damned, Slash will embark on the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival tour on July 5. The tour will run until mid-August. Excited about getting back to the stage, the musician insisted, “ 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.”

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)