Ask him why he's, well, a guitar god and the 49-year-old is quick to point to a slew of his axe-wielding predecessors who paved the way. So many other hair-metal guitarists seemed to fade into obscurity (quick: name the guitarist for Twisted Sister), yet Slash has transcended both the movement and band that first made him famous. Peep a listen to the pummeling spastic punk intro to Guns N' Roses' 'Welcome to the Jungle,' or perhaps that sexy, pinpoint bluesy 'Sweet Child o' Mine' lick does it for you. In July 2012, Slash received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, where the musician grew up.Make no mistake: Slash is a singular guitarist. Time magazine named him runner-up on its list of “The 10 Best Guitarists” in 2009, while Rolling Stone placed him in sixty-fifth place on its list of “ The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” in 2011.Īlso, Guitar World ranked their solo in November Rain in sixth place on their “The 100 Best Guitar Riffs” list in 2008, and Total Guitar placed their Sweet Child o ‘Mine riff first on their ” 100 Greatest Riffs “in 2004. Slash has received critical acclaim as a guitarist since the beginning of his career, receiving several awards and honors to this day. Even the guys before him - like Clapton and Beck and all that - but the thing about Jimi is he came along and he was definitely the primal wild man, shit coming out of his pores.” Slash “He was the pioneer for electric lead guitar. From way before he was in the Eagles, when he was in the James Gang and even in the Eagles, he’s just got such an understated but great, nasty way of playing.” Jimi Hendrix “Joe’s probably one of the tastiest lead guitar players around. But he had a big impact on me from day one.” Joe Walsh (James Gang/The Eagles) “He’s not even a lead guitar player, really. Nobody else I knew was really too hip to him, at least in Hollywood.” Pete Townshend (The Who)

“He’s one of the guitar players I got turned on to at a pretty young age. Both their styles just really spoke to me,” Slash said. and Albert were the two guys I most identified with from a phrasing point of view and from a choice of notes and certain kinds of sounds. “With all the great blues guitar players I’m aware of and have grown up with over the years, B.B. “The period that Mick Taylor was in the band, as far as lead guitar was concerned, that was my favorite Stones period.” B.B. But first and foremost, way, way before I ever actually met him, he was one of the tastiest sort of rhythm, blues, and electric-blues guitarists who I had ever heard.” Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones)

Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, they’re just real identifiable personalities on guitar.” Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) “There’s a bunch of British guitar players I grew up listening to who were really the pioneers of rock ‘n’ roll lead guitar in the seventies. “ Joe and Brad, those two guys just have always personified rock guitar to me, and the kind of phrasing and attitude and aggression that appealed to me when I was just picking up the guitar.” Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) The 12 guitarists that for Slash were the best of all time: Joe Perry and Brad Whitford (Aerosmith)

Slash guitarist