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Slash Recalls Time He Dressed in Drag as a Teen to Sneak into a Bar

Slash was just like any normal teen growing up making fake IDs and trying to sneak into bars and clubs dressed in drag. (Wait…what?!) The guitar icon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel…

Slash
Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Slash was just like any normal teen growing up making fake IDs and trying to sneak into bars and clubs dressed in drag. (Wait...what?!)

The guitar icon appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night (February 3) where the topic of growing up in Los Angeles was brought up. Kimmel asked whether Slash went to all of the rock hot spots to see shows growing up leading to this hilarious story.

"Around 13, 14, 15-years-old, I used to make these fake IDs. You used to be able to get away with it with a pencil, " recalled Slash. "So, I was pretty good at it, so we used to get into The Whisky and The Roxy and the Starwood."

Slash continued, "The Rainbow [Bar & Grille] was the hardest one [to get into.] You've got balls of steel when you're 15-years-old. You think, 'Okay, I've got a fake ID. You can walk up and it'll work like everywhere else.' But they had this guy named Steady at the door. He was a hardcore Italian bouncer-type, so he'd be looking for [fake IDs.]"

He continued, "There was one time I went to the Rainbow with Steve Adler, who was my partner in crime back when we were 14 or 15 years old. I showed [the bouncer] the ID, and Steven showed him his ID, and they let Steven in but they wouldn't let me in...I was just crushed, so I went home and I put on a bunch of makeup, put on some of my mom's clothes — I was really drunk, you have to understand — and I went back up there. And it was ladies' night, that's what it was. So I went back and I got in."

There was another reason why Slash decided to drunkenly dress in drag: "The whole thing of it for me was I was going to go and pick up on Steven, 'cause Steven would screw anything. And I thought it'd be really funny."

However, Slash then ran into another problem.

"So, I got in, and slowly but surely I realized Steven was not here. He's gone," explains Slash. "And this black cloud of reality came down, and I felt the most vulnerable I ever felt ever. Still, to this day, I've never felt like that. And then having to leave and walk down Sunset Blvd. in a dress back to my car. Anything sounding like a whistle or raising their voice I thought was directed at me. It was horrible."

Of course, Slash didn't appear on Kimmel just to tell this rather funny drag story; he was there to promote his new album, 4, with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators that comes out February 11 and is currently available for pre-order here.

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