If you’re a musician in a legendary band, you’d (in most cases) consider yourself to be very fortunate. Slash, however, has founded two: Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver. But for this list, we’re concentrating on his act three: his “solo” career. (We put “solo” in quotes, because we know he’s a band guy.)
While Guns and VR definitely overshadow a lot, his career with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, which is now four albums deep, is pretty awesome. He’s also done some great stuff with both versions of the Snakepit, and we’re definitely not forgetting his 2010 album of all-star collaborations (which is when he first worked with Myles).
Slash’s latest solo album, Orgy of the Damned, was released in May 2024. The release is a stunning all-star blues covers album featuring a diverse slate of guests that include Gary Clark Jr, Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Brian Johnson, Tash Neal, Chris Robinson, and Beth Hart.
To support the album, Slash announced the ambitious “S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival,” with the acronym standing for “Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Equality N’ Tolerance.” A host of artists are also part of the tour, including Warren Haynes, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, ZZ Ward, Larkin Poe and Jackie Venson.
Notably, a portion of every ticket sold will help raise funds for a number of equality and civil rights charities. These charities were selected by Slash, himself, and they include The Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, The Greenlining Institute, and War Child.
Slash said in a statement about the tour, “The S.E.R.P.E.N.T. tour is a celebration of blues and rock ‘n’ roll music, and a celebration of unity and togetherness in these uncertain and divisive times. S.E.R.P.E.N.T is a vehicle to help support and uplift people and communities suffering from the injustices of racism and equal rights violations, as well as to support children adversely affected by war and poverty across the world.”
While our list primarily focuses on Slash’s solo work, we decided to also include his work on other people’s music, but only when he really made his presence on the track felt (sorry, you’re out of luck, Bob Dylan’s “Wiggle Wiggle”!). But from Lenny Kravitz to Halestorm, Tom Morello to Michael Jackson, his solos have made a lot of great songs even better.
Without further ado, here is our list of Slash’s 35 coolest moments outside of Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver.