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Sun 24 May 2026 21:45, UK
Slash knew from day one that rock and roll didn’t usually cater to the most savoury characters of society.
Even if the genre wasn’t the kind of devil-worshipping cult that every wackjob parent claimed that it was back in the day, there were more than a few of his heroes that ended up being more than a little bit sinister behind the scenes. But even if the Guns N’ Roses guitarist grew up knowing the pitfalls that come with being a successful musician, it wasn’t like there weren’t a few people looking out for him and showing him the ropes every time he tried making a new record.
Because as much as Slash loved the idea of making a name for himself on his own, he did luck out when working with his parents. Having David Bowie as someone he could turn to when he was a kid had to have been a ton of fun, and even though that came with its own set of issues when Axl Rose kicked up a feud with ‘The Starman’, Slash was willing to stay out of any and all drama that happened behind the scenes in his band.
He was more than happy just to play his music, and a lot of his friends were usually ones who weren’t in it for the petty feuds between everyone. That might have been what sold records half the time, but Slash wanted to be known for being the baddest lead guitarist on the planet rather than trying to make a name for himself as some pinup star. And compared to everyone else in LA at the time, Lemmy seemed to be everything that Slash was looking for.
Motorhead didn’t need to be one of the biggest bands of all time for Lemmy to live a life on his own, and even when he was living in a stuffy apartment in LA, he was content with his life. He was the epitome of a rock and roll troubadour, always having a glass of whiskey in his hand when he was off the stage and willing to be genuine no matter what the cost, and that kind of genuine sincerity was what resonated with Slash the most.
There were a lot of artificial bands coming to the forefront around that time, but Lemmy didn’t have a single inauthentic cell in his body as far as Slash could tell, saying, “Lemmy was one of my all-time favourite fucking human beings. We got to be friends back in 1987, when we first came over here, when Guns played those Marquee dates. To me, [losing him] was really losing somebody that was one of the greatest friends to have, and one of the greatest mentors, one of the greatest pillars of what rock’n’roll is to me. Just one really sweet motherfucker.”
You wouldn’t expect that from the same booze-swigging badass behind ‘Ace of Spades’, but Lemmy wasn’t trying to be a heartless drifter for the rest of his life. He was the one who wrote heartbreaking tunes like ‘Mama I’m Comin’ Home’ for Ozzy Osbourne, and even when he had his own set of problems, he had Slash to thank for some of his own struggles with addiction later in his life.
Further reading: From The Vault
Still, it’s hard not to see him cut quite the intimidating figure in his cowboy boots and hat whenever he came up to the microphone. He was the epitome of what a rock star was supposed to look like, and even outside of the traditional metal genre, people like Dave Grohl wouldn’t have even thought to go in a heavier direction had he not heard that gravelly voice coming out of Lemmy.
Slash might have had a closer relationship with Lemmy than some other people, but he was only one example of the kind of impact that the bassist has on people. He didn’t want to make anything too flashy whenever he made a new record, and a lot of the best moments of his career is when everyone got to see the sweetheart that was the Clint Eastwood-style stare he had.
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