Slash

Saul Hudson was born in Hampstead, London, on 23 July 1965, but raised in Blurton, a small suburb in Stoke-on-Trent, until age 6, before moving to Los Angeles, California. He was named after cartoonist Saul Steinberg. His mother, Ola J. Hudson (née Oliver; 1946–2009), was an African-American fashion designer and costumier. His father, Anthony Hudson, is an English artist. Although there has been speculation, Slash has refuted the claims that his father is Jewish. Of his mixed background, Slash has remarked, "As a musician, I've always been amused that I'm both British and black; particularly because so many American musicians seem to aspire to be British while so many British musicians, in the '60s in particular, went to such great pains to be black."

During his early years, Slash was raised by his father and paternal grandparents in Stoke-on-Trent while his mother moved back to her native United States to work in Los Angeles. When he was around five years old, he and his father joined his mother in Los Angeles. His brother, Albion "Ash" Hudson, was born in 1972. Following his parents' separation in 1974, Slash became a self-described "problem child". He chose to live with his mother and was often sent to live with his beloved maternal grandmother whenever his mother had to travel for her job. …

Slash is a dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States. A British national since his birth, he has resided in Los Angeles since 1971, but did not acquire American citizenship until 1996. He said in 2010, "I do consider myself British. I have very strong feelings about my British heritage. My first years were there, I went to school there, and I have seemingly endless family on that side of the pond. So I've always felt most comfortable in England." In 2001, at the age of 35, Slash was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a form of congestive heart failure, caused by his many years of alcohol and drug abuse. Originally given between six days and six weeks to live, he survived through physical therapy and the implantation of a defibrillator. Slash has been clean and sober since 2006, which he credited to his then-wife Perla Ferrar. In 2009, following his mother's death from lung cancer, he quit smoking. Slash's friendship with Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose soured following his departure from the band. In 2006, Rose claimed that Slash had shown up at his house uninvited the previous year to offer a truce. He alleged that Slash had insulted his Velvet Revolver bandmates, telling Rose that he considered Scott Weiland "a fraud", and Duff McKagan "spineless", and that he "hated" Matt Sorum. Slash denied the accusations. …