In 1992, Slash courted controversy again with a product endorsement for Black Death vodka. Brownstone" (using heroin) was primarily directed at Slash and Adler Slash kicked his habit within a year, but Adler did not and was fired. In 1990, opening for the Rolling Stones, Axl Rose's infamous on-stage pronouncement that he would leave the band if certain members did not stop "dancing with Mr. Hedonistic excess consumed most of the band, with such incidents as Slash and Duff McKagan's drunken, profane acceptance of the band's American Music Award on live television. As their popularity soared, the reserved Slash established himself as an important part of the band's visual image, with a top hat and a mound of shaggy black hair covering his face as he typically staggered around the stage with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. GNR debuted in June 1985, and even before Appetite for Destruction was released in 1987, the bandmembers acquired a reputation as notorious alcohol and drug abusers. With Hudson adopting the nickname Slash, given to him by a family friend, the two formed a band called Road Crew although it proved unsuccessful, it was the vehicle through which they met each other, and the other members of what would become Guns N' Roses. The family eventually moved to Hollywood, where Hudson attended junior high, received his first guitar, and met future GNR drummer Steven Adler. Slash was born Saul Hudson on Jin Stoke-on-Trent, England, to artistic parents both involved in the entertainment industry his mother was a clothing designer who worked on David Bowie's film The Man Who Fell to Earth, and his father designed album art for such artists as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. He issued his debut solo album in 2010 and later teamed up with touring partners Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, who became his de facto solo band on subsequent efforts Apocalyptic Love (2012), World on Fire (2014), Living the Dream (2018), and 4 (2022).
After GNR splintered in the early '90s, Slash formed the on-again/off-again side project Slash's Snakepit and joined the successful hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. His guitar playing was technically adept, yet always firmly grounded in the gritty Aerosmith and Stones licks he loved, and his image was as iconic as his playing. As the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, Slash established himself as one of hard rock's finest and most soulful soloists during the late '80s.