The one thing that made Slash an icon, according to Duff McKagan: “That was huge”
There are a handful of bands whose image you can immediately picture at the mere mention of their name. A mainstay of rock music is the ability to look the part as much as sound it, and for many, Guns N’ Roses check all the boxes needed to epitomise the full rock ‘n’ roll package, even if it sometimes seems a little wayward.
To be fair, there is a definite series of events and attitudes that have led to this point. For example, they didn’t exactly start out like your usual rock band. In fact, Guns N’ Roses’ beginning was anything but conventional, especially as apparently there was “no paint or cocaine involved”, or no explosive moment that pushed the unlikely worlds of aspiring musicians into each other’s path. It was just the simple energy of a group of people who really wanted to try, no matter what it took.
There are several distinctive moments that could be considered the beginning of their story, but it seems that the closest thing actually happened in 1985, when the band went on their first-ever tour, a disastrous effort that would have probably caused many others to throw in the towel. The “Hell Tour”, as they later called it, included van breakdowns and the realisation that they wouldn’t be paid adequately, but all of it created an attitude that the band still carry with them to this day.
“This trip had set a new benchmark for what we were capable of,” Duff McKagan later said. But maybe that inherent resilience also comes from knowing how to be real and how to spot others who aren’t. After all, McKagan also said his worldview was shaped by punk rock and that everything you need to know about rock ‘n’ roll you can learn from Mick Jagger, which is also another way of basically saying: keep your wits about you and be chaotic where it counts.
On the topic of rock ‘n’ roll, it also helps to be familiar and recognisable, but that also comes with establishing a certain level of artistry and connection with the audience, to a point where people are immediately faced with flashes of mental images the moment your name is mentioned. There are a handful of musicians in history who have this ability (Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday…), but one that McKagan said reigns supreme is none other than their very own guitar hero, Slash.
Now, the reasons why Slash has become a sort of aesthetic caricature are obvious, but Slash’s appearance feels anything but artificial, complementing his status as one of the very best in his game like a warrior suiting up for war. “He’s very identifiable,” McKagan told VH1 Classics. “Not just guitar playing but his look. There’s no denying the hat, it’s to that point. He’s more recognisable than some of our heroes.” However, aside from physical attributes, the one thing that McKagan claims to have transformed Slash from musician to cultural icon was his involvement in Guitar Hero.
“The biggest thing I saw with him was Guitar Hero,” he continued. “That was huge. Everybody knew him as Slash and the top hat stuff, but he was also the guy in that game that these kids were playing. I think it overwhelmed him.”
It’s interesting to think about the number of young people who played that game and didn’t immediately realise Slash was a real musician. The fantastical element of the immersion almost overshadowed his entire legacy by creating an entirely new one that made him seem like a fictional character, a literal guitar hero with iconic clothes and a presence that you could capture in a single syllable. It made him into an icon, sure, but mythologised him in unimaginable ways, cementing his position not only as a pivotal figure in rock but as someone whose mystique almost outweighs their capability when armed with an instrument.
