Why Slash hates Guns N’ Roses song ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’
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Credit: Ed Vill
The story of Slash stopping ‘Glee’ from using the music of Guns N’ Roses
Guns N’ Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash is the personification of the rock ‘n’ roll spirit. Known to be equally as hard partying as he is hard-rocking, his life and career are highly mythologised, with a biopic of his life begging to be made.
He’s one of the finest players of the six-string in history. With his style placed somewhere between Jimmy Page and Richie Blackmore, he has provided many visceral moments over the years, including ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, ‘You Will Be Mine’ and ‘Slither’. As well as being a hero for millions, he is also one of rock’s most esteemed oracles, possessing extensive knowledge of the arts that is a prerequisite for someone of his stature.
Not afraid to speak his mind, over the years, Slash has given his opinion on everyone from Nirvana to modern studio technology. One of the finest examples of Slash’s position as a commentator came back in 2011 when he gave his opinion on the biggest TV show of the day, Glee, which was famed for using the music of many different artists from Radiohead to Journey. The guitarist revealed that Ryan Murphy’s show had approached Guns N’ Roses to use their music, but they rejected it, as it was anathema to what they represented.
Slash criticised the show in an interview with Entertainment Weekly when he was asked whether there was a possibility of Glee covering one of his band’s songs or even a Guns N’ Roses themes episode.
“Actually, we got asked about that once already but it got turned down,” Slash explained. “In the current climate of what’s going on in entertainment these days, I try to be more optimistic than negative because it’s really easy to get negative about it, but I draw the line at Glee. Glee is worse than Grease and Grease is bad enough…. When Grease came out I was like, ‘Oh, c’mon, give me a break’. Actually, I look at Grease now and think: Between High School Musical and Glee, Grease was a brilliant work of art”.
Interestingly, Glee creator Ryan Murphy responded to Slash’s comments by getting rather personal. He noted that A-listers such as Stevie Nicks, Jennifer Lopez, and Simon Cowell had all asked to appear on the show. He told The Hollywood Reporter: “Usually I find that people who make those comments, their careers are over; they’re uneducated and quite stupid”.
Murphy’s catty comment, which mentioned some of the most vanilla figures in the industry, drew much criticism, including from one of the nicest men in music, who also happens to be one of the most accomplished.
“The Glee guy, what a f*cking jerk,” Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl told The Hollywood Reporter. “Slash was the first one. He wanted to do Guns N’ Roses, and Slash is like, ‘I hate f*cking musicals. It’s worse than Grease‘. Then [Murphy’s] like, ‘Well, of course he’d say that, he’s a washed up ol’ rock star, that’s what they f*cking do’…. And it’s just like, dude, maybe not everyone loves Glee. Me included”.
