“My favourite classical works”: the song Slash wants played at his funeral
When Slash talks about his favourite riffs of all time, they hardly make for a surprising reveal.
While the Guns N’ Roses guitarist has contributed a great deal to rock, one of the things that he’s most famous for is his commitment to a good, hard riff. He has fully devoted himself to the art of popping distortion on a six-string and creating a combination of notes which are instantly ear-catching and recognisable.
In articles where the guitarist talks about the riffs that inspire and excite him, his influences are very much akin to the kind of sound which he is frequently putting out into the world. His affinity for all things classic rock is evident, as he references songs like ‘Black Dog’, ‘Superstition’ and, of course, Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Purple Haze’.
“You take it for granted because you’ve heard it so many times,” said Slash, discussing the Hendrix classic, “But this is just such a well-structured, almost perfect riff. It’s very unique, just in terms of structure and technique. Very original for a rock n roll riff.”
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Slash likes carefully constructed and well-executed rock music, as it’s pretty prevalent in what he makes, and he has also previously admitted that he loves the fact that the influence of Guns N’ Roses stamped out a lot of style-over-substance bands who were previously plaguing Los Angeles. There’s no getting away from it, the man likes good rock music.
“I fucking hated the whole scene, man… In Los Angeles, it was just bullshit. And we were coming up in the midst of all that,” he said. “Everybody was fucking converting to the industry standard to get a record deal and get girls, this whole thing. Where our band was coming from was the antithesis of all that, and it’s something I’m really proud of.”
Given the long-haired aviator wearing riffmaster loves rock so much, you would think that his future funeral would be flooded with floorfillers. The classics, maybe? Like ‘Stairway to Heaven’ or, given his notorious sick sense of humour, ‘Highway to Hell’, but no. Instead, when Slash was asked about what kind of song he would like to be played at his funeral, he opted for something a lot more obscure, leaning towards classical influences rather than something heavy.
“I’d probably want to play something like ‘Gymnopédies’ by Erik Satie, who was an amazing French composer,” he said. “These pieces in particular are brilliant – they’re probably my favourite classical works.”
Given his evident love for all things rock, some people might be surprised to see this song choice, but those people haven’t truly dived into the discography of Slash. Sure, there is a lot of rock music there, but an affinity for classical music is also very clear.
When you listen to tracks on albums such as Use Your Illusion I and II, as well as a lot of the music that Slash made in his solo career, it’s evident that the guitarist contains multitudes. Choosing a song that truly reflects him and that can be played at his funeral is pretty impossible, and so, it’s probably best to just go with Slash’s suggestion when the day comes.
