Guns N’ Roses lead guitarist Slash opened up about when he started his band with Alter Bridge frontman Myles Kennedy during a recent conversation on SiriusXM. The guitarist stated that he wasn’t expecting the singer to accept his offer since he was busy with his band, but he joined his band.
Slash began working on his debut solo album back in September 2008, a process he considered a chance to take a break from everything that comes with a band. The record, titled ‘Slash,’ was released on March 31, 2010, and featured many well-known musicians, including Ozzy Osbourne, M. Shadows, Lemmy Kilmister, and more. It also gained success as it debuted at number 3 in the U.S. chart upon its release.
To promote his album, Slash embarked on his first solo world tour, for which he offered Alter Bridge’s Myles Kennedy, who also appeared on the album, to join him. In addition to Kennedy, the guitarist toured with Bobby Schneck on rhythm guitar, Todd Kerns on bass, and Brent Fitz on drums. After the tour’s conclusion, Slash began working on his second solo album in 2011 and collaborated with his touring bandmates.
As a result, he released his second record entitled ‘Apocalyptic Love’ on May 22, 2012. The album was billed to a new band named ‘Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators‘ with whom Slash has been working ever since. Their album together debuted at number 2 on the Canadian Albums Chart and received mixed reviews from critics as some thought it was a quintessential Slash album while some believed it lacked surprises.
Since their first album together, Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators have put out four albums, the last being ‘4,’ released on February 11, 2022. Their latest record peaked at number 93 on U.S. Billboard 200 and topped U.K. Rock & Metal Albums. Because the band’s new album just came out, they have appeared in numerous interviews to promote it.
During one of those interviews, Slash remembered when he first offered Myles Kennedy a collaboration for his tour to support his debut studio album. After meeting him during the recording process, Slash wanted to see if he could get him to tour with him. Though he asked the singer to hit the road, Slash admitted that he didn’t hold his expectations high.
The reason he wasn’t hopeful about the singer’s reaction was that the answer could’ve most likely been a no due to Kennedy’s busy schedule with Alter Bridge. Fortunately for the guitarist, Myles Kennedy accepted his offer. Kennedy joined him for the tour, which allowed Slash to gather a band that eventually led to the formation of Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators.
About the time when he offered Kennedy to tour with him, Slash said:
“I met Myles when I was doing my first solo record in 2010. Then I asked him if he wanted to do go on tour with me to support that record. So when he said yes, which I actually wasn’t expecting because of Alter Bridge, I thought he was going to say, ‘No, I don’t have time for you,’ but he did. Then I started putting a band together.”
You can watch the interview below.
