Slash says he's lucky to be alive after partying led to heart condition

25 January 2025, 21:04 | Updated: 26 January 2025, 14:32

Slash press image 2024 — Slash has discussed his life and career as he approaches 60. Picture: Press

By Radio X

The Guns N' Roses guitarist has recalled how he suffered heart problems, brought on by his abuse of drugs and alcohol.

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Slash feels "fortunate" to still be alive after coming close to death in his 30s.

The Guns 'N' Roses guitarist suffered heart problems brought on by heavy drinking and drug-taking over the years and he admits he is lucky to still be around and able to work as he approaches 60 this summer.

"I just feel lucky to be here," he told The Sunday Times newspaper. "I got a letter the other day from my tour manager, detailing one of the times I died back in 2001.

"So I’m just really fortunate and think getting older is an accomplishment - people complaining about their age should rethink ... And so I will do this, proudly, for as long as I physically can."

The Welcome To The Jungle rocker was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy - a form of congestive heart failure - when he was in his mid-30s but recovered after having surgery to add an implant to his heart.

The rocker - who eventually got sober in 2006 - admitted that he dove headfirst into "hardcore partying" when GNR first became famous and that the adrenaline of coming off stage led him to seek more and more alienating drug habits.

"I was just going headlong into everything," he told the publication. "Hardcore partying. But nobody ever spoke about what happens when the tour stops, and the adrenaline ends.

"Because I didn’t have a real life before this. I was a kid, then I got into a band. So when I had a break, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to go out and be recognised. That’s not my thing - though I would have been laid more, I guess.

"But instead, I ended up doing lots of drugs - alienating drugs where you are just a loner. I did that for years and, so, finally, I got sober. And then just jumped into spending all my time doing music. It speaks to me in a positive way."

Though the Slash - whose real name is Saul Hudson - released his own solo album, Orgy of the Damned, last year, the top-hatted rocker revealed that Guns N' Roses are still "trying" to write their new record.

Previously quizzed why Axl Rose and The Conspirators collaborator Myles Kennedy don't feature on his solo effort, the iconic guitarist told the Daily Star Sunday newspaper's Wired column: "It was my own side thing, so I wasn't dragging my own guys in.

"Guns N' Roses are trying to make their own record and I'm working with them in that capacity but this didn't involve anyone else."

December saw GNR release their Perhaps and The General singles. Both songs were recorded in the same era as 2008's Chinese Democracy and followed 2021's releases from the same era Absurd and Hard Skool.

The notorious record, which was delayed for years and held up by legal issues, only included Axl Rose and keyboardist Dizzy Reed as Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum had quit the group.