SLASH Says AXL ROSE's Open Letter To ROCK HALL Led To GN'R's Induction Performance

May 8, 2012

Former GUNS N' ROSES guitarist Slash spoke to Madison.com about being inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame and the fact that the band's lead singer, Axl Rose, refused to be inducted along with the rest of the classic GN'R lineup.

"It was a really nice event all around, and it was a special moment for all the guys that showed up," Slash said. "It was a nightmare going into it, but when it actually happened it was like, 'This is pretty cool.'"

He added, "Going up there you feel very much part of something that is bigger than…all the stories, drugs, the fights and this and that and the other. There was a body of a music that had a significant impact. When you think about where we come from, which is really like sort of the back alleys of Hollywood and being just scourges of the neighborhood…it was like, 'Wow. It was a pretty big thing we ended up doing.'"

When asked what his initial reaction was after reading Axl Rose's open letter to the Rock Hall in which the frontman refused induction, Slash said, "The funny thing is we never would have played had he never written it. I think at one point he alluded he was at least going to go, and so we hadn't really prepared to play at all. We were just going to show up as almost an obligatory thing — more for the fans than anything. But that letter set a fire that was like, 'Okay, (bleep) it. We're going to go play.' So it really almost didn't happen. And if it hadn't been for that special letter, it wouldn't have."

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