Guitar legend Slash finally goes solo with new album

He's been a name in rock that has stood alone for decades, but guitarist Slash only just released his first solo album.

Simply called Slash, the album features 13 original songs with guest singers including rockers such as Ozzy Osbourne, Iggy Pop and Chris Cornell to more pop-orientated acts such as singer Fergie and Adam Levine from Maroon 5. The first single, By The Sword, features singer Andrew Stockdale from the band Wolfmother.

"I just got to that point where I actually needed to do something on my own," he said. "It's one of the few things that I hadn't done in my musical career."

The 44-year-old, who made his name as the former lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses and parlayed that success to co-found Velvet Revolver, said he felt inspired to make the album to master his own destiny rather than relying on any particular group of musicians.

"I thought 'You know, that would be a fun thing to do', where I get a bunch of different people to guest on my record as opposed to me appearing on everybody else's records," he said.

Both guitarist and fans were surprised by the crossover talent of pop singers such as Fergie, with whom Slash made a surprise appearance at a recent Black Eyed Peas concert for a duet on the Guns N' Roses song Sweet Child O' Mine.

"She has this amazing rock 'n' roll voice and she's sort of a closet rock 'n' roll singer," he said, adding that before now he had never performed the hit with anyone but his old band. "For a female rock singer she's one of the best women I've ever heard."

Regarding his other projects, Slash said Velvet Revolver would return to auditioning for a new singer and "reconvene" after he spends six months on tour.

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