Legends of rock

Slash

• Saul Hudson, mainly known as Slash, was born on July 23, 1965, and was raised in Stoke-on-Trent. Both his parents worked in the entertainment business, his mother being a clothing designer (she did some of David Bowie's costumes) and his father being an art director for a record company. When Slash was 11 he moved with his mother to Los Angeles, leaving his father behind in England, although he eventually joined them in L.A. years later. Slash became sort of an outsider at school since he didn't really fit in with other kids. In the mid 70s his parents separated and Slash moved in with his grandmother. During this time Slash got interested in BMX riding, and went on to win several awards and money in competitions. When he was 15 he got his first guitar, and his schoolwork started to go downhill as he skipped class to sit playing guitar all day. Slash eventually got so tired of school that he dropped out in 11th grade. As he lived in Los Angeles, a city flourishing with new, young rock bands, he quickly got in touch with people to jam with. After meeting Steven Adler the two of them formed a band called Road Crew. Then he met Izzy Stradlin who played in a band with Axl Rose, and after hearing Axl sing live, he was set on getting him in his band. Soon a bass player answered one of Slash's ads in the paper, and Slash (guitar), Steven (drums), Izzy (guitar), Axl (vocals) and Duff McKagan (bass) formed Guns N' Roses in 1986.

Soon enough, GNR were known across the globe as the new rock n' roll sensation. Album sales went sky high and the band was having a blast on their world tours, and during this time Slash worked with artists like Michael Jackson on the Dangerous album and Lenny Kravitz, just to name two. But after the Use Your Illusion tour, GNR decided to take a break. Slash however, needed to play music and so he formed his own band Slash's Snakepit. With the success of this bands album It's Five O'Clock Somewhere (1995), Slash told the public that Slash's Snakepit would be back again. During this time Slash and Axl were having some heated arguments about Guns N' Roses and what would happen next. Guns N' Roses as we knew them then, was terminated by the result as Slash decided to leave the band, handing all rights of the band name over to Axl.

• After this Slash did a few gigs here and there, formed a band called Blues Ball who played blues covers, and even brought back Slash's Snakepit as he said he would, although they didn't last very long this time either. In 2000, Slash met Perla Ferrar and on October 15, 2001, married her. It's not surprising that he wore black leather pants, a white shirt and his faithful black leather jacket to the wedding! His new status as a married man didn't slow him down, though. In 2003, Velvet Revolver was formed by the former members of Guns N' Roses; Slash, Duff and Matt (who replaced Steven in 1990), Scott Weiland (vocals) from Stone Temple Pilots and Dave Kushner (guitar) from Wasted Youth. Velvet Revolver's debut album Contraband (2004) was long-awaited and sold incredibly well. They are now going to show up on the second Live Aid concert along with many other huge artists, which will be held in London. Velvet Revolver's plans to become a rock band of great magnitude are definitely in the works, and Slash himself has earned his title as one of the greatest rock n' roll guitar players in history.

Axel Rose

• Axel Rose was born William Bruce Rose Jr. in 1962, in Lafayette, Indiana. His mother was 16, and his father, William Bruce Rose Sr., was 20. Rose Sr. left when his son was two years old. Rose's mother later remarried, to Stephen Bailey, and changed her son's name to William Bruce Bailey. Rose grew up believing that Bailey was his biological father until, at 17, he discovered the existence of his father while going through papers at his parents' house. He began using Rose as his last name.

Rose was frequently in trouble with the police and spent time in jail on charges of public intoxication and battery. When the police threatened to charge him as a career criminal, he moved to Los Angeles in 1982. Shortly after, he joined the band AXL. The experience was so all-consuming that he legally changed his name to W. Axel Rose.

• Guns N' Roses• Rose worked odd jobs to support himself while playing in bands such as Rapid Fire,

L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. In 1986 he formed Guns N' Roses, and the band released their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, in 1987.

The band was successful, and Rose quickly became both a lauded and a controversial figure. Though hailed as one of the most charismatic and successful lead singers of all time, he was frequently late for performances, and shows often started several hours behind schedule. When the band released G N' R Lies in 1988, he was accused of being racist and homophobic, based on lyrics in "One in a Million."

.

• After two people died while slam-dancing to "It's So Easy" during the Monsters of Rock concert, Rose became known for stopping shows to deal with unruly fans. At a concert in St. Louis in 1991, he dove into the crowd to retrieve a fan's video camera, which was banned. Back onstage, he denounced the security personnel and walked offstage. A riot ensued and caused $200,000 worth of damages, and Guns N' Roses was banned from St. Louis. While on the Use Your Illusion Tour, Rose's ranting and raving from the stage became more frequent, as did walk-offs and riots. After their last Use Your Illusion performance, on July 17, 1993, the band went dormant.

• A New Era• Although the band didn’t officially break up, Slash left in 1996, Matt Sorum was fired

in 1997, and Duff McKagan quit later that year. Rose became a recluse, sequestered away at his home in Malibu. He reappeared in 2004 with a host of new bandmates and toured in sporadically in North America, Europe and Asia for several years. In 2008, the long-rumored album Chinese Democracy was released. However, Rose disappeared for two months, and when he resurfaced said that he hadn't received adequate support from his record label.

James Hetfield

•Musician James Alan Hetfield was born on August 3, 1963 in Downey, California. The son of strict Christian scientists, James Hetfield was an outsider in high school, which was only exacerbated after his mother??s death from cancer. He turned to music, playing with several garage bands throughout his teens.•Hetfield found a kindred heavy metal spirit in drummer Lars Ulrich, who had placed an ad in the newspaper looking for someone to jam with. Along with bassist Cliff Burton and guitarist Dave Mustaine (who was later replaced by Kirk Hammett), the two formed the straightforward heavy metal band Metallica in 1982.

• The Making of Metallica• Though Hetfield didn't originally plan on being the frontman for Metallica, the role he

won by default now defines the band. In 1983, after relocating to San Francisco, Metallica released its debut album, 'Kill Em All. After Burton’s tragic death in 1986, Jason Newsted took his place, and the band achieved its greatest commercial success with 1988s ...and Justice for All and 1991s Metallica. Thanks in large part to Hetfield’s loud, angst-ridden vocals and on-stage pyrotechnics, Metallica gained a huge following on tour, becoming one of the most renowned thrash/heavy metal bands of all time.

• Metallica released St. Anger in 2003, about the same time Hetfield entered rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. The following year, Some Kind of Monster, a documentary film about the making of the album and the relationships among the band members, was released.

• James Hetfield married his wife Francesca in 1997. They have three children and live in Belvedere, California.

Kirk Hammett

• Hammett was born on November 18, 1962 in San Francisco to a Filipina mother Teofila "Chefela" Oyao from Cebu and an Irish Merchant Marine father.[3] He attended De Anza High School in Richmond, California. While attending De Anza High School he met Les Claypool of Primus and they remain close friends.

• After purchasing a 1978 Fender Stratocaster copy, Hammett attempted to customize his sound with various guitar parts, eventually buying a 1974 Gibson Flying V. Hammett also took a job at Burger King as a youth before quitting once he saved enough money to purchase a Marshall amplifier.

• Exodus (1980–1983)• Hammett's musical interests eventually drew him into the fledgling thrash metal

genre. In 1980, he formed the band Exodus with vocalist Paul Baloff, guitarist Gary Holt, bassist Geoff Andrews, and drummer Tom Hunting. He played on Exodus' 1982 Demo. Exodus was an influential band in the Bay Area thrash movement.

• Metallica (1983–present)• Main article: Metallica• In 1983 Hammett was invited to join Metallica following the dismissal of the band's

original lead guitarist Dave Mustaine, who went on to form the band Megadeth. This was prior to the recording of Kill 'Em All. At the time Hammett was taking private lessons from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani.

• Hammett has written and contributed riffs for Metallica songs since the mid-1980s (particularly in the 1990s during the Load era). One of these riffs, used in "Enter Sandman" became one of Metallica's most popular songs. It was the first track and first single on Metallica's self-titled Black Album and was ranked 399th on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[4] The bridge for "Creeping Death" was originally an Exodus riff that Hammett took with him to Metallica.

• In 1986, during the band's European leg of their tour to support "Master of Puppets", Hammett, and bassist Cliff Burton had a dispute over sleeping arrangements, and it was decided by a card draw, which Burton won by picking the Ace of Spades. Once the draw was completed, Burton looked at Hammett, and stated "I want your bunk," to which Hammett agreed, saying that he might be able to sleep better in the front of the bus anyway. Early the following morning, the tour bus slid off the road, and overturned, killing Burton. Hammett once stated in an interview that he once thought that it easily could've been him, instead of Burton.

• Hammett initially wanted to have guitar solos on Metallica's 2003 album, St. Anger, but drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock thought that the solos did not sound right in the songs. He later admitted himself, "We tried to put in solos but they sounded like an afterthought so we left them out".

• On April 4, 2009, Hammett, along with Metallica bandmates Lars Ulrich, James Hetfield, and Robert Trujillo and former Metallica bandmates Jason Newsted and the deceased Cliff Burton, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, Hammett provided the foreword to British author Joel McIver's book To Live Is to Die: The Life and Death of Metallica's Cliff Burton.[

BIBLIOGRAPHY• http://www.mucifut.com/musica/

rock.html• http://www.guitarraonline.com.ar/

index.php?sec=articulos/historock&titulo=Articulos

• http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock