Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Slash Responds to Axl Rose Calling Him a 'Cancer'

Posted on Apr 6th 2010

It's no secret that Axl Rose is not the biggest fan of his former Guns 'N Roses bandmate Slash.

Though the two haven't spoken face to face since Slash's departure from the legendary group back in 1996, both have spent the ensuing time using the media to discuss each others' exploits.

While neither has been complimentary, it was Rose who took the feud to a whole new level when, in an interview with long-time friend and former road manager Del James, first published on Spinner, he called his band's former guitarist a "cancer."

"There's zero possibility of me having anything to do with Slash other than by ambush, and that wouldn't be pretty," Rose told James. "There is the distinct possibility that having his intentions in regard to me so deeply ingrained and his personal, though guarded, distaste for much of 'Appetite [For Destruction,' the band's Diamond-certified debut album] ' other than his or Duff's playing, Slash either should not have been in Guns to begin with or should have left after 'Lies.' In a nutshell, personally I consider him a cancer and better removed, avoided -- and the less anyone heard of him or his supporters, the better."

At the time, Slash simply shrugged off the accusation, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal that it didn't really affect him. Now, for the first time, the guitarist reveals his true feelings on the matter and the man with whom he co-wrote some of rock's biggest hits.

"For one, I've never said anything derogatory about anyone's performance on 'Appetite,'" Slash tells Spinner. "So right from the start it's just off."

Furthermore the guitarist, who lost his mother to lung cancer last June, reveals that though he agrees with the sentiment behind some of Rose's comments, the singer's choice of wording was tough to take.

"The cancer thing, I'll go with him on that, that fits into his description of things. I wouldn't use the word 'cancer' but I haven't gone anywhere and I don't seem to be going anywhere so that's justified," Slash says, before pausing to reflect. "Actually, I lost my mom to cancer so that was a little bit of hard rhetoric at that particular time, but it's typical Axl stuff... I know how he comes off and how he really is, so I give him credit where hopefully it's due."

Slash's self-titled solo debut album is out April 6 and you can hear it right now on Spinner's CD Listening Party.

http://www.spinner.com/2010/04/06/slash-axl-rose-cancer/

Nicely said..

No one should use the word cancer in calling names etc. it's childish and hurtfull. In Holland people (especially kids) say the word 'Cancersufferer' (literally translated) alot, they have no idea how stupid it makes them sound.

I have zero problem with the remark by Axl because I understood what his point was.  He feels Slash is a toxic presence in his life and like a cancerous tumor, it's better that Slash is removed from his life.  He was the word 'cancer' in a metaphorical sense.  It's a very understandable metaphor to me and if it helps to clearly illustrate how he feels about Slash then I don't see the harm in expressing himself that way.

I have felt that way about several people in my own life.  Could it be hurtful to use that word for people who have dealt with cancer?  Sure.  But, it wasn't making fun of cancer.  It was using cancer as a metaphor.  By the same token, I wouldn't blame survivors of cancer or those who have had loved ones die of cancer for being upset with the choice of words.

Ali

I have to say that I always had a problem with this since that Axl interview. Absolutely fuckin terrible choice of words. It seems like Slash responded pretty gracefully though.

So he's saying that not only does he understand the use of the word in that metaphor, he's also agreeing with that description of himself?

I thought the same thing, is like he's accepting how Axl's calling him?  ???

He's turning it on its head by saying that he's not going away and is going to keep doing what he is doing. Thats how I took it anyway.

If anything, he's turning it on its head because that isn't what Axl meant, at least to me.  What Axl meant is that Slash is a cancerous, toxic presence to him and like a cancerous tumor, his life is better with Slash removed from it.  Slash is turning that around and saying that he's like a cancer in that he won't go away, or his spectre won't go away.

Ali

Agreed love Axl but when I first read his interview that remark made me sick. On a lighter note after Slash's remarks in this article and after some of Axl's posts I think I have figured out what the problems is between them. When they did speak to each other neither one of them could understand what the other one was saying. They both need an interpreter!  ;) ;)

Them and us!  :hihi:

Admittedly, when I first saw that remark by Axl, I thought it was over the top in terms of its brutality.  Once the initial shock wore off and I thought about his overall point and the use of the word as a metaphor, it ceased to bother me. 

I think almost everyone has had someone in their life that they would regard as a cancerous and toxic presence in their lives and that they'd be better, or have been better, with that presence removed from their lives.  It certainly is not a nice or pleasant thought or experience, but one that I'm sure many can understand and relate to.

Ali

I take it how a person on Mygnr said it:

Slash is basically saying his presence makes things very difficult for Axl, as so many people don't consider any version of Guns N' Roses legitimate without him. If he were to have disappeared completely after leaving the band, it might have made things easier for Axl ? but he didn't. Slash chose to do the solo thing, remain visibile, and he's been a pop culture icon for more than twenty years. Even after a decade since his departure, he's still so deeply a part of Guns N' Roses. He's acknowledging how much that pisses off Axl, but he doesn't give much of a shit because he's "not going anywhere"..

-Kickingthehabit

So let me get this straight, Slash said something about the playing on "Appetite" in homeroom? or was it study hall?  Then the cancer comment was made during social studies or was it gym class?  I originally heard that it was Slash who started shit during kickball, then it escalated during lunch.  This is confusing.  Anyone?

Maybe you should do a few more post trying to justify what Axl did. You will eventually believe it yourself and then everything is good in the lala-land.

It was incredibly insensitive and tasteless, especially considering the situation Slash was in.

Media is "the cancer".

I'm guessing Slash & Axl would love to shut the fuck up already about each other, but the media will NEVER let it die.

I like the word "toxic" more than "cancer" when using it in an expression. But whatever already. Who is really thinking about the Slash/Axl fued when listening to AFD, CD, or Slash?

It's the fuckin' media who ain't even listening to the music, just creating drama is all.

+1  Hammer has been dropped.

Considering what situation Slash was in?  That his mother had cancer?  What makes you even think Axl knew that?

It's only insensitive or tasteless if Axl knew about that and made the comment anyway.  And still, you're taking the word out of the context in which it was used.  In reality, at worst it was a poor choice of words.  It obviously had nothing to do with cancer in the literal sense.  And if you're looking for good taste and decorum, I suggest you review the history of Guns N' Roses because that was never what they have been about.

At the end of the day, Axl knows Slash and dealt with him for years, and vice versa.  They have their feelings about each other and while they may not be polite or nice, no one here has any right to say that how they feel about each other is either right or wrong.  A factual disagreement is another story altogether.

Was it a polite or courteous remark?  No, of course not.  But, all I'm saying is I get the point he was making about how he views Slash's presence in his life and how that relates to the impossibility of a reunion.  It was a poor choice of words at worst.  There is no reason to think that Axl knew anything about Slash's mom's cancer.  However, like I said before, I don't blame Slash for being upset at the choice of words considering his mom's passing due to cancer.  It seems that part of what I said was conveniently overlooked  ::)

There is no hammer to be dropped, Smoking Guns  ::)

Ali

"intelligent" answer from Slash. This makes Axl looks like an asshole.

The other comment that nobody here has addressed yet is Slash's refutation of Axl's essential "Slash hated AFD" comment.  I always felt Axl's comments in that sense were a calculated, subtle attempt to discredit Slash's contributions to GNR, especially given Axl's further comments that Slash shouldn't have been in the band or should've left after GNR Lies.  To me, that's hugely discrediting Slash's contributions on the Use Your Illusion albums.  It doesn't matter how hard Axl allegedly had to work to get Slash to play on songs like "Estranged" and "November Rain", truth is, Slash did play on those songs and those albums and they wouldn't have been the same without him.

Whether or not Slash and Axl got along all the time (or never got along, or however their relationship went) is ultimately irrelevant.  The blunt, brutally honest truth -- which may just kill Axl and his devotees to admit -- is that GNR would've been D.O.A. without Slash, and alternatively, if Slash had quit in 1988, GNR would've been a dead duck at that time.  It would've hit GNR fans between the eyes like a freight train and the UYI albums and tours wouldn't have been anywhere near as monumental.

Slash leaving the band in 1986 or 1988 as Axl suggested would've resulted in exactly the same thing as what actually did happen when Slash left in 1996 -- over a decade of virtual inactivity for the GNR name and the only resurgence being a much-delayed (and grossly overhyped) album from an entirely new band (save Axl), both of which were received by the world a fraction as well as the classic GNR lineup and their albums.

Hate to knock you off your soapbox, but Slash has criticized Izzy's playing on record in the past.

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/articles/showarticle.php?articleid=13

During Appetite..., Lies and Use Your... I had to put up with Izzy the whole time. I never liked playing with him. It was wonderful to escape him on this record. It sounds tighter and so much cooler than anything we've done before. I always got irritated over Izzy's way of playing. It didn't sound right. Before "Spaghetti", we erased his guitar and Gilby put on a new one. It sounded perfect!

So, he didn't really refute anything.  At least, accurately.

Ali

Yes, I've read that before.  That's one of those issues Slash has seemingly changed his mind about though over time, because he praised Izzy's playing a month or so ago in the issue of Guitar world that paid tribute to AFD.

Also bear in mind Slash said that in 1993 when Izzy first left the band.  Axl also skewered Izzy like crazy from the stage at that time but doesn't do so anymore.  It was during the apparent "let's all bash the guy who just quit the band" phase.  Another article saw Slash criticizing Izzy for leaving the band so abruptly and leaving him with the frantic task of finding another guitarist.  But in Slash's book, he understood Izzy's side a bit better than back then.

They are probably both full of it, at least to a certain extent. They both probably had a hand in the way things turned out and I'm sick of hearing about it. They both need to act like adults, shut the fuck up and get on with their lives.

Yes, I understand the context and timeframe in which those remarks were made.  But, it doesn't change the fact that at one time Slash did in fact criticize Izzy's playing on Appetite.  Therefore, you cannot rightfully state that Axl was misspeaking when he said Slash had criticized other band member's performance on Appetite.  Slash did do that.  In fact, I remember an interview in the 90's in print where Slash had gone so far as to suggest that he had to re-record some of Izzy's parts on the UYI albums because Izzy didn't play them right.

Ali

I'll grant you, but if you want to be really technical, Axl's precise words were "distaste for anyone's other than his or Duff's playing", so unless we can find proof that Slash criticized both Axl's and Steven's performances, I can indeed rightfully say that Axl was misspeaking.  And as I also pointed out, Axl's motivation for making these remarks is what I'm questioning more than their veracity.  Axl was more or less using those remarks to disparage Slash, just disguising them (as he's good at doing) as "factual criticisms".


Yes, I read that too, but you're not remembering it correctly.  What Slash actually said was that he was pissed at Izzy for barely showing up during the UYI sessions (something he remarked in 2010 about AFD as well), and that he had to record a lot of Izzy's parts because Izzy didn't show up to play them to begin with.  So Slash didn't say Izzy's parts were bad, just that Izzy's parts weren't there!  Axl also criticized Izzy in print for this in his '92 interview with Rolling Stone.

To be equally technical, Slash said he never criticized anyone's playing on Appetite.  Clearly, that hasn't always been the case.

No, the not showing up to sessions was an aspect, but not the only one.  I clearly remember Slash talking about how Izzy didn't even play his parts correctly on UYI and how he had to re-record some, and then he went on to say how refreshing it was playing with Gilby because he nailed his parts on TSI.

Ali

I'll grant you that, though I stand by my comments in regards Axl's motivations for making the remarks.


I just searched for the interview and couldn't find it, so this one's gonna have to remain in limbo for the time being.

I don't disagree that Axl was disparaging Slash.  After all, he called him a cancer.  My objection was merely to the claim that Slash completely and successfully refuted Axl's comments considering what he had said about Izzy at one point in the past.

If I can find the interview I'm talking about, I'll scan and post it.  I used to have every interview in print with GN'R saved from like 1989-90 and on.

Ali

No kidding, I thought I stumbled onto an Adam Lambert message board for a minute there.

Slash hated his own playing on AFD until he got the Les Paul

Slash's answer > Axl's attack of bitterness

This is going to sound SO fucking pro-slash but I really think many people are reading WAY WAY into this pulling interviews from so far back. In the general I don't think Slash has ever hated AFD or anything like that. IMO calling him a cancer would be overboard for anyone else but we are talking about Axl Rose here who is known for his vocal opinions and his bad past with Slash, so I'm not saying it makes it any better. It was a comment in the most bad taste however his point got across. :yes:

Yeah, I think you nailed it.  A big part of why it didn't bother me as much is that it is par for the course for Axl.  But, mostly, I know what he was trying to say.  He may have said it in a brutally honest manner, but he got his point across.

Ali

hard to get rid of "cancer" when it kinda targets you on a daily basis......thats why i dont see Axl's bitterness healing in any form soon regarding his Slash-issue.

Rodney King quote (also on jungle-live era-videoclip) sums it up to many fans:
"...can we, can we all get along? Can we, can we get along? [.....] Let?s try to work it out!"

I remember an interview one time where Izzy was always so wasted on stage, he'd play the wrong shit and they'd unplug his amp

so maybe he was talking LIVE and not necessarily on the albums.

Here's something Slash said about Axl just this year:
"You have to attempt to understand him as a human being and where he's coming from. I see things very black and white. That's just me. And that doesn't necessarily mean that that's right. And he sees things in a very colorful kind of way, and I can't really knock it, 'cause that's just him. So I try not to sit there and say derogatory things about his personality, because it's his personality that makes him so f**king great, and just difficult to deal with."

( source : http://www.starpulse.com)