5 Things You Didn't Know About Slash

You know him as the top-hat-wearing lead guitarist for Guns N'Roses, Slash's Snakepit, and Velvet Revolver. Do you know where he got his signature hat and the name "Slash," though? Let's take a look at the man who's darn near unbeatable in Guitar Hero.

1. He Grew Up With Rock

Getty Images

Slash was born Saul Hudson in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in 1965. The Hudson family lived there until Saul was 11, when they moved to Los Angeles. Slash had a pretty good foot in the door of the rock world from the time he was born. His mother, Ola Hudson, designed costumes for John Lennon, the Pointer Sisters, and Diana Ross, and his father, Anthony Hudson, designed album covers for Neil Young and David Bowie, among others. The family also lived near David Geffen and Joni Mitchell. Not a bad way to get into rock music.

Slash's parents broke up in the mid-70s, and his mom started dating Bowie. In 1990 Slash talked to Rolling Stone about his childhood feelings for Bowie: "I really didn't like him that much, because he was the new guy in the house. I was really resentful."

2. Even the Nickname "Slash" Has a Famous Origin

Getty Images

Film buffs know the veteran character actor Seymour Cassel as a frequent player in movies directed by John Cassavetes and Wes Anderson. (Cassel played Max Fischer's dad in Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaum's fellow elevator operator in The Royal Tenenbaums.) When Slash was growing up in Los Angeles, though, Cassel was just his buddy Matt's dad.

Even as a teenager, Saul Hudson had a lot of frenetic energy, and one day he was zipping from one room to another at a party at the Cassels' house. The actor gently ribbed Hudson's constant motion by asking, ""Hey, Slash, where ya going? Where ya going, Slash? Huh?" The nickname stuck.

3. He Shoplifted His Top Hat

In 2007 Slash told the Huffington Post that he acquired his signature top hat in 1985 when he went shopping for a memorable accessory to wear for a show in Los Angeles. Since the aspiring guitar god was broke at the time, the line between "shopping" and "shoplifting" was pretty blurred.

According to Slash, he spotted the top hat in a store called Retail Slut and fell in love. Since a top hat can't exactly be hidden under your shirt, Slash simply grabbed the hat and walked out, apparently unseen. When he got home he realized the hat looked a little plain, so he wrapped it with a belt he'd swiped on the same outing. And just like that, his trademark look was born.

Ironically, when Slash's hat was stolen during a round of Grammys after-parties a few years ago, he had to rely on the police to regain the purloined lid. Here's a video of the man himself telling the story:

4. He Also Swiped One of His Guitars

Getty Images

When Slash showed up for a 2007 ceremony honoring his career at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, he had a surprising gift for his hosts. Slash returned a guitar that he'd swiped years earlier from the dressing room of the Hard Rock in Orlando. As he told the story, "It was in the dressing room. I didn't know what it was doing there, so I took it. I mean, it was in the dressing room and no one claimed it. So I've had it all these years and been playing it."

What made Slash return the guitar that he'd pinched in an apparently perfect crime? He told reporters, "I thought what better way to honor the Hard Rock for honoring me than to give it back, sort of." At least he eventually did the right thing.

That's not the only high-profile guitar Slash has given away, though. In 1981 Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry sold his sunburst-finish 1958 Gibson Les Paul to scrounge up some money for Christmas. Ten years later, Perry got nostalgic and started looking for the guitar. He quickly found it; Slash was playing it in a Guitar Player centerfold.

Perry was one of Slash's boyhood idols, but when he called to see if Slash would sell him the guitar, Slash wouldn't budge. Perry understood and later said in an interview, "I mean if I had a chance to get hold of the white Strat Jeff Beck played on Wired, I'd have a hard time letting go of it!" In September 2000, though, Perry was playing with Cheap Trick at his own 50th birthday party when a guitar tech walked onto stage and handed him his long-lost guitar as a birthday gift from Slash.

5. He's a Friend to Elephants

Getty Images

You might not know it, but Slash is a huge supporter of animals and the environment. Earlier this year he got behind the cause of Billy, an endangered Asian elephant who lives at the LA Zoo. When Slash learned that funding for the zoo's Pachyderm Forest was in jeopardy, he filmed a broadcast-and-YouTube plea urging the Los Angeles City Council to complete the new habitat.

At the time, one of the zookeepers told Reuters, "I've always been impressed with Slash's knowledge of animals. In many cases, he is even able to identify the different subspecies, something that most people can't do." Not too surprising for a guitar god who once owned 80 snakes.

'5 Things You Didn't Know About...' appears every Friday. Read the previous installments here.