The media has argued for years about how great a guitarist Slash is. Time magazine named him the runner-up on the Top 10 electric guitar players list, and Rolling Stones placed him at No 65 on the 100 greatest guitarists of all time chart.

Audiences in Shanghai will be able to make their own judgment of him on May 7, when Slash makes his debut appearance on the Chinese mainland, at the Mixing Room and MUSE at Mercedes-Benz Arena.

In an e-mail interview with China Daily, Slash said he has "pretty high expectation" for the concert in Shanghai. "I'm thinking that Shanghai is going to be a pretty wild and fun gig. I'm expecting the crowd to be really great and for the band to play great. I think overall it's going to be an awesome night."

Slash is the nickname of Saul Hudson, who was born in London in 1965. A Grammy Award-winning Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Slash was the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses and helped create signature sounds like the guitar riffs for No 1 hits Sweet Child O' Mine and Welcome To The Jungle.

After Guns N' Roses, he worked on his own project Slash's Snakepit in 1994, then formed another group Velvet Revolver. In 2010, he re-emerged at the music scene with a guest-star studded solo album, featuring musicians including Ozzy Osbourne, Fergie of Black Eyed Peas, Adam Levine of Maroon 5, and Iggy Pop.

The idea was simple, Slash told China Daily, "which was to work with a bunch of different artists on my own record as opposed to me playing on theirs."

The band that toured for the Slash album continued to produce a second album Apocalyptic Love in 2012, with Slash collaborating with Myles Kennedy on vocal, Brent Fitz on drums, Todd Kerns on bass and touring guitarist Frank Sidoris, who will all be on hand for their Chinese mainland debut.

Slash and Kennedy jointly wrote all the songs in the album. Slash, who has worked with artists such as Michael Jackson, Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder, described Kennedy as "very laid-back and calm-tempered We have somewhat matching personalities. I understand him and he understands me, and we get along very easily."

Having been active in the rock 'n' roll music scene for decades, Slash said he wouldn't "recommend this business for any sane person You've got to be ready for disappointments and sacrifice and anything else that you can think of. But then the luxury of being able to do what you love for a living does make it worth it."

"Slash is considered to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time," says Michael Craig Enoch, general manager of the Mercedes-Benz Arena. "He is a multi-platinum rock icon that has left his mark and influence on the music world today. The Mixing Room and MUSE is extremely happy to give his Chinese fans a chance to witness the master of the Les Paul in action."

zhangkun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 05/05/2013 page15)