Slash Describes His Whirlwind Oscars Experience

Slash was part of the grand, over-the-top performance of "I'm Just Ken" at the 2024 Oscars, which also featured Ryan Gosling and Wolfgang Van Halen. Apparently, it's a minor miracle Slash was able to make the Academy Awards in the first place.

The guitarist told Classic Rock that the whole process of getting to the ceremony was nothing short of organized chaos.

To begin with, he was in the middle of his tour of Asia with the Conspirators. Slash then had to catch a flight out of South Korea to Los Angeles, which he said he was able to swing after "Hollywood managed to pull its weight and get me flown over there to perform this song."

Slash then was rushed to the Kodak Theater, where the Oscars were being held. After landing on the day of the Oscars, Slash said he participated in a quick run-through of the performance.

"I sat in the audience with all the other actors for the ceremony, then got up and played the song, got in a car, went back to the airport and flew to the Philippines," he said.

Fortunately, the performance was a massive hit and a high point of the 2024 Oscars. Can you imagine Slash doing all of that only for the moment to fall flat?

Shortly after the Oscars, Slash announced his new solo album and a unique festival tour.

The tour is dubbed the "S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival," with the acronym standing for "Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Equality N' Tolerance." Slash will be joined on the road by a host of artists. Among them are Warren Haynes, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, ZZ Ward, Larkin Poe and Jackie Venson.

Notably, a portion of every ticket sold will help raise funds for a number of equality and civil rights charities. These charities were selected by Slash, himself, and they include The Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, The Greenlining Institute, and War Child.

Tickets for the S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival are on sale now. Complete ticket details can be found at SerpentFestival.com. A full list of dates is below.

July 5 - Bonner, MT @ KettleHouse Amphitheater *
July 6 - Airway Heights, WA @ Northern Quest Amphitheater *
July 8 - Redmond, WA @ Marymoor Park *
July 10 - Bend, OR @ Hayden Homes Amphitheater *
July 12 - Lincoln, CA @ Thunder Valley Casino *
July 13 - Los Angeles, California @ Greek Theatre *
July 14 - Tucson, AZ @ Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater *
July 17 - Denver, CO @ The Mission Ballroom **
July 19 - La Vista, NE @ The Astro Amphitheater #
July 21 - Terre Haute, Indiana @ The Mill #
July 22 - Cincinnati, OH @ PNC Pavilion at Riverbend #
July 24 - Interlochen, MI @ Interlochen Center for the Arts #
July 25 - Huber Heights, OH @ Rose Music Center $
July 27 - Windsor, ON, Canada @ The Colosseum at Caesars $
July 28 - Toronto, ON, Canada @ Budweiser Stage $
July 30 - Lewiston, NY @ Artpark Outdoor Amphitheater $
Aug.1 - Boston, MA @ Leader Bank Pavilion $
Aug. 4 - New York, NY @ Pier 17 $
Aug. 5 - Bethlehem, PA @ Musikfest +
Aug. 7 - Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre +
Aug. 8 - Atlanta, GA @ Cadence Bank Amphitheatre at Chastain Park ^
Aug. 10 - Clearwater, FL @ The Sound at Coachman Park ^
Aug. 11 - St. Augustine, FL @ St. Augustine Amphitheatre +
Aug. 13 - Huntsville, AL @ The Orion Amphitheater +
Aug. 14 - Franklin, TN @ FirstBank Amphitheater +
Aug. 16 - Bentonville, AR @ The Momentary ^^
Aug. 17 - Grand Prairie, TX @ Texas Trust CU Theatre ^^

* Warren Haynes, Samantha Fish and Eric Gales
** Keb’ ‘Mo, Samantha Fish and Jackie Venson
# Keb’ ‘Mo, ZZ Ward and Jackie Venson
$ Keb’ ‘Mo, ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph
% ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph
^ ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph
+ Larkin Poe, ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph
^^ Kingfish, ZZ Ward and Robert Randolph

If you're a musician in a legendary band, you'd (in most cases) consider yourself to be very fortunate. Slash, however, has founded two: Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver. But for this list, we're concentrating on his act three: his "solo" career. (We put "solo" in quotes, because we know he's a band guy.)

While Guns and VR definitely overshadow a lot, his career with Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, which is now four albums deep, is pretty awesome. He's also done some great stuff with both versions of the Snakepit, and we're definitely not forgetting his 2010 album of all-star collaborations (which is when he first worked with Myles).

Slash's latest solo album, Orgy of the Damned, was released in May 2024. The release is a stunning all-star blues covers album featuring a diverse slate of guests that include Gary Clark Jr, Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Dorothy, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Demi Lovato, Brian Johnson, Tash Neal, Chris Robinson, and Beth Hart.

To support the album, Slash announced the ambitious "S.E.R.P.E.N.T. Festival," with the acronym standing for "Solidarity, Engagement, Restore, Equality N' Tolerance." A host of artists are also part of the tour, including Warren Haynes, Samantha Fish, Eric Gales, ZZ Ward, Larkin Poe and Jackie Venson.

Notably, a portion of every ticket sold will help raise funds for a number of equality and civil rights charities. These charities were selected by Slash, himself, and they include The Equal Justice Initiative, Know Your Rights Camp, The Greenlining Institute, and War Child.

Slash said in a statement about the tour, "The S.E.R.P.E.N.T. tour is a celebration of blues and rock ‘n’ roll music, and a celebration of unity and togetherness in these uncertain and divisive times. S.E.R.P.E.N.T is a vehicle to help support and uplift people and communities suffering from the injustices of racism and equal rights violations, as well as to support children adversely affected by war and poverty across the world."

While our list primarily focuses on Slash's solo work, we decided to also include his work on other people's music, but only when he really made his presence on the track felt (sorry, you're out of luck, Bob Dylan's "Wiggle Wiggle"!). But from Lenny Kravitz to Halestorm, Tom Morello to Michael Jackson, his solos have made a lot of great songs even better.

Without further ado, here is our list of Slash's 35 coolest moments outside of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver.