Slash Reveals His Honest Experience Working With Michael Jackson

Slash, the renowned guitarist of Guns N’ Roses fame, is no stranger to collaborating with legendary artists. In a recent interview with ComingSoon Interviews, he opened up about his experience working with the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. While praising Jackson’s undeniable talent, Slash also revealed some frustrations during their brief collaboration.

An Unconventional Collaboration: Slash and Michael Jackson

Slash began by praising Michael Jackson’s unparalleled musical prowess, describing how Jackson’s effortless creativity allowed him the freedom to work in his own unique style. He explained:

“Mike just does his thing, and he does it so f*cking incredibly well. I mean, he just exudes what comes out of him, and he just lets me do my thing. So I did what came out natural to me, and he sort of just let me have the floor. That was basically it. There wasn’t, again, a lot of forethought.”

A Frustrating Recording Session: Slash’s Encounter with the Pop King

Despite the initial praise, Slash recalled a recording session for the song ‘Give In To Me,’ where he found himself in a somewhat frustrating situation. The encounter involved a brief 15-minute meeting with Michael Jackson, followed by the guitarist laying down his guitar tracks while the pop star went for dinner. Slash shared how Jackson’s nonchalant approach initially left him feeling uncertain about the collaboration. He added:

“When I did ‘Give In To Me,’ I went down to the studio, met up with Michael for like 15 minutes, he went to dinner, and I worked with the producer, and I just put guitars on the thing and left.”

However, all seemed to be good in the end, as Michael managed to appreciate the guitarist, though it was only the next day:

“Then Michael heard it, and I got a call back the next day; he loves it, that’s great, that was that. So it wasn’t really sort of what you call true collaborating; it was just like, ‘Slash, do your thing on this.’ That kind of deal.”

In a previous interview, the guitarist disclosed further information about the same day and shared his experience playing with the pop king:

“It was cool, but more than anything for me it was an opportunity to grow as a player and learn to adapt to other people’s situations. It was really humbling because I wanted to do a good job and work within the idiosyncrasies of the people you were working with.”

Slash also reminisced about the attitudes of the pop king and how the studio sessions were frequently disorganized.

A Memorable Encounter and Growth as a Musician

While Slash’s collaboration with Michael Jackson may not have been a conventional one, the experience left a lasting impact on the guitarist. Despite initial frustrations, Michael Jackson eventually appreciated Slash’s contributions to the song ‘Give In To Me.’ Slash acknowledged that the encounter was an opportunity to adapt to other artists’ styles and grow as a musician.

Slash’s interview also mentioned the disorganized nature of the studio sessions, leading to a humbling experience for the guitarist as he adapted to the idiosyncrasies of the collaboration.