Slash (musician) - Personal Life

Personal Life

On October 10, 1992, Slash married model-actress Renée Suran in Marina del Rey, California. They divorced in late 1997 after five years of marriage. Slash married Perla Ferrar on October 15, 2001 in Hawaii. They have two sons, London Emilio (born August 28, 2002) and Cash Anthony (born June 23, 2004). In August 2010, Slash filed for divorce from Ferrar, but the couple reconciled two months later. The family lives in Los Angeles, California.

Slash, the son of a white English father and a black American mother, has called himself a "proud" dual citizen of the United Kingdom and the United States. A British national since his London birth, he has resided in Los Angeles since 1971 but did not acquire American citizenship until 1996.

In 2001, at the age of 35, Slash was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a form of congestive heart failure caused by his many years of alcohol and drug abuse. Originally given between six days and six weeks to live, he survived through physical therapy and the implantation of a defibrillator. Slash has been clean and sober since 2006, which he credits to his wife Perla. In 2009, following his mother's death from lung cancer, he quit smoking.

Slash has received recognition for his longtime contributions to establishing environmental welfare programs. He is a board trustee of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association and has long supported the Los Angeles Zoo and zoos around the world. Slash's love of reptiles was for many years a notable aspect of his public persona—with several of his many snakes appearing with him in music videos and photoshoots—until the birth of his first son in 2002 forced him to rehome his collection.

Slash's former friendship with Guns N' Roses frontman Axl Rose has soured since his departure from the band. In 2006, Rose claimed that Slash had shown up at his house uninvited the previous year to offer a truce. He alleged that Slash had insulted his Velvet Revolver band mates, telling Rose that he considered Scott Weiland "a fraud" and Duff McKagan "spineless," and that he "hated" Matt Sorum. Slash initially denied the accusations, but in his 2007 autobiography he admitted to visiting Rose's home with the intention to settle a longstanding legal dispute and make peace with his former band mate. He claims, however, that he did not speak with Rose and instead merely left a note. Slash maintains that he has not spoken with Rose in person since 1996. In 2009, in response to a statement by Rose in which he referred to Slash as "a cancer," Slash commented, "It doesn't really affect me at all....It's been a long time. The fact that he has anything to say at all, it's like, 'Whatever, dude.' It doesn't really matter."