In a new interview on BBC Radio 5, legendary Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has reflected on momentarily dying of an accidental overdose back in the ’90s.
Slash overdosed on speedball — a deadly mixture of cocaine and heroin— in a hotel in San Francisco, as a result, he experienced cardiac arrest for eight minutes, died, and was thankfully revived.
“I’m really fortunate that I managed to get through all that stuff and come out the other end and have my passion for music intact and to be physically okay. I really look at myself as being just super blessed because it should’ve gone the other way,” he said of the experience.
“Did you ever see Casino with Sharon Stone? Remember that part where she’s, like, with the James Woods’ character, Robert De Niro’s taken off and she’s in the hotel and she’s coming down the hall, and she starts to collapse, she dies. That was me, exactly that.
When asked about whether he remembered anything about the experience, he explained: “I remember everything up to that moment. And everything after that was just waking up with the paramedics, and I was still in the hotel. I mean, that happened in the hallway of the hotel.
“So, up into that point, I remember blacking out and I remember… there’s a thing that happens when paramedics wake you up out of death like that where it’s just, like, this huge shock of energy and lights, voices and pandemonium, and it’s an unmistakable feeling. I’ve had it a few times, and I remember that.”
Slash then went on to detail his journey to sobriety.
Love Classic Rock?
Get the latest Classic Rock news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
“I got sober in 2006, like, 13 years ago. It was definitely not easy. First, you have to come to terms with the fact that you’re beyond repair; your addictions have gotten to the point where you’re not enjoying yourself and you’re not really functional.
“And you have to have that clarity, which is hard. And then once you have that, you have to keep reminding yourself of that so that you can start. What you want to do is try and have a different kind of existence and it just takes a lot of work to get there.
“I wouldn’t be doing anything like what I have been doing for the last 13 years if I was still going like I was. I probably wouldn’t be here, most likely.”
Watch: Guns N’ Roses – ‘Welcome To The Jungle’
