From the moment Guns N' Roses broke to a mass audience in , one of the more defining characteristics of the band was the curly haired guitarist sporting the top hat. So how did Slash acquire his signature look and why did it become part of his stage performance ritual?
Let's get into that below. Back in , the guitarist shared with the Associated Press via CBS News how he first came across the hat, revealing, "I went into this in store on Melrose in Los Angeles and saw a top hat, and was like, 'Oh that's looks cool.
I went in there, and I didn't have any money. And I always used to wear some sort of a hat; it completed whatever look you had. He continued, "I went in there and I just saw the top hat. It just spoke to me. I figured, what the fuck, I'll just walk out with it and see what happens, so I did. Then I went next door to Leathers and Treasures and I stole a concho belt and went back to the apartment me and Axl were living in at the time.
We had a show at the Whisky that night, so I took the concho belt and I cut it up and put it around the hat, and I wore it that night. While it may seem like bad karma to have lifted the item that became his signature look, Slash reveals that eventually the hat was stolen from him. He elaborated to Ireland's Nova , "From that night on, my hat became something that I feel comfortable in.
It has also become something I can hide behind, as even though I love performing, I have never been good at looking into the eyes of the audience who are watching me, so, my hat and my hair in my face has been my thing ever since. As he told Conan, "I wore it all the time.
