"He was incommunicado for a month" — Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler initially did not return calls from Guns ‘N Roses’ Slash to play for his new album

Guns N' Roses member Slash recently revealed in an interview with Classic Rock Magazine about how much he had to struggle to find musicians to play for his upcoming album, Orgy of the Damned, set to be released on May 17, 2024.

In the interview, Slash stated that although many musicians knew him, it was tough for him to gather them for his album. According to the artist, it was particularly difficult to reach out to Aerosmith lead singer, Steven Tyler.

Tyler reportedly did not return his calls for a long time. Slash recalled:

"He was incommunicado for a month."

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Guns N' Roses member Slash revealed how tough it was to reach out to other musicians for his upcoming album

In an interview, the 58-year-old musician revealed that for his album, Orgy Of The Damned, he had reached out to a number of musicians. However, he failed to contact many, including Aerosmith's Steven Tyler. He stated that Tyler contacted him back when the record was done. He added:

"And then, when the record was done, I finally heard from him; ‘Oh man, I’ve been here and there. What’s happening?’ And that’s why he came down to put the harmonica on ‘Killing Floor."

The Guns N' Roses member further added that in these situations, it was difficult to convince other musicians and artists to perform in the album, and it did not matter who he was. He said,

"Listen, when you’re cold-calling musicians, some of whom you don’t even know, it doesn’t matter who you are. It’s a hard gig. You're trying to sell an idea."

He revealed that the most difficult artists to be convinced were Chris Stapleton and Billy Gibbons. About Gibbons, Slash said that he was a busy man and always doing something or the other. He added that after he let Gibbons know that he was trying to include a version of Hoochie Coochie Man in the album, the ZZ Top guitarist and lead vocalist sounded skeptical.

He further added:

"I mean, he knows me, but… Anyway, I had to coax him into it… I feel really honored that he’s on the record."

The upcoming album belongs to the Blues genre, and has several artists performing in it, including Billy Gibbons, Chris Stapleton, Beth Hart, Paul Rodgers, Dorothy, and Demi Lovato.

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Slash gave an insight into the process of how he came up with his upcoming album

In the interview, Slash revealed that the record has been on his mind since 1996, after he had just split from Guns N' Roses and was working on Slash's Blues ball, a blues rock band that was formed back in 1996:

"There was a lot of drinking going on, but we were having a real good time playing all these covers and jamming around. And we actually took it to the point of touring round the US and we even did some touring in Europe."

The members of the band included Slash, Teddy Andreadis, Johnny Griparic, Alvino Bennet, Bobby Schneck and Dave McLaurin.

Slash further revealed in the interview:

"Anyway, I always wanted to make a record of that. But then there was Snakepit, then I was in hospital, then Velvet Revolver, then the Conspirators, then back to Guns N’ Roses. It’s just been very busy. Anyway, 30 years later I finally had two weeks off and I thought, ‘I’m going to do this record now."

While the band was active for about two years, no album was released in that period. In 2023, the British-American musician decided to reunite with his ex-band mates Andreadis and Griparic. This marked the beginning of the making of his upcoming album Orgy Of The Damned.

Two singles from the album have already been released. While Killing Floor was dropped on March 8, 2024, the other song, Oh Well, was released on April 12, 2024.

The entire album is 69 minutes and 39 seconds long. Some other songs that are included in this album are Born Under a Bad Sign (ft. Paul Rodgers), Papa Was A Rolling Stone (ft. Demi Lovato), and Key To The Highway (ft. Dorothy).