Slash Says Velvet Revolver Still Searching for Undiscovered Singer

Slash didn't have trouble finding a host of singers for his upcoming solo album, but the guitarist tells Rolling Stone the hunt for a new Velvet Revolver vocalist is still ongoing — and once he finishes touring behind his own record, tracking down a new frontperson is a priority. "I think Duff [McKagan] is doing something with Jane's Addiction right now so we're all sort of all over the place doing whatever until we can all regroup," he says. "We did listen to a lot of singers, but there hasn't been anybody that's going to be the guy so far."

Though a few big-name singers have offered themselves up for the job — including Slipknot's Corey Taylor — Slash doesn't think the new vocalist will be somebody as famous as original frontman Scott Weiland. "It's really hard to do something with a voice that's already really well known in an original band," he says. "We want someone who is really good that hasn't been recognized by the whole country as being amazing, but somebody who is just on the precipice of just being discovered."

Slash also says the new singer will likely be easier to work with than Axl Rose and Weiland — two of the most famously volatile frontmen in rock history. "To give credit where credit is due, those are two of the most talented fucking rock & roll personalities and singers in the world," he says. "It's something about my personality that sees the good in everybody and fucking loves a challenge, likes the chaos and all that. I have no real regrets about working with either of them, but sometimes it was difficult to succeed."

Related Stories:
• Slash on Recording With Ozzy and Lemmy, Plans for Summer Tour
• Slipknot's Corey Taylor Admits He Tried to Sing for Velvet Revolver
• Velvet Revolver at "Standstill": Slash Talks Weiland, Singer Search

• 
  MUSIC The Top 25 Teen Idol Breakout Moments
• 
  MOVIES & TV 'Game of Thrones': The Show Vs. the Books
• 
  POLITICS Matt Taibbi: Facebook IPO vs. Shareholders
• 
  VIDEOS Exclusive: Garbage Rip Through 'I Think I'm Paranoid'

Song Stories

“Smells Like Teen Spirit”

Nirvana | 1991

"Smells Like Teen Spirit," named after a brand of deodorant marketed to girls, was Kurt Cobain's attempt to "write the ultimate pop song," he said, using the soft-loud dynamic of his favorite band, the Pixies. Cobain "had that dichotomy of punk rage and alienation," the song’s producer, Butch Vig, told Rolling Stone, "but also this vulnerable pop sensibility. In 'Teen Spirit,' a lot of that vulnerability is in the tone of his voice." Sadly, by the time of Nirvana's last U.S. tour, in late '93, Cobain was tortured by the obligation to play "Teen Spirit" every night. "There are many other songs that I have written that are as good, if not better," he claimed.

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter