Here, Guns N’Roses' eminent guitarist on fatherhood, snakes, why motorbikes are more dangerous than drugs, and his favourite British sitcom… “I love anything with Dawn French, she's fucking brilliant, man!” Originally published in Uncut’s February 2008 issue (Take 129). Words: John Lewis ...
Do you still have any contact with Stoke-on-Trent?
Phil “The Power” Taylor, darts champion and native of Stoke
My dad’s family are still there, although I didn’t see them for a long time. I was reunited with them in the early 1990s when my uncle David saw something in the British press about “Slash – real name Saul Hudson” and contacted my office and I was like “wow, David Hudson! That’s my fucking uncle!” So I invited my uncle and my grandfather and a few others when GNR played Wembley, and they hung out in the dressing room, and they cleaned me out of drink! And that takes some doing. I was pretty annoyed but, in a weird way, I felt very proud that I was part of this grand lineage of English piss-heads.
Did you have posters on your wall as a kid?
Rizwan, Harrow
I had a King Kong poster. And anything with dinosaurs on it. And as I got older I had the same Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones and Hendrix posters that all kids had at the time.
Stoke City or Port Vale?
Jamie Bowman, Merseyside
I think my father’s family in Stoke were all Stoke City. The only time I keep up with my football is when I’m in England. In fact, the only game I’m physically been to was a really good game between Arsenal and Manchester [United]. When I’m in LA, you don’t really get much football, which is why David Beckham was such a big deal. That was hilarious. I think he just came here to take the piss, you know? The idea that America is going to convert to football by paying a king’s ransom for this English guy with a fucked ankle. Everyone on the other side of the pond must be laughing their asses off.
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