Slash on Working with Michael Jackson and Why He Felt Sorry For Him

Slash has worked with a variety of different artists throughout his career, but none of them were as high-profile as Michael Jackson.

Slash appeared on Jackson's 1991 album Dangerous, and in a recent interview with Kerrang, the guitarist reflected on his studio time with the King of Pop.

"Initially, it was a phone call from my manager where he said, ‘Michael is trying to get in touch with you,’ and I was like, 'Wow,'" said Slash. "...We made a date and I went down to the Record Plant in Hollywood and he was there with Brooke Shields. That was very surreal. These were two people that I’d sort of grown up with, in a way."

Slash continued, "So we hung out for two minutes and they went off to dinner and left me with this song. I did my thing, he really dug it and afterwards he kept asking me if I’d be into doing this, or doing that. I’d do some shows here and there and it was fun because he was such a pro, and he was such a f---ing talent from on high. That was the main thing: he was so amazingly musically fluid. Such a treat to be around."

Slash added that seeing Jackson offstage was different saying, "...When he wasn’t working, or in production or whatever, it was then you could see that he was sort of at the mercy of his own success. All the people he had around him, the tugging, and the yes people, you could tell that he knew 90 percent of them were full of s---. I felt sorry for him in that sense. I did a couple of shows with Michael in Tokyo and saw how this whole massive f---ing thing worked, and he was the center of it."

He continued, "The only time I really felt like he was in any kind of comfort zone was when he was actually onstage. Right after that, Guns came to town and did our shows and our success was massive, but it wasn’t as overwhelming as what Michael was going through. It was just an interesting light, looking at the two things and being careful about what you wished for."