Slash receives the Les Paul Spirit Award

Slash received the Les Paul Spirit Award on October 5, following earlier recipients Bob Weir, Steve Miller and Peter Frampton. The award was presented by the Les Paul Foundation in partnership with Gibson Gives, Gibson's charitable arm, at a private party held at the Les Paul Recording Studio.

According to Guitar World, the honor recognizes the guitarist's contributions to rock guitar, with the foundation describing him as a player who carries on Les Paul's pioneering spirit. Slash grew close to Les Paul during his lifetime and often attended his New York residency shows at The Iridium. He called Les Paul an inventor who changed the instrument and the way music is recorded, and said receiving the award was "a tremendous honor."

Michael Braunstein, executive director of the Les Paul Foundation, said that if Les Paul were still alive, the two would regularly be jamming onstage together. Slash has been linked to the Les Paul since Guns N' Roses released "Appetite for Destruction" in 1987, and he owns a large collection of the guitars, including a prized '50s Goldtop. Later in October he is due to join Aerosmith onstage for two shows at the Hollywood Bowl.

Slash is a British guitarist born in 1965 in Hampstead, known for hard rock and blues rock. In October mbuzz reported that he announced the album "Flying Blind" with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, due on February 26 via Gibson, along with a 2027 world tour. According to infomusic, he plays Rockstadt Fest in Ghimbav on 26 July 2027.