Rock God Goes Jackless

In an e-mail conversation yesterday, Velvet Revolver and Guns N’ Roses rock god Slash confirmed that he has STOPPED drinking ?Jack Daniel’s, something that had been suspected for some time after sharp dips in sales of the Tennessee liquor. Once his most trusty companion, Slash’s ever-present bottle of Jack has been cast aside as the curly-haired guitar legend focuses instead on smoking several hundred French-brand Gitanes ?cigarettes a day.

Before he quit, Slash’s intake of JD had been the stuff of legend — Q magazine once estimated that Slash had guzzled 1,543,384.5 bottles in his lifetime and would often conceal empties inside his hat. And in 2003, Slash told readers of Rolling Stone that “there was actually a point where all I needed in my life, besides my guitar, was cigarettes and Jack Daniel’s.” Looks like those happy days are over.

Slash did not elaborate on whether he had abandoned all forms of alcohol, but did, however, mention that as of three weeks ago, bearded über-producer Rick Rubin had been hired to produce VR’s next album, something that had been the subject of rumor for some time. You read it here first. Possibly. Anyway — you read it here.

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