Why Slash Originally Wasn’t Going to Play the Oscars

Slash provided one of the biggest highlights at this year’s Oscars ceremony when he showed up to perform “I’m Just Ken” alongside Ryan Gosling and Wolfgang Van Halen. Still, the Guns N’ Roses guitarist admits he initially planned to skip the event.

During a recent conversation with Classic Rock, Slash detailed how he got caught up in the Barbie mayhem.

“Mark Ronson, who’s a dear friend of mine, asked me to record the song, which I did,” Slash explained, alluding to the version of “I’m Just Ken” that appeared in the film. “The movie came out and it was massive, and the song did really well, and so he asked me if I would do the performance at the Oscars – which originally I wasn’t going to do because I was in fucking Asia.”

READ MORE: Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen Rock the Oscars With ‘I’m Just Ken’

Slash was in the midst of tour dates with the Conspirators around the time of the Oscars, making an appearance at the awards seem impossible. But, as the guitarist said, “Hollywood managed to pull its weight and get me flown over there to perform this song.”

Slash Barely Got to Practice ‘I’m Just Ken’ Before the Oscars

Given the long journey, Slash had very little time to rehearse his part.

“I just showed up there the day of the event,” he recalled. “I flew to LA from Korea, got to the Kodak Theater, got rushed into this crazy mayhem situation which is the Oscars, and we did a quick run through with Ryan Gosling singing and all these guys dancing around, and then went backstage. I sat in the audience with all the other actors for the ceremony, then got up and played the song, got in a car, went back to the airport and flew to the Philippines.”

READ MORE: Top 10 Non-Guns N’ Roses Slash Songs

Though the experience was a whirlwind, Slash did get the chance to chat with Gosling, who he described as “really cool.”

“I had no idea what to expect. We hung out backstage, and he sung the shit out of the song – I’ve got to give him kudos, he made that whole production happen,” the rocker noted. Despite the fun experience, fans shouldn’t expect another Gosling-Slash collaboration anytime soon. “No, I don’t think I’m gonna do a record with him.”