Love always played a role in the rock scene. One such love story is that of Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and his first wife, Renee Suran. Their relationship lasted five years, and at one point, it almost cost Slash his life.
Slash wasn’t socializing much while working on Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Use Your Illusion’ records. He preferred to stay at home or in the studio. One night, bassist Duff McKagan persuaded him to join him at a bar in LA. Duff met a girl there. She had her friend Renee Suran with her.
Renee was a successful model working towards an acting career, and she didn’t show much interest in Slash at first. But the guitarist found this challenge appealing, and within a few weeks, the pair started living together.
Slash Overdosed And Almost Died
Slash and Renee temporarily split up due to his infidelity in 1992. This was during Guns N’ Roses’ European tour with Faith No More and Soundgarden. Feeling lonely, Slash called Renee and hoped things would get better. Renee agreed to see him but with an ultimatum: they would either get married or end their relationship for good. There was some tension over a prenuptial agreement, but Slash and Renee eventually got engaged and married in October 1992.
The stress from the prenuptial argument had a severe impact on Slash. He overdosed after a GN’R show. The band’s security team took care of him until paramedics arrived, and he was shocked back to life with defibrillators. Slash was advised to stay in the hospital, but he left after a few hours and felt no regrets.
Here is what the guitarist said about that period in a 2001 interview with Howard Stern:
“The beginning of the end was when I said, ‘Sign this prenup.’ I remember exactly where that was. I was in San Francisco. Guns was touring the stadiums with Metallica, and the phone call was made that there was going to be a prenup…
That was one of the biggest fights in our entire relationship over the phone… It stressed me out so bad that after the show was over, I ran into the wrong people at the wrong time after the gig, and I ended up in the hospital, messing around cause I was so depressed from the whole argument that I ended up OD-ing that night.”
Axl Rose later told Slash how scared he was. He said he thought he would have to find a new guitarist. The incident even led Axl to believe that a different Slash took over the guitarist’s body.
Their Marriage Was Never Truly Stable
The couple had a co-ed bachelorette party so Renee could keep an eye on him. Ironically, Slash met his future second wife Perla Ferrar at this party. Slash and Perla ended up spending the night together before his wedding to Renee.
The musician said the following about his first marriage in a 2007 chat with Howard Stern:
“The first marriage I got into was an ultimatum, and I don’t think I went in the right way. I didn’t go into it from the heart, and so I had sort of dated this girl that is now my wife. Not really dated, but we saw each other on occasion, and we always had a good time, and she knew that. She knew that we had a connection…
So what happened was Perla heard that I was getting married. Actually, she came to my bachelor party, which was a co-ed bachelor party… I called my girlfriend up, who was going to be my wife, and I said, ‘Let’s get back together,’ and she said not unless we get married…
Then we did it and Perla, who had known me… came around… then somehow we ended up doing it the night before my wedding. The wedding was doomed from that point on. The marriage was doomed. You know, but I feel really bad because I put her through something. I’m not into hurting people’s feelings.”
Slash and Renee divorced in 1997. They didn’t have any children together. Renee continued her acting career and appeared in various films and TV shows including a regular role in the web series ‘Broken at Love.’ As for Slash, he went on to marry Perla Ferrar in 2001. The two share two sons. Their marriage ended in divorce in 2018, just before Guns N’ Roses reunited.
