Family death made Slash quit smoking

Slash was motivated to quit smoking after his mother died of lung cancer.

The former Guns N’ Roses guitarist has not smoked for a year and admits seeing his beloved parent Ola Hudson lose her battle with the disease, and a bout of pneumonia he suffered himself, made him realise he needed to ditch his habit for good.

Slash – real name Saul Hudson - said: “I’ve been off them for a year. The first time I quit smoking was because me and my wife just had a baby and she claimed the baby smelled like an ashtray. So I thought: ‘Well, I’ll give it a shot.’ So I quit for a year and then I started again.

“Then this time my mom died of lung cancer, and I got sick with pneumonia. And after I got sick I had a cigarette in my hand and a lighter and I was about to smoke – and it just seemed really stubborn of me.”

Slash – who has two sons with his wife Perla Ferrar – did not find it difficult to give up smoking and once he stopped he realised nicotine didn’t do anything for him.

He added in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper: “I just always smoked. It’s not been too difficult to give up smoking, apart from the fact that I’ve found that I use twitter all the time to keep my hands busy.”

Slash – who is renowned for his rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle - also no longer drinks or takes drugs and says he feels much better for quitting his various vices.

The 44-year-old musician said: “I quit doing drugs. But because I’m a habitual kinda guy, if I quit doing drugs, then I drink. And then if I quit drinking, I do drugs – forever. So I quit doing drugs this one time, and I decided not to drink too. It’s been four years. And I really don’t miss it.”