Slash announces blues album featuring Billy Gibbons, Paul Rodgers, Iggy Pop and more, launches video for cover of Killing Floor with Brian Johnson and Steven Tyler

Slash wearing shades and top hat
(Image credit: Gene Kirkland)

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has announced details of his upcoming sixth solo album. Orgy Of The Damned will be released on May 16 via Gibson Records and will feature a stellar lineup of guest musicians performing several blues classics alongside one new original song.

The first single from the album is a version of Howlin' Wolf's 1964 classic Killing Floor – the inspiration for Led Zeppelin's The Lemon Song – which sees AC/DC frontman Brian Johnson take the lead vocal while Aerosmith's Steven Tyler plays harmonica.

Killing Floor is one of my favourite Howlin’ Wolf songs, but also one of the iconic blues riffs that turned me on as a young guitar player," says Slash. "I've always wanted to cover it in some capacity and this record was the perfect vehicle. But playing it with this band, and with Brian Johnson singing, it was an achievement I would never have imagined back then. Let alone Steven Tyler providing the harp.”

"When Slash asked me to sing on Killing Floor, I said yes immediately," says Johnson. "It was one of the first songs I learned in my very first band, and when he played me the backing track it was a no-brainer, and Steven's harmonica is so bloody hot. I had a ball with Slash in the studio, and I think we did this great old song justice. Rock on."  

Other guests on the album include Chris Stapleton, Beth Hart, Iggy Pop, Paul Rodgers, Gary Clark Jr, Billy F. Gibbons, Chris Robinson, Demi Lovato and Dorothy, while the band is completed by bassist Johnny Griparic, keyboardist Teddy Andreadis,  drummer Michael Jerome and singer/guitarist Tash Neal. Full tracklist below. Slash's European tour with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators begins later this month (full dates below).

Slash: Orgy Of The Damned tracklist

1. The Pusher feat. Chris Robinson (Wayne Hoyt Axton)
2. Crossroad Blues feat. Gary Clark Jr (Robert Johnson)
3. Hoochie Coochie Man feat. Billy F. Gibbons (Willie Dixon)
4. Oh Well feat. Chris Stapleton (Peter Green)
5. Key to the Highway feat. Dorothy (Charles Segar, William Broonzy)
6. Awful Dream feat. Iggy Pop (Lightnin' Hopkins, Clarence Lewis, C Morgan Robinson)
7. Born Under a Bad Sign feat. Paul Rodgers (William Bell and Booker T. Jones)
8. Papa Was a Rolling Stone feat. Demi Lovato (Barrett Strong, Jesse Norman Whitfield)
9. Killing Floor feat. Brian Johnson, Steven Tyler (Chester Burnett)
10. Living for the City feat. Tash Neal, Jenna Bell, Jessie Payo (Stevie Wonder)
11. Stormy Monday feat. Beth Hart (T-Bone Walker)
12. Metal Chestnut (Slash)

Slash feat. Myles Kennedy and Mammoth WVH European tour 2024

Mar 28: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland
Mar 30: Birmingham Resorts World Arena, UK
Mar 31: Newcastle O2 City Hall, UK
Apr 02: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Apr 03: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Apr 05: London OVO Arena Wembley, UK
Apr 08: Dusseldorf Mitsubishi Hall, Germany
Apr 09: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Netherlands
Apr 11: Hamburg Sporthalle, Germany
Apr 12: Copenhagen KB Hallen, Denmark
Apr 15: Berlin Verti Music Hall, Germany
Apr 16: Katowice Spodek, Poland
Apr 18: Brno Winning Group Arena, Czech Republic
Apr 19: Budapest MVM Dome, Hungary
Apr 22: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
Apr 23: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Apr 25: Munich Zenith, Germany
Apr 26: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg
Apr 29: Paris Zenith, France

Ticket details.

Fraser Lewry
Online Editor, Classic Rock

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.