Slash had to invite Chris Stapleton to sing on his Blues album

When Slash was putting together the track list for his upcoming blues album, Orgy of the Damnedhad a very special voice in mind for his version of Fleetwood Mac's “Oh Well”: Chris Stapleton.

“His singing rhythm and the pull he has on that particular song, in my eyes, sounded perfect,” says the Guns N' Roses guitarist. Rolling rock.

But despite Stapleton opening some shows for GN'R, Slash was already out of a relationship with the country icon. “I had to get his number and cold call him,” Slash says. “And he was very gracious about it and really bent over backwards to help me do it.”

It was a call worth making. Stapleton's voice, one of country music's most powerful, pairs perfectly with Slash's dirty blues playing on the song, written by Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green and first released by the Macs in 1969. Slash says , “I think it was one of the best ideas I've had in recent memory, to have him sing that song.”

Back in 2016, Guns N' Roses tapped Stapleton to open the Nashville date of their Not in This Lifetime reunion tour at Music City's Nissan Stadium. Stapleton then spoke RS about meeting GN'R frontman Axl Rose and asking him about his vocal technique. “I asked him how many nights in a row he can scream like that and do all the high, high rock & roll singing that he does. Because I know for myself that I have limits and how many nights in a row I can really sing,” Stapleton said. “Then we talked about doing stuff with AC/DC a little bit. They were conversations you don't think you'll ever have.”

Deadline May 17, Orgy of the Damned finds Slash collaborating with Billy Gibbons, Iggy Pop, Demi Lovato and more. The first single, “Killing Floor” by Howlin' Wolf features AC/DC screamer Brian Johnson on vocals and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler on harmonica. Slash will remaster the album with a variety of special guests on a summer tour he's calling the SERPENT festival.

(Reporting by Kory Grow)