Before Saul Hudson became Slash, he was pretty much the definition of a hyperactive teenager. After letting out most of his youthful energy by riding his BMX bike around Hollywood and hanging out with guys like would-be Guns N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, the future rock star started practicing religiously on his guitar, never mind that it had only one string.  "When I started playing, this explosive and progressive part of my personality, which I didn't even know existed, came out," he told Swindle Magazine.

Slash was about 15 years old when he got his now-famous nickname, and it came from veteran character actor Seymour Cassel, whose son Matt was among Slash's closer friends around that time (via Mental Floss). "I was friends with his kids, and he used to call me Slash because I was an aspiring guitar player, always hustling, never stopping to hang out. I was always in a hurry," he told Swindle. "So he started calling me that, and it stuck."

And we should be all thankful that it stuck because much like it doesn't sound too convincing for a lead singer named Bill Bailey to say he has an appetite for destruction, Saul Hudson just doesn't have the same ring to it that Slash has.

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