Slash celebrates 43rd birthday in Vegas

Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash turned 43 years old on Wednesday (July 23rd) and kicked off a two-night celebration at the Mirage resort in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, according to TheVegasEye.com. The former Guns N' Roses axeman was scheduled to perform with surprise guests at the Bare pool lounge, with guest DJ Perry Farrell of Jane's Addiction fame spinning records beforehand. The party moves on Thursday night (July 24th) to the Jet nightclub, with Slash performing acoustically and will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas in the DJ booth.

Admission to Jet is $30 and the festivities kick off at 10:30 p.m. PT.

Reaching the age of 43, as well as having a wife and family, might not have been a realistic goal for Slash during his days with Guns N' Roses. The guitarist had a longtime heroin addiction and admitted that he lived on the edge for many years: [ Click to listen if you have a backstage pass] "I was always very aware of what I was doing. I was very aware of how dangerous it was, I was very aware of the risks that I was taking and all that kind of stuff, and I just didn't care. And then after an episode where I ended up having to be resuscitated and all that kind of stuff, I still didn't really care. I just felt like I was invincible or something like that. I was aware of my own mortality, but I wasn't fazed to the extent that I probably should have been."

Velvet Revolver is said to be working on new material for its third album and auditioning singers to replace Scott Weiland, who was dismissed in April.