Why The Walking Dead Rejected A Song Written By Slash

Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has revealed that he wrote a song for The Walking Dead that was ultimately turned down - here's why. Currently on a midseason break, The Walking Dead season 9 has been full of drama thus far with the departure of lead protagonist Rick Grimes, the introduction of brutal new villains the Whisperers and several lengthy time jumps that have thrown the show years into the future. While mostly known for its intense zombie action and shocking character deaths, The Walking Dead's use of music has often been a subtly effective part of the show's arsenal. The theme featured in the main titles has become particularly well known among fans, but songs from popular culture have also featured on rare occasions.

First shooting to fame as part of Guns N' Roses' classic Appetite For Destruction lineup, Slash has become one of the world's best-known guitar players, renowned for red-hot riffs, blistering solos and his iconic top hat. Even after an acrimonious split from GNR, Slash continued to find fame both as a solo artist and as part of the Velvet Revolver supergroup. Most recently, Slash has been working with Alter Bridge singer Myles Kennedy and the duo's latest record, Living the Dream, was released back in September.

Slash has now revealed that one of the songs on Living the Dream, the appropriately titled "The One You Loved Is Gone", was inspired and written for The Walking Dead. Speaking to the Basel Meets podcast (via Blabbermouth), the guitarist said:

"Initially, that song was inspired - believe it or not… I wrote the intro [of the song] for The Walking Dead. Because at that time, The Walking Dead didn't really have any other music outside of its score music and so I was trying to push them to play an original song on there. But they wouldn't go for it 'cause it's me and they don't wanna have any recognizable existing names as part of The Walking Dead world. And so it never happened, but it was always a good musical idea."

For any TV series, it's quite a ballsy move to turn down a song from a music legend, especially when the track was written specifically for that series, but it's also understandable that The Walking Dead's producers would want to preserve viewers' suspension of disbelief as much as possible. Similar to how earlier seasons of The Walking Dead were blighted by Hyundai cars being the only vehicles that seemed to work all of a sudden, hearing the instantly recognizable tones of Slash roaring out of TV speakers may have jolted the audience out of their viewing experience.

As for the song itself, "The One You Loved Is Gone" is as fantastic as one would expect, but it's also very easy to imagine how the track might slot into an episode of The Walking Dead. The crisp intro riff has a folksy sound not completely dissimilar to The Walking Dead's usual score and with Kennedy's soulful vocals in tow, the song would've provided the perfect musical climbdown after a bloody battle, as characters mourn the loss of their friends and loved ones. The song is also subtle and understated enough to suggest that its use in The Walking Dead wouldn't have been too jarring. Perhaps those who turned Slash's offer down feared the worst and were mentally picturing Rick confidently strutting up to Negan's Sanctuary to the tune of "Welcome To The Jungle".