Slash sorry for calling Michael Jackson song ‘gay’

Illustrated rainbow pride flag on a white background.

Former Guns N ‘Roses guitarist Slash has apologised for calling a Michael Jackson song ‘gay’.

The musician was criticised when he said last week that the signature hook from Jackson’s song Black or White was “gay.” He is often mistakenly thought to have written it.

He told Canadian Music Week: “I never played on [Black or White]. If you listen to [the hook], that’s gay. I’d never play that.”

After reflecting on the remark, he told music website Spinner: “I thought about that afterward ’cause really that just came right out… now I think it sounded a bit too derogatory

“What I really meant was that the sound of the guitar is very happy. It just doesn’t sound like me, anyone would know that. It’s not the guitar sound you would expect from me, but somehow I got pigeonholed as the guy who played on that song.”