Yep… Slash is on the Barbie soundtrack! Listen to his epic solo on I’m Just Ken, an ’80s-style power ballad sung by Ryan Gosling.
Fresh from headlining the likes of Glastonbury and London’s BST Hyde Park with Guns N’ Roses, to having a baby owl named after him, Slash is continuing to stay incredibly busy with some very fun new work on the highly-anticipated Barbie film.
At the Los Angeles premiere of Greta Gerwig’s new movie (which is due to hit UK cinemas on July 21 via Warner Bros. Pictures), the soundtrack’s executive producer Mark Ronson revealed to Variety that he’d put the feelers out to his “all-time hero” Slash to see if he was up for playing on the song I’m Just Ken. And he was!
“I was, what, seventh grade when Appetite For Destruction came out,” Mark said. “He’s my all-time hero. I had pictures of Slash all over my walls. So when we were getting near this song being done, I was like, ‘It never hurts to ask.’ It seems like such a long shot.
“I sent him the song and he was like, ‘This is a good song.’ I [didn’t] know Slash that well before this, and he was like, ‘Cool, I'll play on it.’ And he was so cool. He killed it. He plays the solo at the end and the rhythm parts. It’s wonderful.”
Wolfgang Van Halen has also shared his involvement in the Barbie soundtrack, tweeting: “My buddy Mark Ronson hit me up earlier this year needing my ‘mammoth guitar sound’ and I happily obliged. Honored for the opportunity to contribute some guitar playing throughout this hilarious/surreal/heartfelt movie.”
He added: “(If anyone is curious about specifics, I have a lot of textural stuff throughout the film with two major spots where I do some soloing. One in particular is pretty cool because it’s the big song that Ryan Gosling sings and Slash plays on it as well!)
“(There’s a specific moment in this song that’s only in the movie where l’ve got this fun solo with some tapping and stuff lol. Such a cool opportunity. Honored to be a part of it)”
Check out I’m Just Ken – featuring Slash and Wolfgang – below:
