“Ryan Gosling was fu**ing awesome, so it was all good!””

Slash recalled performing “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars, describing Ryan Gosling’s key role in having him flown over the Pacific to arrive just in time for the performance.

This year saw Slash stepping out of his well-known hard rock background in several ways, most recently with the release of an all-star, blues covers album “Orgy of the Damned”. Earlier this year, an arguably bigger surprise for GN’R fans took place, when the guitarist joined Ryan Gosling, Mark Ronson, Wolfgang Van Halen, and others at the Oscars to solo on the live performance of the now world-famous number “I’m Just Ken” from the cultural phenom that was the Barbie movie.

In a new interview on the 97.1 The River, Slash shared some details of the actual performance, not

“Mark Ronson, who wrote the song ‘I’m Just Ken’, called me to record [the guitar parts for] the song, right before I was finishing ‘Orgy of the Damned’, so we’re talking a year ago. And I said, ‘Okay, cool!’, so I recorded the song. Fast forward a bunch of months, and he called me up and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in performing the song at the Oscars?'”

Slash recalls being very excited to take up Ronson on his invitation but noted how he was scheduled to be in Asia at the time. Eventually, the guitarist notes how it was the “Barbie” movie co-star Ryan Gosling who decided that the Oscars performance wouldn’t feel complete without Slash:

“And they kept calling; they asked, ‘What if we flew you [to the Oscars]?’ That was the only two days off I had on the whole Asia run, and it was expensive, blah, blah, blah. I guess Ryan Gosling was the one who finally said, ‘Look, the only way this is gonna happen is if Slash is here. So, he talked to the CEO of Mattel, and Mattel flipped the bill to fly me out right after the show in Korea. I show up in time for rehearsal, which is one run-through — these guys have been rehearsing all week [laughs].”

Reflecting on the performance itself, Slash added:

“One quick run-through, and then the ceremony starts. And I got to sit in the chair with all those actors, producers, and directors, and then get up and perform for, like, 23 seconds, I think my part was. And it came together really nicely, [even though] the rehearsal was not great, I was overwhelmed. First I had to remember the song, and then there was choreography involved, camera movement…”

“Anyway, [I] do the thing, pack up, and fly back to the Philippines. So, it was a crazy whirlwind of days, but it was also a fun experience, and a lot of great people were there — Wolfgang [Van Halen] was there, and Mark Ronson performed, obviously. And Ryan Gosling was fu**ing awesome, so it was all good!”

You can check out the performance of “I’m Just Ken” at the Oscars below: