When heavy riffin' guitarist Slash pulled out of a tour opening for AC/DC

in March, it looked like a return to the type of irresponsible rock star antics

his former band Guns N' Roses became famous for in the late '80s. But Slash

has dutifully rescheduled all 11 shows, and, as it turns out, he had a valid

excuse for nixing the AC/DC dates.

"I came down with walking pneumonia," he said Thursday (May 31). "For the first

time in my career, I reached a point where I was working so hard, and I

started getting sick, but I didn't pay attention to it. Finally, I was

feeling really crappy so I went to a doctor in Pittsburgh to see what was up,

and he said, 'You're really sick.' They wouldn't let me leave the hospital

for five days" (see [article id="1442233"]"Pneumonia Knocks Slash's Snakepit Off AC/DC Tour"[/article]).

Before hitting the road, Slash will perform one song with Spinal Tap on Friday (June

1) during their show at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, and the next evening

he'll join legendary blues guitarist Les Paul onstage at L.A.'s House of

Blues.

The rescheduled Slash's Snakepit tour starts in Clifton Park, New York, on June 15

and slithers down the East Coast before winding through the Midwest. Slash

will co-headline with Billy Idol on the last three shows of the tour (June 26

in Chicago, June 27 in Detroit and June 29 in Pittsburgh).

"We're old

friends," Slash said. "It's possible that I might join him onstage or he

might come up and play with me, but we really haven't talked about it yet."

When he gets off the road, Slash plans to return to the studio to work on new

material. He already has more than 20 songs, half of which were

penned for Snakepit's 2000 album, Ain't Life Grand, but weren't finished

in time. Slash hopes to have a new record ready for release by the beginning

of 2002.

"The new songs are kind of similar to the ones on Ain't Life Grand, but

they're newer, so they're different," the guitarist said. "The next record

will be an evolution, hopefully, but it will still totally be the kind of

bluesy, ballsy rock I love."

Slash's rescheduled tour dates, according to his publicist:

• 6/15 - Clifton Park, NY @ Northern Lights