Duff McKagan and Slash release new single ‘I Can Breathe’ for Gibson charity project

Duff McKagan and Slash have released a new single ‘I Can Breathe’, which was recorded for a charity project by guitar brand Gibson. Listen to the track below.

The Guns N’ Roses bandmates are the latest rock veterans to participate in the ongoing project, which saw a collaboration between System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian and Black Sabbath’s Tony Iommi last year.

Per Consequence, ‘I Can Breathe’ sees McKagan on lead vocals, with Slash taking on lead guitar duties alongside Gibson CEO Cesar Gueikian on rhythm guitar and piano.

The five-minute track sees McKagan and Slash build on the hard rock bombasity from their main band, but with a prog-rock attitude towards songwriting – with lyrics penned by McKagan – that sees a fiery guitar solo from Slash.

All proceeds from the song will benefit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) through the brand’s non-profit organisation, Gibson Gives.

McKagan said in a press release: “The musical slant and progressive rock-ness of this huge epic pushed me in a whole new direction. I love a challenge and Cesar killed it! Most importantly, to be of service for mental health issues and awareness is super important to me at this time. Let’s rock!”

The lyric video for ‘I Can Breathe’ features animation based on art by Tankian. Watch it below.

“Cesar and Duff came to me with a really cool piece of music. I loved the riff idea, and Duff’s vocal, so I felt right at home on the track,” Slash said. Gueikian added that recording with McKagan and Slash was “a dream come true”, and that it’s “an honor” to call the duo “friends and partners”.

In September, McKagan shared a cover of ‘Heroes’ by David Bowie, which he then performed live with The Wallflowers’ Jakob Dylan on a solo tour in support of his latest solo album ‘Lighthouse’.

‘Lighthouse’, which is his third album following 1993’s ‘Believe In Me’ and 2019’s ‘Tenderness’, featured guest appearances by Slash, Iggy Pop, and Alice In Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell, among others.

In March, McKagan shared how Iggy Pop helped him through a “bad mushroom trip” when he was a teenager. “I went to an Iggy show way too high on mushrooms, thinking I was going to have to go to the hospital, freaking out,” he said on a podcast.

“I just watched Iggy the whole, just tripping way too much on psychedelics. But he brought me down. And I was already a big Iggy fan, but then I was like, he means more to me. He’s a waypoint for me in my life.”