Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash has permanently abandoned X (formerly known as Twitter) on Tuesday, citing "repeated hacks" that used his account to promote a meme coin.
It was only a week ago that hackers had compromised his verified Twitter account in order to promote an a Solana-based meme coin called GUNS, falsely positioning it as an official Guns N' Roses crypto project.
"This was a considered decision after repeated hacks, and it reflects a shift in how I'd like to stay connected moving forward," Slash told followers in what could, at least for now, be his final tweet.
It remains unclear why Slash claimed the hacks were " repeated" or if the message was directed specifically at the April 2 hacking incident.
pic.twitter.com/8Cofi1BKZf
— Slash (@Slash) April 9, 2025
The rock star directed his fans at the end of the farewell message to join him on popular social media sites. Some fans suggested he use Bluesky as a more decentralized option.
You are welcome to the jungle
The guitarist’s account was hacked just a few hours after April Fool's, posting several promotional messages about the fake Guns N’ Roses meme coin.
"In 2 hours, we're launching a meme coin on SOLANA. Stay tuned…" the hackers posted, pinning a post claiming they will "invest $1M in $GUNS in the next hour" to generate artificial excitement.
The posts were deleted but the token is still available on PumpFun. It has a value of $3,300.
You are not the first
Hackers have not targeted hard rock bands before. Last year in June, the Twitter account of American heavy metal group Metallica was hacked for the purpose of promoting METAL, a Solana-themed meme coin.
The hackers used the band's brand colors and falsely claimed partnerships with Ticketmaster. The token’s market cap reached $10 million and crashed in a matter of hours.
These hacks are part of a larger pattern that targets musicians and celebrities to gain clout or money.
Any Goes
The hack contrasts with Guns N' Roses' legitimate efforts to use emerging technologies.
In February last year, the band made headlines for their innovative use of AI in the music video for "The General," with design agency Creative Works London using Stable Diffusion to create dreamlike visuals over Unreal Engine renders.
A young boy was seen walking through a magenta, cyberpunk-tinted cityscape. Live footage showed the band changing into aliens.
The AI-enhanced video included subtle Easter eggs with "G," "N," "R," and "A.I." elements—a deliberate artistic choice, rather than an unauthorized exploitation of the band's brand.
