Saul Hudson was born in the Hampstead area of London on 23 July 1965. He was named after Romanian-American cartoonist Saul Steinberg. His mother, Ola J. Hudson (née Oliver; 1946–2009), was a black American-born English fashion designer and costumier whose clients included David Bowie (whom she also dated), Ringo Starr, and Janis Joplin. His father, Anthony Hudson, is an English artist who created album covers for musicians such as Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Of his mixed background, Slash later remarked, "As a musician, I've always been amused that I'm both British "and" black; particularly because so many American musicians seem to aspire to be British while so many British musicians, in the 'Sixties in particular, went to such great pains to be black."