Dave Hill has been a fixture in the music industry for over six decades, rising to fame in the early 1960s with his band Slade. Now 80 years old, the guitarist has mingled with countless stars, forging friendships with A-listers such as Sir Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, and the late Ozzy Osbourne.
As the only remaining founding member of Slade, Hill continues to perform occasional shows with his current bandmates Russell Keefe, John Berry, and Alex Bines. The group is set to take the stage at the Rewind Festival in Henley-On-Thames from August 21 to 23. This appearance marks 35 years since the original lineup of Slade—Noddy Holder, Jim Lea, Don Powell, and Hill—performed together for the final time before disbanding in 1991.
In a recent interview, Hill spoke about his close relationships with his famous friends. He shared, 'Noel Gallagher, in particular, is someone I know quite well. He grew up with Slade and formed Oasis based on Slade, he said. He's a really nice guy.' Hill added, 'Noel said to me, "The songs never date." They're just part of you that grew up with a certain kind of music, it becomes part of that and that's the way we grew up.'
Recalling his first encounter with Sir Paul McCartney, Hill said, 'I was nervous meeting Paul McCartney when I made it because I'm standing looking at my childhood, I'm looking at my early years. The Beatles were the most remarkable group in the world, so standing there talking to him, it's a strange feeling because you're trying to be really cool.'
Hill's friendship with Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne began when Slade replaced Black Sabbath at the Reading Festival in 1980. He described Ozzy and Sharon's marriage as 'fantastic,' praising the love they shared. 'We replaced Ozzy at Reading Festival, we weren't even on the bill,' he recalled. 'Ozzy couldn't do it, his band wasn't ready so we got asked. It was literally a day or two before and we found out. Sharon managed us for a short period and I played with Black Sabbath when they were nobody. It was suggested that Sharon would be very good and that we should go on the road with Ozzy in America because he's massive. So off we went with Sharon and she was brilliant. She was great at dealing with the record companies and promotion. She's great and they had a fantastic marriage, you could tell always that there was a great love there, a great love. She was very experienced, very helpful.'
Speaking about his best pal and former bandmate Noddy Holder, Hill said, 'Noddy has probably been the most closest person to me. We're more than friends, it's a very deep relationship. We spent probably the best years of our lives, doing something we love together. He comes down here quite frequently, and we go to an Italian restaurant. He was here just over two weeks ago, I was showing him all the guitars and we were talking about things.'
Hill shows no signs of slowing down, explaining that the buzz he gets from performing is unmatched. 'If I thought I couldn't do it properly, I wouldn't do it or because I thought I didn't like it. I'll get myself checked out to make sure things are in order in my body because when I walk on stage, I always sweat a lot because I move around. For me, it's still the buzz. A lot of people will continue doing what they love doing until they leave us and I'm probably one of them, but I don't have any perception of how long I'm going to live. All I know is, we're in the now.'
Joining Slade at the Rewind Festival will be Kim Wilde, Soul II Soul, Roland Gift, The Trevor Horn Band, Blancmange, Bow Wow Wow, Peter Wylie (The Might Wah), Tony Hadley, Nik Kershaw, Tunde (Lighthouse Family), The Undertones, The Beat (featuring Ranking Jnr.), Tom Robinson, Toyah, and Lotus Eaters’ Peter Coyle.
