“This man wrote ‘Sweet Child O ‘Mine,’” joked Joe Bonamassa, pointing to his bandmate for the evening, Guns N’ Roses’ Slash. “Seeing this young man up here makes me realized how f–ked I am.” In awe of Bay Melnick Virgolino, Bonamassa welcomed the 11-year-old guitar prodigy on stage for a jam of B.B. King classic “The Thrill Is Gone,” during the first 2026 installment of the Soho Sessions concert in New York City on January 15.
With proceeds from the evening supporting Bonamassa’s non-profit Keeping the Blues Alive, which provides scholarships and resources to music students and teachers, he led the night alongside Slash for a roomful of guests, including Michael J. Fox, Gina Gershon, Steve Guttenberg, Susie Essman, Don Lemon, Bobby Flay, Alexandra Richards, Matt Friend, and Van Jones, among others in attendance.
“To this day, my little foundation has raised over three million dollars, and we’ve given all away to schools and during the pandemic, to artists who lost gigs,” said Bonamassa, who has performed at past Soho Sessions shows. “And it’s something I’m most proud of.”
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Produced by Greg Williamson and Nicole Rechter, co-founders of RWE Partners, the invite-only shows have supported philanthropic causes including mental health, music education, gun safety, and more since its inception in 2021.
Slash joins a long line of past guests at the Soho Sessions, including Keith Richards, Paul Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples, Marc Cohn, Gary Clark Jr., Marcus King, The Struts, Lukas Nelson, Norah Jones, Maren Morris, Olivia Dean, Warren Haynes, Brittney Spencer, YOLA, Amos Lee, and Larkin Poe, and more.
Unplugged, Slash and Bonamassa opened the night with acoustic jams of Bad Company’s and Eric Clapton’s version of the Charlie Segar blues standard “Key to the Highway.”
The remainder of the set went electric with Bonamassa and Slash plugged in and joined by Larry Campbell, along with keyboardist Eric Finland, bassist Mike Hess, and drummer Shawn Pelton, on the 1957 by Bobby “Blue” Bland’s 1957 blues song “Further On Up the Road.”
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Before breaking into Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” with Danny Clinch on harmonica, Bonamassa prompted the rock photographer to photograph himself on stage. “He takes some of the most iconic images, but one thing we don’t have a picture of from Danny Clinch that I would buy a lithograph of,” joked Bonamassa, “is Danny taking a picture of himself playing harmonica.”
More guests stepped up throughout the evening, actor and musician Hank Azaria for a cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Prove It All Night” and Tash Neal, who appears on Slash’s 2014 solo album, Orgy of the Damned, along with Paul Shaffer on the Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and a cover of Crosby, Stills &Nash’s “Ohio.”
Keeping the spirit of Bonamassa’s charity, 19-year-old guitarist and bandleader Grace Bowers helped close the night on the 1971 Freddie King blues classic “Going Down.”
To support Keeping the Blues Alive, donate here.
Photos: Dave Doobinin
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