When a song transcends the band that created it, musicians often face a dilemma: embrace its success or resent the fame it brings. Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash understands this tension well, especially when it comes to the band’s hit, “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
While the song generated immense success and wealth for the group, Slash’s feelings toward it were far from celebratory.
Artists rarely view their most commercially successful tracks as their proudest artistic moments, and “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was no exception for Slash. Like iconic figures such as Robert Plant with “Stairway to Heaven” or Kurt Cobain with “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” Slash initially resented the song that became a signature hit.
Despite being a radio staple and earning millions of streams decades later, Slash would have preferred the track to have never seen the light of day.
Guns N’ Roses’ reputation in the late 1980s was built on chaos, rebellion, and raw energy. The band cultivated an image of danger, one that didn’t align with the soft balladry of “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”
Surprisingly, it became their only single to top the Billboard 100 chart, much to Slash’s frustration. The guitarist once confessed, “I hated it for years,” but acknowledged the strong reactions from fans eventually helped him appreciate its place in the band’s legacy.
The song itself was a fluke. Slash first played the riff as a joke during rehearsals, messing around to amuse his bandmates. However, that accidental riff formed the foundation of what would become an international hit.
As Slash recalled, “You know, Guns N’ Roses was always a real hardcore, sort of, AC/DC kind of hard rock band with a lot of attitude… This was an up tempo ballad. That’s one of the gayest things you can write.”
Despite his initial disdain for the song, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was instrumental in launching Guns N’ Roses to global stardom. It fueled the massive success of their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, which has sold over 18 million copies in the U.S. alone.
The song’s commercial success propelled the band to new heights, and while Slash once considered it their worst song, time has softened his view.
In a 2019 interview, Slash reflected on his changing perspective, noting, “You come up with something you think is cool, but how it’s going to translate to other people, you never know… I wasn’t a fan of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ back in the day. It wasn’t about the riff; it was more about the type of song it was at the time.”
Bassist Duff McKagan echoed this sentiment in his autobiography, mentioning how Slash always viewed the song as a misstep in their catalog. However, with the distance that time brings, Slash has come to terms with the track’s undeniable impact on Guns N’ Roses’ legacy.
It was a pivotal piece in their rise to becoming the biggest band in the world for a brief moment, leaving Slash with memories and experiences that will last a lifetime.
