“When ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ was written, it was a joke as far as I was concerned,” Slash says.

“I was just fuckin’ around when I came up with that riff. To me it was a nightmare because, for some strange reason, everyone picked up on it and, the next thing you knew, it had turned into a song. I hated it forever!

"The guitar solo itself is a one-take, spontaneous kind of thing. Having played the song at rehearsals enough times, when it came to recording it I knew exactly where the melody was and it came real easy.”

Below, check out a few essential versions of "Sweet Child O' Mine" by different artists throughout the decades, including Guns N' Roses!

Next: 36) "Black Star"

Guns N' Roses, Official Music Video:

Guns N' Roses, Live at the Ritz, 1988:

Luca Stricagnoli, Acoustic Arrangement for Two Guitars:

Guitar World's Jimmy Brown, Acoustic/Capo Arrangement:

Michelle Kwan, Playing a Traditional Chinese Guzheng:

7-Year-Old Guitarist Zoe Thomson (We don't know for sure if she's a "sweet child."):

Slash with Myles Kennedy, Live in 2010:

Slash with Myles Kennedy, Live—Acoustic—in 2010: