“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!
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: