Sweet Child o' Mine by Guns N' Roses
Artist: Guns N' Roses Weeks at #1: 2 weeks Chart dates: September 10, 1988 – September 17, 1988
About
“Sweet Child O’ Mine” is the 9th track of Guns N’ Roses’ debut album Appetite for Destruction. The song became GNR’s most successful single, topping the Billboard Hot 100. The guitar solo was ranked as one of the greatest of all-time by Guitar World. Amazingly, it was recorded in one take. The lyrics were written by frontman Axl Rose as a dedication to his then-girlfriend Erin Everly. Once he heard guitarist Slash noodling downstairs, Axl found the musical backing he needed. In 2015, the Australian website MAX TV revealed the song’s striking similarity to “Unpublished Critics,” a song released in 1981 by the band Australian Crawl. Duff McKagan, bass player for Guns N' Roses during the recording of “Sweet Child O' Mine,” said the similarities were startling. Speaking to Radio.com in 2015: It is pretty stunning. But we didn’t steal it from them! I swear puts his hand on his heart, I never heard that song until a couple of days ago."
