Which band was behind the #1 hit “Sweet Child o’ Mine”?
Last updated: January 25, 2025
The opening guitar riff is instantly recognizable. The vocals soar with raw emotion. Released in 1988, this power ballad rocketed up the charts and became one of the defining songs of the hair metal era. Which legendary rock band took "Sweet Child o' Mine" all the way to number one?
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The answer is: Guns N' Roses
Guns N' Roses stumbled onto "Sweet Child o' Mine" during a lazy practice session at their LA rehearsal space. Slash was just messing with a simple finger exercise that was described as a "circus melody." Izzy Stradlin vibed with it right away and threw some chords underneath, while Steven Adler and Duff McKagan jumped in to flesh out the groove.
Axl Rose caught the sound drifting up from rehearsal, and the melody wormed its way into his head. He grabbed his notebook and started writing lyrics about his girlfriend at the time, Erin Everly. Some demos were made for producer Spencer Proffer, and he's the one that suggested the "Where do we go now?" breakdown at the end of the song (thanks, Spence).
While the band was pretty ambivalent to the song, the public quickly became obsessed. "Sweet Child o' Mine" became Guns N' Roses' first and only #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and helped push their debut album "Appetite for Destruction" to around 30 million sales worldwide. Nowadays, the band has mixed feelings about the track. They're grateful for the success it helped them achieve but a little resentful that the pieces they worked harder on never reached the same level.