Sweet Child O' Mine

Guns N' Roses, 1987. Solo by Slash.

A singing Les Paul lead over the verses, then a wah-soaked breakdown. It is the rare hit single whose solo is as famous as its riff.

Slash actually plays two lead passages here. The first is a slow, singing melody over the bridge chords, played on a handmade copy of a 1959 Les Paul through a Marshall, and it was Axl Rose's favourite moment in the song. The second arrives in the 'where do we go now' breakdown, where Slash kicks on a wah pedal and the lead turns rawer and more vocal. He said the section grew naturally out of the chord changes, and that organic quality is why it sits so comfortably inside a pop hit. Listen for the switch between the two moods: clean, sustained melody first, then a tougher, talking wah voice as the song darkens.

Sweet Child O' Mine by Guns N' Roses is ranked #6 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Slash and the song was released in 1987. It appears on 52 lists, placing as high as #1 (NME).

The story of Sweet Child O' Mine

The song started almost as a joke. During a jam at the band's house near the Sunset Strip, Slash began playing a looping, circus-like figure as a finger exercise, pulling faces at drummer Steven Adler as he did it. Izzy Stradlin asked him to play it again and started adding chords underneath; Duff McKagan found a bass line and Adler a beat. Axl Rose, listening from upstairs, was inspired and finished a set of lyrics by the next afternoon.

Rose wrote the words about his girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of the Everly Brothers' Don Everly, building on a poem he had been working on. He said he looked to Lynyrd Skynyrd as a model for the song's heartfelt feel. The two later married in 1990, though the marriage lasted less than a year. The bridge and guitar solo were added at a later writing session in Burbank.

While the band demoed the song with producer Spencer Proffer, he suggested a breakdown near the end. Searching for what came next, Rose began muttering 'where do we go now?', and Proffer encouraged him to sing it, creating the song's famous closing section. The finished track was recorded in Los Angeles in 1987 with Mike Clink producing for the debut album Appetite for Destruction.

Geffen released it as a US single on 3 June 1988, backed by a Nigel Dick video shot in a Huntington Park ballroom that featured the band members' girlfriends. Heavy MTV rotation helped push the song to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1988. Rose disliked the radio edit, which trimmed what he called his favourite part: Slash's slow solo.

The solo

Slash recorded his parts with a handmade copy of a 1959 Gibson Les Paul built by luthier Kris Derrig, running through a Marshall for the main guitar tracks, with a Roland Jazz Chorus used for clean verse sounds. The song actually features two lead passages. The first is a slow, singing solo over the bridge chords that Axl Rose said was his favourite moment of the song. The second arrives in the 'where do we go now' breakdown, where Slash switches to a wah pedal for a more aggressive, vocal-sounding lead. Slash has said the solo section was his saving grace in a song he considered too much of an uptempo ballad, describing it as an organic part that developed naturally from the chord changes.

Legacy

The song gave Guns N' Roses their only US No. 1 and helped make Appetite for Destruction the best-selling debut album in American history. Its intro riff topped a Total Guitar readers' poll of the greatest riffs, Guitar World placed the solo at No. 37 among the greatest guitar solos, and Rolling Stone ranked the song No. 88 in its 2021 list. In 2019 its video became the first from the 1980s to pass a billion YouTube views. Slash, ironically, spent years saying the song's success made him sick.

Top 10 facts about Sweet Child O' Mine

The famous riff began as a circus-like warm-up exercise Slash played while clowning around with Steven Adler.
Wikipedia
Slash used a handmade 1959 Les Paul copy built by Kris Derrig, with a Marshall for the main tracks and a Roland Jazz Chorus for clean parts.
MusicRadar
The 'where do we go now' breakdown came from producer Spencer Proffer encouraging Axl Rose to sing the words he was muttering during the demo.
Wikipedia
Axl Rose complained that the radio edit cut Slash's slow solo, which he called his favourite part of the song.
Wikipedia
The lyrics were written about Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly; she and Rose married in Las Vegas in April 1990.
Songfacts
Slash's wah-driven lead placed No. 3 on a 2015 Guitar World list of the greatest wah solos.
Songfacts
Every band member's girlfriend appears in the Nigel Dick music video, along with Izzy Stradlin's dog.
Wikipedia
Rose's original video concept, involving drug-smuggling imagery, was rejected by Geffen.
Wikipedia
In October 2019 it became the first 1980s music video to reach one billion YouTube views.
Songfacts
Sheryl Crow's much-criticised 1999 cover still won her the Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
Wikipedia

Live versions

Live Era '87–'93 (1999) Official Guns N' Roses live compilation featuring a seven-minute-plus rendition.
Live in Manchester (Slash with Myles Kennedy) (2010) Slash's solo-era version recorded at Manchester Academy, sung by Myles Kennedy.
Glastonbury Festival (2023) Headline performance that sent the song back into the UK Top 40.

Notable covers

Sheryl Crow (1999) Country-flavoured version for Big Daddy, produced by Rick Rubin; won a Grammy despite harsh reviews.
Taken by Trees (2009) Gentle version for a John Lewis Christmas ad; UK No. 23 and Indie No. 1.
Akasha featuring Neneh Cherry (1998) Moody trip-hop reworking with Neneh Cherry on vocals.
Postmodern Jukebox featuring Miche Braden Vintage Dixieland-swing arrangement from the retro-cover collective.
Gregorian Recast as a Gregorian-chant style choral piece.

In our lists

The Most-Taught Solos — #5
See Them Live — #3
The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #44
The Road Trip 50 — #1
The 25 Greatest Hard Rock Guitar Solos — #2
The 1980s — #1
Wah & Talk Box Solos — #1
Solos in Hit Singles — #1
Best of Slash — #1
Played on a Les Paul — #2
Most Agreed-Upon — #6
Critics' Picks — #2
Fans' Picks — #4

Sources

Who played the guitar solo on Sweet Child O' Mine?

Slash played the solo on Guns N' Roses's Sweet Child O' Mine (1987).

What guitar was used on the Sweet Child O' Mine solo?

A gibson les paul replica through a Marshall amp, with wah, according to widely reported accounts.

Where does Sweet Child O' Mine rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#6 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 52 of them.

Who wrote Sweet Child O' Mine?

It is credited to all five members: Axl Rose, Slash, Izzy Stradlin, Duff McKagan and Steven Adler.

Who is Sweet Child O' Mine about?

Axl Rose wrote it about his girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of Don Everly.

What guitar did Slash use on Sweet Child O' Mine?

A handmade 1959 Les Paul replica by Kris Derrig, played mainly through a Marshall amp.

Was Sweet Child O' Mine a number one hit?

Yes, it reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1988, the band's only US chart-topper.

Does the Sweet Child O' Mine solo use a wah pedal?

The second lead, in the 'where do we go now' section, uses a wah pedal; the first solo is a slow melodic passage.