GUNS N’ ROSES‘ classic power ballad “Sweet Child O’ Mine” has surpassed one billion streams on Spotify. The achievement comes less than two years after the song became the first music video from the 1980s to rock its way into YouTube‘s Billion Views Club. A year earlier, the 1992 video for GN’R epic masterpiece “November Rain”, broke records as the first video from the 1990s to reach one billion views.
GUNS N’ ROSES injected unbridled attitude into the burgeoning Los Angeles rock scene and went on to captivate the entire world with the July 21, 1987 release of “Appetite For Destruction”, which remains the best-selling U.S. debut album ever, selling more than 30 million copies globally.
GUNS N’ ROSES‘ staying power is undeniable. With more than 9.2 million YouTube subscribers and record-breaking videos across decades, the band and their iconic music continues to inspire. Their loyal legion of hard-rocking fans from all over the world keep coming back to their classic videos, making them one of the top 200 most viewed artists globally on YouTube.
In a 2014 interview, GUNS N’ ROSES guitarist Slash said that he wasn’t fond of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” when it was first written. He explained: “GUNS N’ ROSES was always a real hardcore, sort of, AC/DC kind of hard rock band with a lot of attitude. If we did any kind of ballads, it was bluesy. This was an uptempo ballad. That’s one of the gayest things you can write. But at the same time, it’s a great song — I’m not knocking it — but at the time, it just did not fit in with the rest of our, sot of, schtick. And, of course, it would be the biggest hit we ever had.”
Slash told Metro nearly a decade ago that “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was the most lucrative song he has composed. He said: “It’s the most covered [song I have ever written]. There are some really good instrumental versions for the piano or violin, but I’ve been horrified by some muzak versions. I’ve been sitting in a doctor’s office thinking, ‘That sounds familiar,’ and then realizing it’s someone’s interpretation of what I’ve written. That can be a creepy feeling.”
