Slash wrote the guitar intro to Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child O' Mine "to get rid of the song"

1 February 2024, 13:10

Slash fron Guns N'Roses in 1994. Picture: Brian Rasic/Getty Images

By Jenny Mensah

According to his fellow Guns N' Roses rocker Duff McKagan, Slash wasn't fond of the track and attempted to sabotage it.

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Slash's iconic intro to Sweet Child O' Mine was originally written as a form of sabotage.

Guns N' Roses rocker Duff McKagan spoke about the making of the track on the Songcraft podcast, where he revealed Slash didn't like the early beginnings of the track, which were presented to him as three chords by then-guitarist Izzy Stradlin.

"Izzy had the three chords," recalled McKagan. "OK, well that's... 'What do you do with that?'"

The bassist went on: "Axl Liked it: 'OK, well let's try and make this work somehow'. The intro for Sweet Child O' Mine, Slash just did not like the three D,C,G [chord progression]."

After revealing Slash told him: "'We've got to get rid of this song somehow,'" he said the rocker then composed a "twisted, atonal thing" in his efforts to ruin it.

Listen to the original track below:

Guns N' Roses - Sweet Child O' Mine (Official Music Video)

Despite this deliberate act of sabotage from the guitarist, who's real name is Saul Hudson, his efforts were of course in vain as the 1988 single went on to become their biggest hit yet.

"Of course that part to try to get rid of the song, totally worked,” said McKagan. "It was this amazing intro to the song, and suddenly we had this ballad. … It just goes to show that everything was clicking with that band at that point."

Sweet Child O' Mine was the first single released on the band's debut album Appetite For Destruction (1987).

Released in 1998, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became the band's only US number one single.