“Sweet Child o' Mine” was written by the members of Guns N' Roses. During a jam at the band's house on the Sunset Strip, Slash began a melody that became the guitar riff, Izzy Stradlin built the chords, Duff McKagan wrote the bassline and Steven Adler planned the beat, while Axl Rose wrote the lyrics, reportedly inspired by his girlfriend Erin Everly and by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The bridge and guitar solo were added in Burbank, and producer Spencer Proffer suggested the breakdown.
The original recording appeared on the album Appetite for Destruction, released on 21 July 1987 by Geffen and produced by Mike Clink, a hard rock song with English lyrics. Released as a single in the United States in June 1988, it topped the Billboard Hot 100, the band's only US number one, and reached number 24 in the UK in 1988 and number six after a remixed re-release in May 1989. Cash Box called it a medium tempo rocker with a nice breakdown. Nigel Dick's 1987 video, shot at Mendiola's Ballroom, helped it reach MTV audiences. Its intro riff was voted the top riff of all time by Total Guitar readers, and the guitar solo ranks 37th on Guitar World's list of the 100 greatest guitar solos. The song has been widely covered and appears in Thor: Love and Thunder and Cobra Kai.
