Slash Reveals ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ Riff Was Spontaneous, Reflects on Band Dynamics and Iconic Solos

While Guns N' Roses was practicing one day, a simple guitar pattern turned into the popular "Sweet Child O' Mine" riff. The creator of this famous tune wasn't sold on it at first. "I have to admit I did have a thing with it. It was a riff I came up with, and I didn't know what I was going to do with it. I wasn't really thinking about it at the time, but it inspired the whole song," said Slash to Guitar World.

The soft sound didn't match their usual style. "I always say this, but to me, we were like a Motorhead-type hard rock band, so any kind of ballads were sort of uncongressed. But it really became part of our set." Back when they opened shows for Ted Nugent, playing the tune brought its own stress. "Of course, I had to remember how to play the riff accurately by myself in front of everybody every time we played, which, at the time, I was a little drunk, and you never knew what was going to happen." Slash added.

Bad blood between Slash and singer Axl Rose led to a split in 1996. Twenty years passed before they shared a stage again in 2016. These days, things run smoother with the band. 

Slash says that he loves working with guitarist Richard Fortus and they make a great team. He also enjoys playing with bassist Duff McKagan. Looking back, he points to outside forces for the group's past troubles. He said that management contributed to conflicts between him and Axl Rose. Slash often improvises guitar solos, and he created excellent riffs for "November Rain" and "Welcome to the Jungle."