Fact Finder - Music

Guns N' Roses' 'Sweet Child O' Mine' features one of the most famous guitar riffs in history, but guitarist Slash originally considered it a 'circus' melody and a joke. He was simply practicing a finger-exercise and making faces at his bandmates when Axl Rose heard the melody from upstairs and began writing lyrics. The song was completed in about five minutes. It became the band's only number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. Despite its success, Slash famously hated the song for years because of its 'sappy' nature compared to the band's harder rock roots. The track is also notable for its 'Where do we go now?' breakdown, which occurred because the band literally didn't know how to end the song during the recording session and Axl was asking the producer for direction while the mic was still hot.