Who knew that Guns N’ Roses repped Ohio? (Also Indiana, where lead singer Axl Rose is from) Former GNR member and co-creator of this song Steven Adler was born in Cleveland, Ohio. The (controversial, Google him) future drummer later moved with his family as a child to Los Angeles, California.
Sweet Child o’ Mine was created at the house GNR lived in, in the Sunset Strip, with Adler working on the song’s beat. The song made it onto their debut album, Appetite for Destruction, and was the third single released from the LP. After the song dropped in June in 1988, it became a massive hit. Actually, a landscape altering hit. It went to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ending up GNR’s only number one hit.
Guns N’ Roses would go on to be a (again, controversial, and again, Google them) phenomenon. Steven Adler would end up getting kicked out of GNR for drug addiction, and bounce from different bands and reality shows in the next few decades. No matter what, Adler, and by extension, Ohio, is an important part of one of the biggest, game changing songs of all time. Now that is sweet.
Miami Valley Music Focus explores the places and people behind the music of Southwest, Ohio. This series is made possible by support from Ohio Arts Council.
