“Sweet Child o Mine” Is His Most Lucrative Song According To G N’ R’s Slash

Guns N' Roses fans have purchased and downloaded millions of copies of "Sweet Child o' Mine" since its release in 1988, but non-Guns versions also and put a serious chunk of change into the pockets of Slash and its other co-writers.  In fact, when asked by the U.K.'s Metro, Slash admits that "Sweet Child o' Mine" is his most lucrative song, "because it's the most covered," adding, "There are some really good instrumental versions for the piano or violin but I've been horrified by some muzak versions."

The music that Slash made with Guns obviously influenced many hard-rock acts that emerged in the group's wake, but what bands inspired Slash when he was growing up?  The guitar legend, who spent his early childhood years in Stoke-on-Trent, England, says living in the the U.K. actually played a large role in shaping his early musical tastes.  "That's where it all started for me," he explained.  "I was raised listening to The Yardbirds, The Stones, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, The Beatles, The Who, all that stuff.  I picked up the guitar way later but I had a healthy dose of musical influences growing up."

Slash said that his musical taste began to expand when he was a teenager.  He says, "Ted Nugent was great, Cheap Trick was great. Obviously, Led Zeppelin.  The Cars' first album was great.  Elvis Costello was great, The Sex Pistols, Black Sabbath, of course, came along.  Thin Lizzy. That all had a huge influence on me when I first discovered my own sort of music as a teenager."

However, Slash admits, "I grew up on my parents' music, which is stuff that has more influence on me than any of that, which is anything from Stevie Wonder and old Elton John and Yardbirds and Cream."

As a teenager, Slash was learning guitar and developing his own style.  He says that Aerosmith's Rocks was his favorite album at that time.  He tells ABC News Radio, "When I first started playing the guitar, I was 15 and I was sort of rebellious.  Good kid, but just hated authority.  And the kind of music I identified with at that time was the Aerosmith Rocks record.  That was the be all, end all answer to my mentality, and it spoke to me big time."