Guns N’ Roses ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ Is First ’80s Video to Reach A Billion Views
Congrats to Guns N' Roses — "Sweet Child O' Mine" is the first '80s music video to reach a billion views on YouTube.
Guns N' Roses made their debut on MTV in 1987 with "Welcome to the Jungle," but it was "Sweet Child O' Mine" that really made the band explode in popularity. The video, which there are two versions of — a black and white version and a combined black and white-color version — shows the band performing the track in front of their bullet logo, with cutscenes of the members' girlfriends. It's also the onscreen debut of Axl Rose's signature snake dance.
"Sweet Child" was written by Rose about his ex-wife Erin Everly — model and daughter of Don Everly of the Everly Brothers.
GN'R are no strangers to breaking video records. "November Rain" was the oldest music video on YouTube to reach a billion views up until recently, when Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" took the throne. It's still the only video from the '90s to have hit the billion views benchmark, which makes Guns N' Roses the band with the top viewed video from the '80s and '90s. The runner-up for the '80s is a-ha with "Take on Me," and the second place for the '90s is Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
Watch the video below, for nostalgia's sake.
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