Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine” First 80s Music Video to Hit One Billion Views on YouTube

Posted by on October 16, 2019

Guns N’ Roses have made history as the video for their hit single “Sweet Child O’ Mine” has become the first music video released in the 1980s to reach one billion views on YouTube.

“#GNR fam made this moment. #SweetChildOMine has hit over 1 billion views on @youtubemusic 🌹,” reads a post from the band on their Twitter feed.

“Sweet Child O’ Mine” was released in 1988 on the band’s debut album Appetite for Destruction. Written about frontman Axl Rose’s ex-wife Erin Everly, it became the band’s first and only number one hit. Two videos were made for the song, one shot only in black and white (the one that reached one billion views), the other split between black and white and color, though both featured clips of the band and their then-girlfriends. These videos were also the first instance of frontman Axl Rose’s infamous “snake dance.”

YouTube Music also celebrated the milestone on their Twitter feed with a video post saying “ONE BILLION VIEWS 🎉 Welcome back @gunsnroses 🏆. ”

“Sweet Child O’ Mine leads the next closest ‘80s video, a-ha’s 1986 hit “Take On Me,” by more than 50 million views.

Guns N’ Roses also hold the record for first 1990s music video to hit one billion views on YouTube. The video for “November Rain” hit that milestone in July of 2018, which also made it the oldest music video with one billion views on the site at the time. That title has since been claimed by Queen’s 1975 hit “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Guns N’ Roses are currently finishing up a string of North American ‘Not In This Lifetime’ tour dates, which includes an appearance at the Voodoo Music Festival in New Orleans, LA on October 25 and wraps up with two dates at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV on November 1 & 2.

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