Guns N’ Roses Took the World by Storm with This Game-Changing 1987 Classic
Guns N' Roses' 1987 single "Welcome to the Jungle" has become one of rock's most instantly recognisable opening tracks, now regularly played at sporting events and used in films and adverts, and it currently opens the band's live setlist as they begin the North American leg of their tour in Raleigh, North Carolina. Despite its later ubiquity, the song was not an immediate success on release, and its rocky path to prominence is a reminder that even now-iconic hits often struggled to gain initial traction with gatekeepers such as MTV and radio.
The track, the first song the full band wrote together, was reportedly composed in around three hours, built from a riff guitarist Slash had already been playing, with drummer Steven Adler, bassist Duff McKagan and singer Axl Rose quickly adding parts; Slash created the song's tense intro using a cheap Boss guitar pedal. Released in the US in September 1987 as the lead single from debut album "Appetite for Destruction" (which followed the UK's first single, "It's So Easy"), the album initially sold poorly and barely charted, while MTV was reluctant to give the "Welcome to the Jungle" video mainstream exposure, instead slotting it into the new, niche Headbangers Ball programme before wider airplay eventually turned its fortunes around.
In short
- "Welcome to the Jungle" now regularly opens Guns N' Roses' live shows.
- The band's first jointly written song, reportedly finished in three hours.
- MTV and radio initially resisted the 1987 single before it broke through.
Explained simply
"Welcome to the Jungle" is a rock single released by Guns N' Roses in 1987. The song has become one of the most recognisable opening tracks in rock music and is now regularly featured at sporting events and in films and adverts worldwide.
Guns N' Roses released "Welcome to the Jungle" as the lead single from their debut album "Appetite for Destruction". The track was the first song the band wrote together as a complete unit, composed in roughly three hours, with guitarist Slash, drummer Steven Adler, bassist Duff McKagan and singer Axl Rose each contributing to its creation.
The song's path to prominence was not straightforward. When released in September 1987, the album struggled commercially and barely charted, whilst MTV was reluctant to broadcast the accompanying music video, initially only airing it on a niche programme called Headbangers Ball. The song's eventual rise in popularity came gradually through wider radio play, demonstrating that even now-iconic hits often face resistance from industry gatekeepers on their initial release.