On 10 September 1988, Guns N' Roses topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with "Sweet Child o' Mine," a milestone that cemented the band's mainstream breakthrough. The ballad began as a poem Axl Rose wrote for his then-girlfriend Erin Everly, daughter of Everly Brothers member Don Everly, before the band turned it into their signature hit.

The song was Guns N' Roses' third single, following the initially unsuccessful "It's So Easy" and "Welcome to the Jungle," and spent three weeks at No. 1 after its June 1988 release, remaining the band's only chart-topping single. Rose and Everly married in 1990 but split acrimoniously the following year after a turbulent relationship; guitarist Slash, meanwhile, has long said he disliked the song's chord progression and its now-iconic intro, though he considers his solo's underlying chords its "redeeming part."