The Guns N’ Roses Song Axl Rose Imitated Lynyrd Skynyrd

Unfortunately, Ronnie Van Zandt was destined to leave us too soon, before he had the chance to rock the stages as much as he wanted and create more memorable songs. He bid farewell to all his loved ones when he boarded the infamous airplane in the late ’70s, right when Lynyrd Skynyrd was becoming a sensational act.

Even though the frontman died when he was only in his early 30s, his legacy didn’t fade away into the abyss of long-forgotten musicians. Van Zandt’s legacy carried on with every Lynryd Skynyrd record, every show of the band, and with millions of fans both in the States and worldwide. His remaining bandmates and brothers ensured that Van Zandt lived on.

The band’s legacy was quite vibrant when the then relatively new band, Guns N’ Roses, produced their debut, as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s tunes deeply inspired Axl Rose. Even though the two bands might differ in style due to GN’R’s rock and roll vibe, the Southern band was influential when one of the most well-known tracks of GN’R was being composed.

Axl Rose might seem like your usual womanizer rock star but deep down, or at least in the late ’80s; he was quite the lover. You see, he was so much in love with his then-girlfriend, later wife, Erin Everly, that he would write intimate poems for her, and how cute was that? Well, not much since the pair’s relationship quickly deteriorated, and they divorced less than a year after their marriage.

However, Axl’s one particular poem became the lyrics of one of the most cult sounds of the late 80’s rock scene. You see, ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ was written for Erin Everly, but the melody, which initially originated from a random Slash jamming session, was inspired by Lynyrd Skynyrd, as Rose had discussed in 1987 for the band’s first interview in the UK.

“I’m from Indiana,” mentioned Axl as he emphasized the importance of Lynyrd Skynyrd in his home state, “where Lynyrd Skynyrd are considered God to the point that you ended up saying, ‘I hate this f*cking band!’ And yet for ‘Sweet Child,’ I went out and got some old Skynyrd tapes to ensure we’d got that heartfelt feeling.”

So, even though he was a bit fed up with Lynyrd Skynyrd, the rocker still went on to buy some records of the band to derive inspiration for the sound of the ever-iconic ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’ So, with a bit of a fusion of Axl’s love for Erin Everly, Slash’s random but inspiring jamming, and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s legacy, the iconic track was composed and became one of the most popular sounds of GN’R.