Slash Notoriously Disliked This Guns N’ Roses Classic, but How Could You After Hearing This Carrie Underwood Cover?

Carrie Underwood took her career in country music far beyond the stage of American Idol. While winning season 4, that was just the start as Underwood went on to sell over 95 million albums, win numerous awards, and even appeared on shows like How I Met Your Mother, Blue Bloods, and Nashville. Add that with her helming the NFL Sunday Night Football anthem, and Underwood is nothing short of a powerhouse. But even with enough hit songs to sing, the hitmaker once showcased her love for rock when covering “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” 

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Back in 2012, the Boots & Hearts Music Festival promoted performances by Alabama, Big & Rich, Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Tim McGraw, and Lionel Richie. Adding her name to the lineup, Underwood wanted to make her performance truly memorable. Instead of singing “Before He Cheats” or “Jesus, Take the Wheel”, she hoped to highlight the legacy of Guns N’ Roses. 

Released on the album, Appetite for Destruction, “Sweet Child O’ Mine” crushed the charts in 1988, snagging No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the US Cash Box Top 100. And over the decades that followed, the song was covered by another country singer, Sheryl Crow.

Guitarist Slash notoriously disliked the hit GNR track early on, telling WEBN Radio “I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t fond of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine. His opinion of the song has since softened, noting “it’s become one of the big tentpole songs in the set. So it is what it is” during an interview with Guitar.com.

I’d like to think Carrie’s rocking cover of the song at least partially helped Slash come around to the classic tune.

[RELATED: “There Is No Tribute to Women in Country That Could Ever Top This” Carrie Underwood Medley at the Grand Ole Opry]

Fans Declare Carrie Underwood To Be A “Rockstar”

While “Sweet Child O’ Mine” wasn’t in the genre of country music, Underwood’s talents went far beyond Nashville. And for fans, they completely loved hearing her take on the rock classic.

With fans praising her cover, many pointed to the fact that Underwood didn’t try to make the song her own. Instead, she only honored its legacy. “I love how she doesn’t change the lyrics to match her gender. She leaves the words the way she found them, instead of saying something like ‘he’s got a smile that it seems to me…’”

While over a decade has passed since Underwood took the stage at the Boots & Hearts Music Festival, her cover of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” still stands as a reminder of her versatility and fearless approach to music. And if that wasn’t enough, it proved that Underwood is more than just country music.    

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)