“Sweet Child O’ Mine” was the first hit single by American band Guns N’ Roses.
It was their breakthrough hit, and to this day, it remains one of their most popular songs. The song became a rock classic and made stars out of GNR. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” was released in 1988 and topped the Billboard Hot 100 charts. It was a true blessing in disguise for Guns N’ Roses and earned them a place in music history.
There are many cover versions of this famous song and they range across the musical spectrum. Still, this video features an acoustic cover that makes things particularly interesting.
The performer is guitarist Naudo Rodrigues, who has been surfing on the tides of YouTube for years now.
Over the years, Rodrigues has released covers of many popular songs including “Sailing” by Rod Stewart, “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” by Edith Piaf, Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” and Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” After digging a little deeper, we found out that Rodrigues has played guitar since he was five years old.
Though he never went to music school, he uses a well-practiced flamenco-style technique.
This video was filmed in front of a small Italian restaurant called Monkey Bravo Italia, in Playa de las Americas, Tenerife, Spain.
His original interpretation and fingerstyle are enviable and he doesn’t shy away from foot-tapping or finger-drumming either. Rodrigues’s way of making his guitar sound like several instruments at once is impressive.
A couple sitting in the background seemed to rediscover their love while listening to this guitar master!
Rodrigues is not intrusive—he sits in his spot, playing guitar and charming his audience.
There are a lot of restaurant guests around him, sitting at their tables and languishing in the beautiful melody. The most charming is a couple sitting behind Rodrigues. Throughout the video, we can see them hugging, holding hands and smiling at each other as the song plays on. It’s beautiful to see the power of music and the way it can awaken these deep feelings! For his part, Rodrigues has a special skill of hearing and feeling his guitar which leads to superb covers like this one.
Though it goes without saying, Rodrigues deserves guitar hero status!
The entire time, Rodrigues totally reinvents this old classic.
His harmonizations are perfect, and it rarely happens that a musician re-invents a song. Even so, he’s so talented that he made this a small masterpiece all over again and nailed his rendition. The most impressive thing about his performance is that he played it as if it was very easy! He’s so relaxed with the guitar and takes his time with every note, all habits of a top-level guitar player. Rodrigues’s cover is probably one of the best covers of this song. After all, when a guy takes a song like this and makes it sound great on acoustic guitar, we’ve got to admit he knows what he’s doing.
This version of “Sweet Child O’ Mine” got over four million views on YouTube!
Though the video was successful online, this is nothing new for Rodrigues!
As it turns out, Rodrigues has been on the scene for decades and has worked with all kinds of different musicians. He recorded his first album “Vento Norte” in 1982, with the group Karetas. In 2002, Rodrigues released another album titled “Alone With My Guitar” title as well, both of which are available on various streaming platforms. Needless to say, Rodrigues is definitely an underappreciated talent!
Be sure to watch the entire performance in the link below:
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