What makes it historic? A riff born from nothing, turned into a global smash and one of the first that non-guitarists still know by heart. If you’re 45 and still air-guitaring this is your warp-drive.
1. Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses (1987) The riff that transformed a bar band into arena rulers. Slash says he didn’t casually warm-up this lick he was ripping around his L.A. pad in ’86 when it hit. With a Les Paul in hand, Slash knocks out those notes while rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin lays down the chords. Then singer Axl Rose overhears it, scribbles lyrics and boom: the sound of ’80s rock lightning.
2. Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi (1986) Here’s the riff that said: We might be working-class losers, but we’re winning anyway. Richie Sambora’s talk-box guitar riff gave the track its unmistakable voice. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Sambora and Desmond Child, the story-song of Tommy & Gina became the soundtrack of hope. That riff is a masterstroke: simultaneously rough, catchy and arena-sized. If you ever raised a beer at a chorus shouting “Whoa-oh!”, that riff is the reason.
3. Here I Go Again – Whitesnake (1982/87) Out of heartbreak and blues roots comes one of the defining riffs of the 80s. Co-written by Bernie Marsden and David Coverdale while Coverdale was holed up in Portugal writing about a breakup. That opening chord and rhythm guitar swagger were tailor-made for MTV-glam rock and the ’87 re-release made it huge. Whether you were in a convertible or blasting it through car speakers, it felt like defiance. It’s the riff for the moment you decide you’re done with excuses and you’re stepping out, again.
Three riffs. T hree snapshots of the 80s when rock was big, bold and unapologetic.
