How the Rolling Stones’ ‘Street Fighting Man’ Riff and Mick Jagger’s Swagger Shaped Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Welcome to the Jungle’

The main riff of Guns N’ Roses’ “Welcome to the Jungle” was directly inspired by the Rolling Stones’ “Street Fighting Man.” Slash has said he was trying to capture that same open-G tuning, loose, chugging groove — the way Keith Richards lets the fifth string drone and the riff seems to stumble forward. The verse guitar part in “Jungle” even echoes the rhythmic hiccup of the Stones’ 1968 classic.

Beyond the riff, Axl Rose has repeatedly pointed to Mick Jagger’s stage