Song · Guns N Roses
“Rocket Queen” by Guns N Roses
From the album Appetite for Destruction (1987)
“Rocket Queen” by Guns N Roses appears on 8 radio countdowns from 5 stations between 1990 and 2025. It was first released in 1987 on the album Appetite for Destruction. Its best result is #85 on the 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #1,533 classic rock song of all time.
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"Rocket Queen" comes off Guns N' Roses' debut, Appetite for Destruction, released on Geffen in July 1987, and it's as grimy and swaggering as anything on it. The riff goes back further than the band: Slash and Duff McKagan came up with it in Road Crew, the short-lived outfit they had with Steven Adler before Guns N' Roses. All five members share the writing, Mike Clink produced and engineered, and Michael Barbiero and Steve Thompson mixed.
Axl Rose wrote it for a woman who planned to start a band called Rocket Queen and who, as he put it, helped keep him going; the booklet credits one "Barbi (Rocket Queen) Von Greif". The track also folds in the moans of a woman, Adriana Smith, recorded with Rose, yet Rose meant its closing section as a message of hope and friendship.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Classic Rock
Hard Rock & Metal
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 379 | Z-Rock | Z-Rock Top 1001 Songs of All-Time (1990) | 1000 |
| 2002 | 399 | KISW | KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002) | 999 |
| 2013 | 85 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR CT 500 (2013) | 500 |
| 2021 | 538 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2021) | 1043 |
| 2021 | 417 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ 500 (2021) | 500 |
| 2022 | 418 | 106.7 WLLZ | WLLZ Rock N Roll 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2022 | 350 | 99.1 PLR | 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) | 500 |
| 2025 | 573 | Q104.3 | Q104.3 Top 1,043 Classic Rock Songs of All Time (2025) | 1043 |
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