Guns N’ Roses – Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Live At Wembley Stadium 1992)

Guns N’ Roses performing Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door, at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in Wembley Stadium, London, England, 1992.

“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” – Song by Guns N’ Roses from the album Days of Thunder (soundtrack).
Released in 1990.
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producers: Mike Clink and Guns N’ Roses

In 1987, American hard rock band Guns N’ Roses started performing the song. A live version of the song was released on the 12-inch single of “Welcome to the Jungle” the same year. They recorded and released a studio version in 1990 for the soundtrack of the film Days of Thunder that reached No. 18 on the US Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart and No. 56 on Canada’s RPM 100 Hit Tracks chart.

Guns N’ Roses have covered songs by a lot of other artists. Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” however, has been part of their live show since the late 1980s, and they included a studio version on 1991’s Use Your Illusion II. So, what’s the real reason they chose to cover the track, which has been reimagined by tons of other musicians over the years?

Though the band has often dedicated the song to people who’ve died during their concerts, they started playing it after Axl Rose had an apparent brush with death. According to the unauthorized biography Watch You Bleed: The Saga of Guns N’ Roses, which was written by Stephen Davis, the frontman had gotten into a fight with a police officer outside of the Cathouse in Los Angeles in June of 1987 and wound up in the hospital for a few days, but didn’t remember much of the experience.

“Two days later I woke up, tied to the bed with some wires running into me,” the singer recalled.

This instance, as noted by Davis, caused Rose to have “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” stuck in his head afterward. Thus, he and Slash came up with the idea to cover it, despite being reluctant at first because it had already been done by so many other artists.
(Source: Loudwire, March 8,2023)