Ian Hunter’s Once Bitten, Twice Shy is one of those rock ’n’ roll songs with a winding, unexpected journey. Written by the former Mott the Hoople frontman and released in 1975. The original single reached the UK Top 20 and became part of Hunter’s solo legacy.
But for most fans in the United States the song is inseparable from Great White’s 1989 cover. Which quickly became the band’s biggest commercial hit. That version reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and anchored the album …Twice Shy.
There’s a twist in this tale that gets whispered among rock historians and Guns N’ Roses fans: Axl Rose and Slash almost made it their own first.
Slash Found the Song for GNR
According to long-circulating interviews with Ian Hunter, it was actually Slash who brought Once Bitten, Twice Shy to the attention of Guns N’ Roses first. Hunter has said that Slash “found the song and wanted it for Guns N’ Roses,” but because both GNR and Great White shared the same manager at the time, the track ended up going to Great White instead.
In the original newspaper interview where Hunter discussed the cover’s aftermath, he reflected on the commercial fates of the two versions with a dry-eyed realism that cuts right to the heart of rock’s business: “At the end of the day you’re talking money,” Hunter said. And then he weighed the hypotheticals. “If Guns N’ Roses had played it, it would have been on an album that sold 7.1 million copies, compared to Great White’s, which sold about 2.9 million.”
Whether or not precisely 7.1 million or 2.9 million is etched in a record book, the scale of the point is stark: Hunter believed the song’s impact .. and his own royalties would have been much bigger with GNR’s blockbuster reach.
Great White’s Version Became Iconic Anyway
Great White’s Once Bitten, Twice Shy didn’t just chart; it became a hair-metal staple at the height of MTV’s influence. That big, shuffling piano line, the gang vocals in the chorus, and Jack Russell’s impassioned vocal made the cover feel like its own era’s rallying cry.
Oddly enough, the story behind the song’s inclusion on …Twice Shy points to the instrumental role Izzy Stradlin played in introducing the band to the song and its fit for Great White’s then-broader blues-rock heft.
Axl, Slash, and What Might Have Been
For Guns N’ Roses, the decision not to record Once Bitten, Twice Shy fits a pattern of GNR charting its own path. The band often ignoring radio formulas and covers in favor of their gritty original pieces. Appetite for Destruction, Use Your Illusion, and their extended catalog all showcase Axl’s ambition to push the band forward on its own terms.
But imagine a world where Guns N’ Roses dropped Once Bitten, Twice Shy in 1988-89. In a peak moment of rock commercialism with GNR selling millions worldwide… that single might have become another link in their legacy chain. Rather than a signature moment for a peer band.
Instead, Great White’s cover stands as a monument to how a well-placed song. Even one not originally written by the band, can define a career. Sometimes to the frustration of the original creator…
Sources Cited
- Ian Hunter interview excerpts discussing “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” and Guns N’ Roses
Referenced via fan-archived discussions and re-circulated press quotes where Hunter addresses Slash’s interest in the song and compares projected sales impact between Great White and Guns N’ Roses.
Source context preserved through MyGNRForum archival threads and secondary reporting. - MyGNRForum.com, “GNR, Great White and the ‘Once Bitten Twice Shy’ cover” thread
Long-running fan forum aggregating historical interviews, press clippings, and first-hand fan research regarding Guns N’ Roses’ interest in the song and management overlap with Great White.
Useful for tracing the Slash connection and Ian Hunter’s quoted sales comparison. - YouTube Short: “Ian Hunter on Once Bitten Twice Shy and Guns N’ Roses”
URL: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wELV-53m8Yc
Short-form video clip circulating Hunter’s remarks about the song’s commercial trajectory and his belief that it would have sold substantially more copies with Guns N’ Roses. - Wikipedia, “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” (song entry)
Provides verified release history, songwriting credits, chart performance for both Ian Hunter’s original version and Great White’s 1989 cover.
Used strictly for baseline factual verification. - Billboard chart archives
Referenced for Great White’s 1989 Once Bitten, Twice Shy single performance on the Billboard Hot 100 and album sales context for …Twice Shy.
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