With fearlessly inventive fills and riotous riffage, the best guitarists of all time tore up the stage and created a rock’n’roll ruckus.
Many musicians have revolutionised music and helped define their respective eras. From zesty riffs to sprightly strumming, the thrum of distortion ringing out from six steel strings affixed to a piece of wood has never failed to awaken gig-goers to the transformative power of music. By plugging into their amps and cranking up the volume, the best guitarists of all time have also often harnessed flamboyant stage antics to their awe-inspiring musical prodigiousness, leaving us hungry for more life-changing experiences to satiate our appetites. These 20 iconic players electrified the world – and are still worth turning up to 11.
With his shimmering jangle-pop riffs complementing singer Morrissey’s bone-dry lyricism, The Smiths’ guitarist, Johnny Marr, spent much of the 80s as a luminary of the Manchester indie scene. The whirling sonic assault of How Soon Is Now? and the sparkly opening riff of This Charming Man amply demonstrate why Marr held such sway: he expertly combined the dour sunglasses-wearing demeanour of Keith Richards with the funk-tinged minimalist tones of Nile Rodgers. By uniting shoplifters of the world through his ringing guitar sound, Marr helped turn The Smiths into the band of a generation. Without Johnny Marr’s vivaciousness, the best The Smiths songs wouldn’t continue to be as inspiring or enduring as they are today.
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The disco explosion had its share of detractors, but Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers proved them wrong with his unique brand of sophisto-funk. Rodgers’ stripped-back approach to choppy yet danceable riffs, impeccably arranged funk grooves and angular soloing easily made him one of the best guitarists of the late 70s and early 80s, and his influence on new wave pop acts such as Duran Duran and even Madonna proves just how ahead of the curve he was. Headhunted by David Bowie to produce his commercial game-changer, Let’s Dance, Rodgers anticipated pop music’s drive towards clean tones and neat electronic rhythms. The best Chic songs would later be sampled on records such as Modjo’s Lady (Hear Me Tonight) and Fatman Scoop’s hip-hop banger Be Faithful, proving that, as the grand master of uptempo funk, Nile Rodgers remains one of the best guitarists of any era.
With his rip-roaringly quirky take on funk-rock, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante was one of the best guitarists to emerge from the 90s’ alternative scene. Deliriously eccentric and often idiosyncratic in his playing, his guitar work ranged from the jagged Parliament-esque funk of Give It Away to the gleaming slide guitar of Scar Tissue, as well as encompassing the melancholic inflections of Under The Bridge and the panoramic sweep of the Californication album’s title track. Having left and rejoined the band on multiple occasions, Frusciante is something of an on-off RHCP member, but they owe their distinctive sound to Frusciante’s sonic clout and his epic mastery of pedals and effects. Always experimenting with funky hooks and psychedelic textures, the guitarist instigated a revolution in sound.
Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young doesn’t always get the credit he deserves as a lead guitarist. The much-lauded “Godfather Of Grunge” pioneered a swampy, roots-based squall of noise (Like A Hurricane) and often flirted with meandering solos that toyed with dissonance (Down By The River). Young’s astonishing run of influential 70s albums often showcased both sides of his unique playing style – a mix of despairing acoustic country-rock and heavily distorted rock tracks with solos that threaten to blow the listener away. In tandem with his masterful songwriting, Young never gave up on pushing sonic boundaries in order to weather changing trends. Whether you treasure Heart Of Gold or you’re partial to Rockin’ In The Free World, Young has always been among the best guitarists, connecting the bohemian spirit of late-60s hippiedom with the world-weary angst of punk-inspired misfits.
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Few guitarists boast a sound that is distinctively their own, but Keith Richards’ love of drop tuning puts him ahead of the pack. Arguably The Rolling Stones’ heartbeat, Richards’ potent concoction of rock’n’roll, blues and R&B helped lay the foundations for the rise of the stadium-rock phenomenon in the latter part of the 20th century. First invading our ears with a fuzz box fanfare ((I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction) before tapping into the stirring power of gospel-rock (Gimme Shelter), Richards’ guitar-playing was a raucous, era-defining delight. Once the poster boy for drug-addled excess, he now enjoys a reputation befitting an elder statesman, and can easily lay claim to being one of rock’n’roll’s most influential guitarists.
We all know about Black Sabbath’s hard-rock credentials, but it cannot be said enough: without guitarist Tony Iommi’s doom-laden riffs, there would be no such thing as heavy metal. Conjuring a dark, ominous sound from the factories of Birmingham, Iommi developed his unique style in order to compensate for the loss of his fingertips in a welding accident. Forced to invent a whole new way of playing, the guitarist’s marriage of sinister single-note soloing and hellbound hammer-ons helped turn Black Sabbath into a force of nature, summoning the spirit of the blues but playing it with the gloomy, understated thump of a Wagnerian battle cry. Iommi deserves a huge amount of respect for the way he faced up to adversity and, in doing so, birthed a whole new genre of music.
There wasn’t a single soul on the planet who didn’t know about The Beatles in the 60s – though George Harrison was unfairly tagged as “The Quiet One”. Up against the indomitable songwriting duo of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, Harrison doesn’t get as much credit as he should for all the embellishments he added to their songs. It took him some time to blossom as a songwriter himself but, once he did, there was no stopping him: the guitarist penned some of The Beatles’ finest late-period tunes, among them the beautiful love ballad Something and the sun-worshippers’ anthem Here Comes The Sun, and he reached transcendence on his prayer-like solo anthem My Sweet Lord. Inspired by rockabilly icon Carl Perkins, Harrison brought a country-tinged twang to the British Invasion party and became adept at delivering sweet-sounding solos that roused spiritual longing and a reverence for nature. For this reason, he deserves recognition as one of the best guitarists in history.
The 100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time
A troubled soul but a supremely gifted musician, there was a time when Peter Green’s blues-rock windstorm left his peers in the dust. A master of sustain and highly emotive reverb, Green’s sky-scraping vibrato caused souls to swell with meditative instrumentals such as Albatross and his thrilling finger work on Oh Well. Mining his personal troubles to compose heart-rending ballads such as Man Of The World and the nightmarish psych-rock of The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown), Green proved that virtuosic acrobatics weren’t always necessary in order to tap into the essence of the blues. With his sweet tone and gleaming solos, the former Fleetwood Mac frontman wowed his contemporaries with a musical ingenuity that allowed him to shoulder-barge his way to the front line of his era’s best guitarists.
A versatile performer, Carlos Santana fused blues-rock feels with Latin American and Afro-inspired sounds, doing far more than most guitarists to widen the sonic scope of rock’n’roll. Working with his band, Santana, his cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Black Magic Woman gave a gypsy-tinged swing to Peter Green’s spellbinding composition, and his late-career comeback hit, Smooth, reminded the world of the upbeat, hip-swaying potential of transcendental Latin rock. Always inventive, Carlos Santana’s guitar playing was spirited and exemplary, lifting moods by verging on Caribbean-tinged fusion sounds while never losing touch with the carnival-esque flair of his Mexican roots. From performing at Woodstock to selling 100 million records worldwide, Santana deserves his status as one of the best guitarists, and is one of the most fiercely individualist talents to spring from the San Francisco music scene.
The undisputed “King Of The Blues”, BB King is one of the best guitarists to have electrified the blues and popularised it for mass audiences. Active from the 50s right up until his death, aged 89, in 2015, King was a seminal figurehead for many of the British blues-boom guitarists. With his stirring string bends and expressive vibrato, the Mississippi mavern took the guitar he nicknamed Lucille and expertly mined the blues for sorrowful exaltations (The Thrill Is Gone) and even toyed with funk-laced cuts that exposed racial injustice (Why I Sing The Blues). Despite often sticking to the pentatonic scale, King soared well beyond its limitations. Often emulated but never matched, he deserves to wear the crown more than anyone.
Most Influential Rock Guitarists Of All Time
As well as being a prolific songwriter, a bona fide pop star and all-round game-changing icon, Prince was also rightly regarded as a formidable guitarist. You only have to hear the sweeping majesty of Purple Rain or the eye-popping shredding at the start of When Doves Cry to understand why. Throughout the 80s and 90s, the best Prince songs offered a jaw-dropping mix of new-wave pop, funk-rock and R&B which, combined with his astute melodicism,
A troubled soul but a supremely gifted musician, there was a time when Peter Green’s blues-rock windstorm left his peers in the dust. A master of sustain and highly emotive reverb, Green’s sky-scraping vibrato caused souls to swell with meditative instrumentals such as Albatross and his thrilling finger work on Oh Well. Mining his personal troubles to compose heart-rending ballads such as Man Of The World and the nightmarish psych-rock of The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown), Green proved that virtuosic acrobatics weren’t always necessary in order to tap into the essence of the blues. With his sweet tone and gleaming solos, the former Fleetwood Mac frontman wowed his contemporaries with a musical ingenuity that allowed him to shoulder-barge his way to the front line of his era’s best guitarists.
A versatile performer, Carlos Santana fused blues-rock feels with Latin American and Afro-inspired sounds, doing far more than most guitarists to widen the sonic scope of rock’n’roll. Working with his band, Santana, his cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Black Magic Woman gave a gypsy-tinged swing to Peter Green’s spellbinding composition, and his late-career comeback hit, Smooth, reminded the world of the upbeat, hip-swaying potential of transcendental Latin rock. Always inventive, Carlos Santana’s guitar playing was spirited and exemplary, lifting moods by verging on Caribbean-tinged fusion sounds while never losing touch with the carnival-esque flair of his Mexican roots. From performing at Woodstock to selling 100 million records worldwide, Santana deserves his status as one of the best guitarists, and is one of the most fiercely individualist talents to spring from the San Francisco music scene.
The undisputed “King Of The Blues”, BB King is one of the best guitarists to have electrified the blues and popularised it for mass audiences. Active from the 50s right up until his death, aged 89, in 2015, King was a seminal figurehead for many of the British blues-boom guitarists. With his stirring string bends and expressive vibrato, the Mississippi mavern took the guitar he nicknamed Lucille and expertly mined the blues for sorrowful exaltations (The Thrill Is Gone) and even toyed with funk-laced cuts that exposed racial injustice (Why I Sing The Blues). Despite often sticking to the pentatonic scale, King soared well beyond its limitations. Often emulated but never matched, he deserves to wear the crown more than anyone.
Most Influential Rock Guitarists Of All Time
As well as being a prolific songwriter, a bona fide pop star and all-round game-changing icon, Prince was also rightly regarded as a formidable guitarist. You only have to hear the sweeping majesty of Purple Rain or the eye-popping shredding at the start of When Doves Cry to understand why. Throughout the 80s and 90s, the best Prince songs offered a jaw-dropping mix of new-wave pop, funk-rock and R&B which, combined with his astute melodicism,
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