Greatest
Guitarists

Redefined what the electric guitar could do. His fusion of blues, rock, and psychedelia at Woodstock and on Are You Experienced remains unmatched.

Three decades of genre-defining work from Cream to Unplugged. 'Layla' alone would cement his legacy.

Architect of hard rock. Led Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' and his layered studio wizardry changed rock forever.

The father of rock guitar. His duck-walk riffs invented the vocabulary every guitarist after him borrowed.

The king of the blues. His vibrato and string-bending on Lucille influenced every blues and rock guitarist alive.

The mythic origin point. His 1930s recordings contain the DNA of all modern rock and blues guitar.

Brought the blues back from the dead in the 1980s with ferocious technique and raw emotional power.

Pink Floyd's sonic architect. His solos on 'Comfortably Numb' are considered among the most emotionally resonant ever recorded.

Two-handed tapping and 'Eruption' rewrote the rulebook. Every shredder since owes him a debt.

Invented heavy metal guitar despite losing fingertips in an accident. Black Sabbath's riffs are the foundation of an entire genre.

The Rolling Stones' riff machine. Open-G tuning and raw swagger defined rock and roll attitude.

Fused Latin rhythms with rock and blues into a sound instantly recognizable from the first note.

The guitarist's guitarist. His technical innovation and refusal to repeat himself kept him ahead of everyone for 50 years.

The Who's windmill-armed visionary. Power chords and feedback as art form.

His slide guitar work on 'Layla' and the Allman Brothers' live albums set the standard for Southern rock.

Mr. Guitar. His fingerpicking technique and Nashville Sound production shaped country music for generations.

Played jazz guitar with only two functioning fingers and invented an entirely new style. The original guitar genius.

His thumb-picking technique and octave runs made him the most influential jazz guitarist of the post-bop era.

Not just a player — he invented the solid-body electric guitar and multitrack recording. The instrument owes him everything.

The top-hatted icon of Guns N' Roses. 'Sweet Child O' Mine' and 'November Rain' are defining rock guitar moments.

Dire Straits' fingerpicking genius. 'Sultans of Swing' announced a player unlike anyone before or since.

A modern blues master with pop sensibility. His tone and phrasing draw direct lineage from SRV and Hendrix.

AC/DC's schoolboy dynamo. His pentatonic riffs and relentless energy have powered rock stages for 50 years.

Pioneer of the guitar-bass-drums rock combo. His Stratocaster work influenced The Beatles directly.

His upside-down, left-handed playing style and aggressive string bends influenced Hendrix, Clapton, and SRV.

The Texas Cannonball. His instrumentals and fierce picking style bridged Chicago blues and rock.

The first electric blues guitarist. Invented the vocabulary of modern blues guitar in the 1940s.

Electrified the Delta blues and brought it to Chicago. The Rolling Stones named themselves after his song.

Raw, primal blues guitar that scared and thrilled in equal measure. His recordings still sound dangerous.

The boogie king. His hypnotic one-chord grooves influenced everyone from the Stones to Van Morrison.

The Master of the Telecaster. His ice-cold tone and capo work were unlike anything else in blues.

Jimi Hendrix called him the greatest guitarist alive. His wild, feedback-drenched style paved the way for rock.

His slide guitar on 'Dust My Broom' is one of the most copied riffs in all of blues history.

A master of slide guitar and American roots music. His Buena Vista Social Club work brought world music to millions.

Little Feat's slide guitar genius. His bottleneck work was funky, soulful, and technically extraordinary.

Co-founder of the Allman Brothers. His melodic lead work and 'Ramblin' Man' defined Southern rock.

An albino Texan with lightning-fast fingers and a ferocious blues attack that floored everyone who saw him live.

The first American rock guitar hero. His work with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Bob Dylan changed everything.

The greatest unknown guitarist. His Telecaster tone and emotional depth influenced everyone who heard him.

The Humbler. Considered by peers to be technically the most gifted guitarist who ever lived.

Yes's multi-genre master. His acoustic and electric work across prog, jazz, and classical is unparalleled.

Genesis's guitarist who pioneered tapping before Van Halen and brought classical sensibility to rock.

King Crimson's cerebral mastermind. His Frippertronics and odd time signatures pushed guitar into avant-garde territory.

The sonic sculptor. His ability to make a guitar sound like anything but a guitar is unmatched.

A compositional genius whose guitar solos were improvised classical works. Technically and conceptually ahead of everyone.

Mahavishnu Orchestra's blazing fusion pioneer. His speed, precision, and Eastern influences created a new guitar language.

Blistering acoustic and electric technique. His speed picking on 'Mediterranean Sundance' remains jaw-dropping.

The most versatile jazz guitarist alive. From ECM atmospherics to pyrotechnic fusion, his range is extraordinary.

The master of solo jazz guitar. His unaccompanied performances are the pinnacle of the form.

Bebop guitar at its most fluid and inventive. His large hands and lightning runs made him a legend among legends.

Soulful, bluesy jazz guitar rooted in gospel. His Blue Note recordings are essential listening.

A consummate stylist whose elegant tone and harmonic sophistication made him a jazz guitar cornerstone.

Mr. 335. His session work and solo career defined the sound of sophisticated 1970s and 80s guitar.

Captain Fingers. His studio mastery and fusion work made him one of the most recorded guitarists in history.

Toto's secret weapon and one of the most recorded session guitarists ever. His tone is instantly recognizable.

The master of the rhythm guitar. His chops on 'Le Freak' and 'Good Times' defined disco and funk.

His open tuning and falsetto-guitar interplay created some of the most emotionally powerful soul music ever made.

Her open tunings and jazz-influenced chord voicings made her one of the most harmonically sophisticated guitarists of her era.

Old Black and the wall of feedback. His raw, imperfect approach to guitar is as influential as any technical master.

Rage Against the Machine's sonic terrorist. He turned the guitar into a DJ deck and a political weapon.

The White Stripes' raw, primal energy. He proved two people and a guitar could still shake the world.

Red Hot Chili Peppers' melodic genius. His work on 'Californication' and 'Stadium Arcadium' is deeply soulful.

Pantera's groove metal god. His 'Vulgar Display of Power' riffs are among the heaviest ever committed to tape.

Ozzy's classical-trained shredder. His two albums with Ozzy Osbourne remain metal guitar benchmarks.

The neoclassical shredder who brought Bach and Paganini to heavy metal. Technically ferocious.

Frank Zappa's human transcription machine turned guitar deity. His 'Passion and Warfare' is a landmark of virtuosity.

The teacher of teachers — he taught Vai, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, and others. 'Surfing with the Alien' is a masterclass.

Metallica's lead guitarist. His work on 'Master of Puppets' and 'One' defined thrash metal lead guitar.

Metallica's rhythm guitar titan. His downpicking precision and riff construction are the backbone of thrash.

A classically trained virtuoso who brought genuine conservatory technique to the world of shred guitar.

Widely considered the most technically complete guitarist alive today. His versatility is simply inhuman.

Animals as Leaders' eight-string innovator. He expanded what the guitar is, not just what it can do.

The Australian prog master whose melodic sensibility and technical precision have made him the face of modern prog guitar.

A melodic master whose tone and phrasing draw from the best of classic rock and modern fusion.

A guitarist's guitarist who seamlessly moves between blues, jazz, and R&B with impeccable taste and tone.

The Godfather of Fusion. He was playing jazz-rock before anyone had a name for it.

The most ferocious free jazz guitarist. His noise-drenched playing on 'Ask the Ages' is like nothing else.

The slide guitar heir apparent to Duane Allman. His tone is liquid fire and his phrasing is deeply soulful.

Allman Brothers and Gov't Mule's powerhouse. One of the most consistent live performers in rock history.

The Irish blues-rock titan. His emotional vibrato and tone on 'Still Got the Blues' are heartbreaking.

Ireland's greatest rock export. His battered Stratocaster and raw, honest playing made him a cult hero worldwide.

The British Hendrix. His 'Bridge of Sighs' album is a masterpiece of psychedelic blues-rock guitar.

Fleetwood Mac's founding genius. Clapton said Green was the only guitarist who ever made him nervous.

Ten Years After's speed demon. His Woodstock performance of 'I'm Going Home' is one of rock's great live moments.

Invented the punk guitar sound — relentless downstroke power chords played with zero ornamentation. Pure attitude.

Nirvana's reluctant guitar hero. His quiet-loud dynamics and raw emotion defined a generation.

Soundgarden's tuning-bending innovator. His use of alternate tunings and dissonance was genuinely avant-garde.

Dinosaur Jr.'s wall-of-sound architect. His Neil Young-meets-metal approach influenced 90s indie guitar enormously.

Sonic Youth's avant-garde pioneer. He made prepared guitar and alternate tunings a legitimate rock language.

Annie Clark's angular, precise playing is the most distinctive guitar voice to emerge in the 21st century.

The torchbearer for modern blues. His Hendrix-meets-hip-hop approach has brought the blues to a new generation.

Alabama Shakes' powerhouse. Her raw, gospel-drenched guitar playing is as emotionally direct as it gets.

The Godmother of Rock and Roll. She was playing electric guitar with power and flair before Chuck Berry was famous.

One of the most recorded blues artists of the 1930s and 40s. Her guitar work was technically ahead of her male contemporaries.

Her slide guitar work and soulful phrasing have made her one of the most respected players of any gender for 50 years.

The Runaways' lead guitarist and solo metal star. A pioneer for women in hard rock and heavy metal.

Michael Jackson's touring guitarist and a shred pioneer. Her two-handed tapping technique is world-class.

Chosen by Michael Jackson for his final tour. Her technical ability and stage presence make her one of the best of her generation.

Alice Cooper's lead guitarist and one of the most technically accomplished players in modern rock.

The Australian fingerstyle phenomenon. His solo acoustic performances are so full they sound like a full band.