Guitarists can use power chords and finger-tapping on guitars ranging from the classic Fender Stratocaster to the Gibson Les Paul. Choosing one virtuoso over another is extremely difficult. Indeed, fans knew that the discussion itself had sparked many heated debates. The 1960s produced more than their fair share of six-string slayers, but the 1980s revolutionized the concept of what is possible on a typical electric guitar. We compiled a list of the world’s greatest guitar players, taking into account their techniques and their contributions to the instrument. Is it possible to identify your favorite guitarist on this list?
Here Are The World’s Greatest Guitarists
Robert Fripp
Robert Fripp, the band’s founder, is responsible for musical developments like Frippertronics, soundscapes, and the so-called “modern standard tuning.” Even though he eventually rose to stardom in his own right, he paid his dues by performing as a session guitarist for prominent musicians such as David Bowie, The Talking Heads, Peter Gabriel, and Blondie for decades.
Robert Fripp
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin of Doncaster, England, is a key figure in creating “fusion” music. He received the Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo in 2018. John also had an extensive list of musicians with whom he had collaborated at one point or another. And although being on this list is hardly a reason to rub shoulders with rock royalty, there aren’t many guitarists who can claim to have shared the stage with Miles Davis. McLaughlin actually played on Miles’ most popular song, Bitches Brew.
John McLaughlin
Steve Morse
Steve Morse is the founder of the Dixie Dregs and the lead guitarist for Deep Purple since 1994. Morse was born and raised in Ypsilanti, Michigan. In 1986, Steve Morse joined the influential rock band Kansas as the lead guitarist. The albums Power and In The Spirit of Things were released while he was a band member. Although he is now a member of the Flying Colors supergroup, Morse claims that when he was with Deep Purple, his bandmates forced him to travel in a separate vehicle because he would constantly play guitar as they went from gig to gig.
Steve Morse
Peter Green
Peter Green was a co-founder of Fleetwood Mac and was born in London, England. Mr. John Mayall, the British blues godfather, recruited him in 1965, a man who met more than a few guitarists on this list, and his career took off. In truth, the guitarist in John Mayall’s band who Peter Green replaced was none other than Eric Clapton, who, as you would imagine, was further down the list.
Peter Green
Robin Trower
Trower grew up in the Essex town of Southend-on-Sea. He was regarded as one of the best guitar players of his time due to his Jimi Hendrix-like abilities and alleged ability to bend notes better than any other musician alive. However, when he was a member of the famous group Procol Harum in the 1960s, his guitar playing became even more prominent. The album Bridge of Sighs, released in 1974, is widely regarded as Trower’s pinnacle achievement. In the 1980s, Trower formed a band with Jack Bruce, the Cream bass player.
Robin Trower
Tom Morello
Tom Morello was born and raised in Libertyville, Illinois. Before becoming a rock god, he attended Harvard University and earned a BA in Social Studies. In the 1990s, Morello met Zack de la Rocha. Rage Against the Machine, one of the most popular and influential rock bands of the 1990s, was founded. Rage Against the Machine performed outside the Staples Center Convention Center in Los Angeles in 2000, which was hosting the Democratic National Convention. As the show progressed, the crowd became increasingly enraged and aggressive, eventually throwing rocks at one stage.
Tom Morello
Paul Gilbert
Gilbert was born and raised in Carbondale, Illinois. In quick guitar playing, he is best known for his pace and stylistic versatility. Gilbert was tapped to fill in as a guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary metal monster when he was just 15 years old in the early 1980s. At the time, Ozzy’s manager and producer were adamant about not bringing in a child to play guitar for a man who had previously led Black Sabbath. It wasn’t over, however, until Ozzy’s producer heard Gilbert perform. Gilbert relocated around the country and joined the band shortly after. Most guitarists on this list will never combine speed picking with legato and Spanish guitar techniques in the same sentence.
Paul Gilbert
Malcolm Young
Malcolm Young was born in Sydney, Australia, and at the age of 20, he and his brother Angus co-founded Australia’s biggest rock band, AC/DC. Malcolm continued to play rhythm guitar while Angus took the lead. According to legend, they chose the name AC/DC after seeing the letters on the top of their older sister Margaret’s sewing machine. Malcolm and his band were touring Europe with Black Sabbath by the late 1970s. Everyone said that they didn’t get along with Black Sabbath very well. According to one account, when things got heated, Sabbath guitarist Geezer Butler pulled out a Malcolm knife.
Malcolm Young
George Harrison
Another great artist was a forerunner of his day. This founding member of the Beatles died in 2001 at the age of 58 from throat cancer, which he attributed to years of smoking. Harrison was the first Billboard Century Award recipient in 1992. Harrison’s “crucial role in setting the foundations for the new definition of world music” was recognized.
George Harrison
Michael Schenker
Michael Schenker, the legendary guitarist, was born in the small town of Sarstedt, West Germany, in January 1955. He was dubbed “a legendary figure in metal guitar history.” The German guitarist was also a founding member of the Scorpions, a rock band. In the mid-’70s, he and his brother, Rudolf Schenker, formed the UFO band. Overall, Schenker has left and rejoined the UFO band at least three times and has written a song after each reunion.
Michael Schenker
Duane Allman
Howard Duane Allman was the founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band, a band that allowed him to play with his brother, Gregg Allman. Duane was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash that smashed his internal organs. He was just 24 years old when he was killed. He was well-known for his expressive slide guitar playing and improvisational skill on the instrument. “Live at the Fillmore East” by the Allman Brothers is widely regarded as one of the best live rock albums ever recorded.
Duane Allman
Paul Kossoff
Paul Kossoff was a guitarist who was in high demand because of his uncanny timing and complex ability to solo. He was a member of the popular band “Free” and was in high demand as a guitarist because of his uncanny timing and complex ability to solo. Unfortunately, Kossoff started using drugs when he was 15 years old. He died of a pulmonary embolism on a flight from Los Angeles to New York on March 19, 1976. He was just 25 years old when he was killed.
Paul Kossoff
Keith Richards
Keith Richards, perhaps the greatest rhythm player in history and one-half of the “Glimmer Twins,” is a co-founder of the Rolling Stones with his collaborator Mick Jagger. Richards was dubbed the “maker of rock’s greatest single body of riffs” on guitar by Rolling Stone magazine in 2011. Richards was also the inspiration for Johnny Depp’s character, Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. This is what sets him apart from anyone else you’ve met.
Keith Richards
Billy Gibbons
Billy Gibbons, 70, is the lead guitarist and lead singer of ZZ Top if his beard didn’t give it away. Early in his career, Gibbons formed The Moving Sidewalks, which served as an opening act for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, allowing him to become close friends with Jimi. Billy Gibbons’ genius is undoubtedly responsible for ZZ Top’s Texas blues boogie sound, which is now selling out concerts all over the world.
Billy Gibbons
Joe Bonamassa
Here’s why Joe is on this list. Joe Bonamassa famously opened for B.B. King when he was just 12 years old. B.B. King said that when he first started playing, the crowd fell silent for a moment when they realized it was the kid who was making those sounds. However, once the truth was revealed, the audience went insane, and Bonamassa played in front of large crowds ever since.
Joe Bonamassa
Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor, another product of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers school of producing rock guitar gods, was the blues virtuoso Mayhall had been looking for. Taylor continued to perform with The Rolling Stones until 1974, demonstrating that he was a mix of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Slash, the guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, has said that Taylor had the most influence on him as an artist.
Mick Taylor
Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine was Metallica’s first lead guitarist. He was born in the city of La Mesa, California. Mustaine was fired from Metallica on April 11, 1983, due to his alcoholism, drug abuse, aggression, and feuds with band members James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Despite this, he achieved considerable success in his career as a result of the band he formed, “Megadeth.” He is known in his band for both singing and playing short, amazing lead lines. Isn’t it incredible?!
Dave Mustaine
James Hetfield
Here’s James Hetfield, speaking of James Hetfield! Hetfield is a guitar monster who hails from Downey, California. Hetfield is credited with inventing the sound of speed metal and instilling in the music industry an unrivaled sense of rage. Hetfield went to rehab for drug abuse in 2001. He’s been residing in Vail, Colorado, since then.
James Hetfield
Pete Townshend
Townshend co-founded The Who, one of the most influential rock bands of all time. “I wasn’t trying to play beautiful music,” he wrote in his biography about growing up in London shortly after WWII. I was presenting my audience with the dreadful, visceral sound of what we all understood to be the sole unalterable of our fragile existence: one day, an airplane would bring the bomb that would instantly kill us all. It could occur at any moment.”
Pete Townshend
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Hammett, a member of Metallica, was hired as a replacement for Dave Mustaine, Metallica’s previous guitarist when he was 16 years old. After frontman James Hetfield approached Hammett, his parents put him on a plane to New York to meet with the band. When the kid walked into the room, the band was not impressed, but when he nailed the solo for the hit “Seek and Destroy,” they hired him on the spot.
Kirk Hammett
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry, a Rock and Roll pioneer, was born in 1926. In 2017, he passed away at the age of 90. Berry gave rock music three things: a contagious swagger, a focus on the guitar riff as the primary melodic aspect, and a focus on songwriting as storytelling.” Joe Lynch penned the piece. There is no question that today’s rock music would not be what it is today if it weren’t for Chuck Berry.
Chuck Berry
Steve Howe
Howe is the lead guitarist for the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving The Velvet Underground, Howe was the lead guitarist on Lou Reed’s first solo album, further cementing his reputation. Howe had a successful solo career after leaving Yes. He was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017.
Steve Howe
Rory Gallagher
Rory Gallagher was a blues and rock singer who was born in Ireland. His albums have sold more than 30 million copies around the world. Gallagher died tragically on June 14, 1995, at the age of 47, from a failing liver caused by alcohol, opioids, and an MRSA infection. Because of how well he plays the blues, he has inspired many blues guitarists.
Rory Gallagher
Zakk Wylde
Zakk Wylde started his musical career as a member and lead guitarist of the small band Stone Henge. He eventually auditioned for and was hired as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist, which he held for a long time. He’s also a member of the Black Label Society heavy metal band, where he sings lead. Wylde is well-known due to his undeniable stage presence. When Ozzy was on stage, he commented that getting the audience to look at him was difficult.
Zakk Wylde
Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa, who died of lung cancer in 1993, was a practitioner of nonconforming free-form improvisation. Zappa was a prolific musician, releasing more than 60 albums with his band, Mothers of Invention, and solo artists. Zappa is a self-taught guitarist who is regarded as one of the most influential guitarists of the modern century. In his later years, Zappa led orchestras and recorded jazz and classical music albums.
Frank Zappa
Yngwie Malmsteen
Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, better known as Yngwie Malmsteen, was born in 1963 and rose to fame in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal style. With 20 studio albums under his belt, Yngwie Malmsteen remains one of the most prolific artists working today. In 2018, he signed with Mascot Records and showed no signs of slowing down!
Yngwie Malmsteen
John Petrucci
John Petrucci, who was born in 1967, is best known for his work with Dream Theater, of which he was a founding member. Every “Top Guitarist” essay and post in magazines and on the internet includes Petrucci’s name. He is best known for his ability to incorporate classical and jazz phrasings into rock chord progressions, resulting in a sound unlike anything else in the rock world today.
John Petrucci
Prince
You may not think of the late musician Prince as a shredder, but his guitar playing might make anyone’s jaw drop. Prince was noted for his ability to master various musical styles, including disco, punk, R&B, new wave, soul, pop, and psychedelic. Prince is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with more than 130 million albums sold by his adoring fans.
Prince
Synyster Gates
Synyster Gates is the lead guitarist for the band Avenged Sevenfold. Total Guitar named him the Best Metal Guitarist in the World in 2016 and 2017. He’s a major jazz fan, and Django Reinhardt, the legendary gypsy guitarist, is one of his biggest influences. He also mentions Danny Elfman, the frontman for Oingo Boingo, as someone he admires. M. Shadow, his brother-in-law, is the lead singer of Avenged Sevenfold.
Synyster Gates
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana was born in the Mexican state of Jalisco. He walked onto the Woodstock stage, virtually unknown, and blew the crowd away. His band Santana rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, pioneering a fusion of rock and roll and Latin American jazz. He won a Grammy, a Billboard Century Award, and several other accolades.
Carlos Santana
Angus Young
Angus Young is another member of AC/DC. His active appearances, schoolboy-uniform costumes, and take on Chuck Berry’s duckwalk have made him popular. Young is 65 years old, and his playing style is strongly influenced by blues, power chords, and Scottish folk music. His skill to play one-handed arpeggios is well-known in his solos!
Angus Young
Dimebag Darrell
Dimebag Darrell of Damageplan has never had formal guitar lessons, but his style is legendary. He used the major third to bring dissonance to his minor key tonalities in his riffs and leads. He had incredible picking abilities as well but favored legato phrasing. On December 8, 2004, during a Damageplan concert at the Alrosa nightclub in Ohio, something awful happened. A deranged fan jumped onto the stage during the first set and shot Dimebag Darrell numerous times. The guitar legend was pronounced dead on the scene. He was just 38 years old when he died.
Dimebag Darrell
B.B. King
B.B. King, who was born in 1925, was the first to bring a sophisticated guitar solo style to the world. He pioneered new methods for electric blues by using string bending and vibrato. B.B. (short for Blues Boy) was the undisputed “King” of the blues guitar. He was a lifelong friend of the blues and one of the greats of all time. King died in 2015 while sleeping at the age of 89.
B.B. King
Mark Knopfler
David Knopfler, the rock band Dire Straits’ co-founder, is his younger brother. Label, number 70, was dubbed a virtuoso. He is a finger-style musician, a four-time Grammy winner, and a three-time University of Music Honorary Doctor of Music. Sultans of Swing, from Dire Strait’s first album, is an absolute masterwork of guitar showmanship.
Mark Knopfler
Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads, who played with Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne, significantly influenced neoclassical metal. He is credited as an influence by hundreds of well-known guitarists. He died tragically in 1982 while on tour with Ozzy Osbourne at the age of 25. A few band members, including Rhoads, were flying in a single-engine plane when it collided with the top of the tour bus, spiraled out of control, and killed everyone on board.
Randy Rhoads
Gary Moore
Gary Moore, another former member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, has been dubbed a true virtuoso. He had success in many bands and as a solo artist. He had eleven solo Top 40 hits in the UK as a recording artist. In 1993, he collaborated on an album with former Cream members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Moore died of a heart attack in his sleep in 2011 at the age of 58.
Gary Moore
Tony Iommi
Tony Iommi is a founder member of the Black Sabbath. He adapted his playing style after an injury in a warehouse where he worked as a youth. He missed the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He went on to become one of the best rock guitarists of all time.
Tony Iommi
Joe Satriani
Joe Satriani has been nominated for a Grammy 15 times. Satriani made a living as a guitar teacher before becoming a rock god, even coaching a young guitarist named Steve Vai at one point. His breakout song, Surfing With the Alien, which features the classic image of Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer on the cover, cemented his reputation as one of the greatest instrumental rock guitarists of all time.
Joe Satriani
Jeff Beck
It’s difficult to disagree with guitarists who played with The Yardbirds. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page were the only members of the Yardbirds. Jeff Beck is a true guitar genius whose music spans blues-rock, punk rock, and electronica, among other styles. He is now 75 years old and shows no signs of slowing down. He’s been seen performing with Johnny Depp at live shows lately.
Jeff Beck
Steve Vai
Steve Vai was born in Carls Place, New York, in 1960. He started his music career at the age of 18 by transcribing a complicated Frank Zappa song on notebook paper and mailing it to the musician. After reading the page, Zappa mailed a plane to Vai, who flew a few to Los Angeles and joined the band. Vai is another virtuoso who has been described as a rather individualistic musician.
Steve Vai
Ritchie Blackmore
Ritchie Blackmore is a co-founder of Deep Purple and a professionally accomplished guitarist and composer. Single guitar notes are hard-punched, combining his free-flowing jamming style with simpler, almost pipe organ sounds to create a tone that hasn’t been duplicated. He is renowned for his fantastic riffs and classically influenced solos, and he is now 75 years old.
Ritchie Blackmore
Slash
Slash is Guns N’ Roses’ lead guitarist. He has received critical praise for his guitar playing since he began his career in 1981. He shared the stage with some of the world’s top guitarists, including Lenny Kravitz, who described him as “probably the best guitarist he’d ever played with.” Slash later went on to form Velvet Revolver, a supergroup project.
Slash
Alex Lifeson
Alex Lifeson is the guitarist for Rush, a progressive rock band from Canada. He plays the mandola, bouzouki, and mandolin, as well as electric and acoustic instruments. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Lifeson, who is now 67, enjoys becoming a designer, a restaurant owner, and a licensed pilot.
Alex Lifeson
Brian May
Brian May is the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the legendary Queen band. May is known for his soaring guitar solos and combining rock and roll and classical music genres. Regardless of the band, he’s in at the time. His distinct voice is instantly identifiable. Queen as a band was put on hold for almost a decade after Freddie Mercury’s death. On the other hand, Brian May has resurfaced since then, bringing Queen back to the forefront of rock once more.
Brian May
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Vaughan was a key figure in the revival of the blues in the 1980s. David Bowie, who chose Vaughan to play guitar on his new album Lets Dance in the mid-’80s, recalled his lightning-fast fingerpicking. Vaughn was an immediate success, and opening acts included The Stray Cats and Eric Clapton. He died in a helicopter crash in 1990, at the age of 35. He is still regarded as a legendary guitar player.
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Eric Clapton
Or at least that’s what the graffiti scrawled on London houses once proclaimed. Eric Clapton, a member of The Yardbirds, Cream, Derek, and The Dominos, became the first three-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Clapton has received 18 Grammy Awards and has sold over 100 million tracks worldwide.
Eric Clapton
David Gilmour
Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour was a part of the band. He is widely regarded as one of the best guitarists of all time. Pink Floyd took their transformative sound from their roots as a blues/folk band and turned it into an acid rock genre that no other band could match. When new followers of the band emerge, the albums Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall continue to sell millions of copies each year.
David Gilmour
Eddie Van Halen
On the guitar, the founder of the heavy rock band Van Halen is a total beast. Edward Van Halen and his brother Alex were discovered by Gene Simmons of Kiss and form one of the most successful rock bands of all time, fronted by David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. Van Halen was ranked number one on Guitar World magazine’s list of the best guitarists of all time in 2012. Regrettably, he passed away on October 6, 2020.
Eddie Van Halen
Jimmy Page
The rock band Led Zeppelin was founded by Jimmy Page. But, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise He was also a member of The Yardbirds (as were Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck). He was one of the most sought-after studio guitarists in Britain as a twenty-year-old in the 1960s. Page, who is now 77, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice.
Jimmy Page