The Greatest Rock Guitar Players of All Time
The Top 10 Greatest Ever Rock Guitarists
Many musicians have revolutionised music and helped define their respective eras and genres - none more so, in rock, than the guitarist.We've seen a fair few rock guitar players come and go over the years, with many of them roundly classified as legends, icons, and pioneers of the genre.
So, in this post, we make up our top 10 greatest ever rock guitarists.
10 Slash
Slash isn't the most technically gifted player on this list, but very few play with such heart and emotion as the Guns N' Roses icon does. Slash has produced an incredible body of work, with out-and-out guitar classics such as "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Welcome To The Jungle," and "November Rain."
9 Tony Iommi
The Riff Master probably has the best body of work out of all the guitarists on this list. Tony Iommi helped pioneer some of the most influential heavy metal genres. The Ozzy vs Dio debate has rumbled on for decades, but every true fan knows that the heart of Black Sabbath was, and still is, Tony Iommi.
8 Angus Young
7 Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine is the person responsible for the early success of Metallica, and then, with the rise of Megadeth, Dave influenced guitarists like Kerry King, Marty Friedman, Chris Polland, and Chris Broderick. Dave is not just technically sound, but he is also a great composer and song writer. Many hold him up to be the biggest icon of the thrash metal genre.
6 Randy Rhoads
10 Slash
Slash isn't the most technically gifted player on this list, but very few play with such heart and emotion as the Guns N' Roses icon does. Slash has produced an incredible body of work, with out-and-out guitar classics such as "Sweet Child O' Mine," "Welcome To The Jungle," and "November Rain."
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9 Tony Iommi
The Riff Master probably has the best body of work out of all the guitarists on this list. Tony Iommi helped pioneer some of the most influential heavy metal genres. The Ozzy vs Dio debate has rumbled on for decades, but every true fan knows that the heart of Black Sabbath was, and still is, Tony Iommi.
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8 Angus Young
AC/DC legend, Angus Young, is quite literally the epitome of "rock". There is no other guitarist that can play pure rock the way Angus does. He often gets knocked for his 'simple chords', but that's just the nature of AC/DC's music, and not a reflection of Young's abilities. Let him loose, and he'd be mixing it up with the very best and most technically gifted guitarists there have ever been.
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7 Dave Mustaine
Dave Mustaine is the person responsible for the early success of Metallica, and then, with the rise of Megadeth, Dave influenced guitarists like Kerry King, Marty Friedman, Chris Polland, and Chris Broderick. Dave is not just technically sound, but he is also a great composer and song writer. Many hold him up to be the biggest icon of the thrash metal genre.
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6 Randy Rhoads
Randy Rhoads was an outstanding guitar player, and one of the most naturally gifted that the genre has ever known. Such classical beauty and yet such awesome power in his playing. Many would say that, from a technical standpoint, Randy was just as good as Eddie Van Halen, but he had such heart, emotion and versatility in his playing that very few could match.
4 Jimmy Page
For many rock fans, Jimmy Page is the greatest ever guitar player, but for us, he's certainly not far off the very top of the pile. Page has been an amazing innovator who influenced Eddie Van Halen, and many others. Page's work helped define the hard rock genre, and his contributions to the instrument have been off the scale.
3 Prince
Better known for his mega hits, onstage persona, and wide pop appeal, Prince, was perhaps a tad underappreciated as a rock guitarist, at times. For all his talents as a song writer, Prince could play the guitar, too - with a mix of technical prowess and bags of emotion, Prince was the complete guitarist.
2 Jeff Beck
1 Jimi Hendrix
You can't please everyone with a list as subjective as this, but Jimi Hendrix was, for many, undoubtedly, the greatest, and most influential guitarist of all time. Nobody had seen or heard anything like what Hendrix brought to the table, and with it, he revolutionised the rock landscape, on both sides of the pond.
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5 Eddie Van Halen
Quite simply, Eddie Van Halen changed the way guitars were both played and made. The band Van Halen literally saved Rock and Roll, and Eddie was at the forefront of that. There was nothing like Van Halen between 1978 and 1984, during a time they went from being the Kings of Pasadena to the biggest Rock band on earth. Eddie is the most emulated guitarist, most influential, and the most technically gifted rock guitarist in history.
Quite simply, Eddie Van Halen changed the way guitars were both played and made. The band Van Halen literally saved Rock and Roll, and Eddie was at the forefront of that. There was nothing like Van Halen between 1978 and 1984, during a time they went from being the Kings of Pasadena to the biggest Rock band on earth. Eddie is the most emulated guitarist, most influential, and the most technically gifted rock guitarist in history.
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4 Jimmy Page
For many rock fans, Jimmy Page is the greatest ever guitar player, but for us, he's certainly not far off the very top of the pile. Page has been an amazing innovator who influenced Eddie Van Halen, and many others. Page's work helped define the hard rock genre, and his contributions to the instrument have been off the scale.
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3 Prince
Better known for his mega hits, onstage persona, and wide pop appeal, Prince, was perhaps a tad underappreciated as a rock guitarist, at times. For all his talents as a song writer, Prince could play the guitar, too - with a mix of technical prowess and bags of emotion, Prince was the complete guitarist.
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2 Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck is a master of his instrument in a way that very few guitarists on this list are. The way he uses his vibrato, his control of volume and tone from moment to moment, his phrasing, his dynamics, heck, no one does that quite like Jeff.
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1 Jimi Hendrix
You can't please everyone with a list as subjective as this, but Jimi Hendrix was, for many, undoubtedly, the greatest, and most influential guitarist of all time. Nobody had seen or heard anything like what Hendrix brought to the table, and with it, he revolutionised the rock landscape, on both sides of the pond.
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