List of Rolling Stone's Top 100 Guitarists of All Time

[Paragon]

1 Jimi Hendrix
2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
3 B.B. King
4 Eric Clapton
5 Robert Johnson
6 Chuck Berry
7 Stevie Ray Vaughan
8 Ry Cooder
9 Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin
10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
11Kirk Hammett of Metallica
12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
13 Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead
14 Jeff Beck
15 Carlos Santana
16 Johnny Ramone of the Ramones
17 Jack White of the White Stripes
18 John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers
19 Richard Thompson
20 James Burton
21 George Harrison
22 Mike Bloomfield
23 Warren Haynes
24 The Edge of U2
25 Freddy King
26 Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave
27 Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits
28 Stephen Stills
29 Ron Asheton of the Stooges
30 Buddy Guy
31 Dick Dale
32 John Cipollina of Quicksilver Messenger Service
33 & 34 Lee Ranaldo, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth
35 John Fahey
36 Steve Cropper of Booker T. and the MG's
37 Bod Diddley
38 Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac
39 Brian May of Qeen
40 John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival
41 Clarence White of the Byrds
42 Robert Fripp of King Crimson
43 Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
44 Scotty Moore
45 Frank Zappa
46 Les Paul
47 T-Bone Walker
48 Joe Perry of Aerosmith
49 John McLaughlin
50 Pete Townshend
51 Paul Kossoff of Free
52 Lou Reed
53 Mickey Baker
54 Jorma Kaukonen of Jefferson Airplane
55 Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple
56 Tom Verlaine of Television
57 Roy Buchanan
58 Dickey Betts
59 & 60 Jonny Greenwood, Ed O'Brien of Radiohead
61 Ike Turner
62 Zoot Horn Rollo of the Magic Band
63 Danny Gatton
64 Mick Ronson
65 Hubert Sumlin
66 Vernon Reid of Living Colour :party:

67 Link Wray
68 Jerry Miller of Moby Grape
69 Steve Howe of Yes
70 Eddie Van Halen
71 Lightnin' Hopkins
72 Joni Mitchell
73 Trey Anastasio of Phish
74 Johnny Winter
75 Adam Jones of Tool
76 Ali Farka Toure
77 Henry Vestine of Canned Heat
78 Robbie Robertson of the Band
79 Cliff Gallup of the Blue Caps (1997)
80 Robert Quine of the Voidoids
81 Derek Trucks
82 David Gilmour of Pink Floyd
83 Neil Young
84 Eddie Cochran
85 Randy Rhoads
86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
87 Joan Jett
88 Dave Davies of the Kinks
89 D. Boon of the Minutemen
90 Glen Buxton of Alice Cooper
91 Robby Krieger of the Doors
92 & 93 Fred "Sonic" Smith, Wayne Kramer of the MC5
94 Bert Jansch
95 Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine
96 Angus Young of AC/DC
97 Robert Randolph
98 Leigh Stephens of Blue Cheer
99 Greg Ginn of Black Flag
100 Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

[Demobrat]

1. Jerry Garcia before George Harrison?

Feh.

[Raenelle]

27. Yep. Garcia's my favorite, and I think he often gets overlooked

because his style was so gentle, lyrical, so not loud-speed-metal guitar.

[G_j]

57. I've played guitar for 40 years

and I've actually seen many of the people on that list play.
Garcia is my personal favorite.

[WilliamPitt]

72. Damn straight

:hippie:

[Character Assassin]

2. My god those folks at Rolling Stone are utter idiots

[oustemnow]

38. I agree with most of the choices, though the rankings will be

an eternal source of debate.

Good to see Frusciante on there; the man's a guitar genius and, despite all the drugs, a sharp thinker.

[Liberal_Andy]

3. Neil Young at #83? Excuse me?

yeah, right.

[AntiCoup2K4]

4. Eddie Van Halen 70??

I know he made a lot of crappy, cheesy music with Hagar and has been a flaming asshole ever since, but for fucks sake, give credit where it's due here.

The White Stripes guy deserves to be ranked 53 slots above Eddie Van Halen??? :crazy:

Who the fuck freeped THIS poll??

[Must_B_Free]

16. Sorry, but David Lee Roth pretty much proved

that he was what defined Van Halen.

Eddie. like Chimp, was given it all and made nothing of it.

What a tasteless fool Van Halen is. The band should have been called 'Lee Roth'.

[Rooktoven]

19. I have lots of problems with the ranking...

(The placement of Jorma and Zappa for instance) but I have a feeling Jack White is going to have a longer legacy.

EVH is technically brilliant but after the first couple of albums descended into shlock.

Listen to "Ball and a Biscuit" and tell me if that didn't become a classic the day it was released...

[Redbear]

36. Exactly...

and I've got one or two things to say about it.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

5. Ry Cooder? Kirk Hammett? Kurt Cobain? Johnny Ramone? Jack Smith?

Joan Jett?

Kevin Sheilds at 95?

These people are idiots.

Where the hell is Prince?

[DS1]

8. Cobain? OK, if you say so. But Hammet deserves a spot on this list

as does Dave Mustaine.

[stlsaxman]

54. Ry Cooder an IDIOT????????????????

I agree Prince should be on there before Joan Jett but Ry an IDIOT????????

Me thinks you should give some Ry Cooder a listen, you'll change your mind-
I guarentee it! ;)

Now WTF is Curt Cobain doing on there?

[peterh]

6. What? No Alvin Lee…

:eyes:

[Skittles]

45. THANK YOU PETERH

WHAT THE HELL??? x(

[Pert_UK]

7. Idiots...No John Squire? No J. Mascis?....

Let alone the more "obvious" choices like Slash, who love him or hate him, certainly belted out some classic, intelligent and very difficult guitar work.

And IMHO, John Squire has come up with some of the most original and inspiring guitar work of the last 20 years.....Still, at least they got Tom Morello in, who is undisputedly a genius - I have no idea how he makes those noises!

What were the criteria? Technical ability or composing or what?

P.

[toddzilla]

9. laughable

these polls are always a joke.. tom morello???

:puke:

[toddzilla]

12. nice

to see warren haynes getting some props though..

[Pert_UK]

14. Come on...you might not like his music

But he has found sounds in the guitar that nobody knew existed. Plus his technical ability is stunning....

Seeing RATM live at Glastonbury was absolutely amazing.

P.

[leftist_rebel1569]

77. Hey now,

Tom Morello is a GENIUS. It's amazing what that guy can do with a guitar. Even if you don't like him, you have to admit that he is an incredibly talented guitarist, and he DESERVES a spot on that damn list...

[Jalixm]

18. Americans don't know Stone Roses

which is a goddamn shame. Slash should definitely be on there

[Pert_UK]

22. Some do......YoungLiberal16 goes on about John Squire sometimes

Worth a listen if you've not heard them, everybody.

THE BEST indie guitar band to come out of England ever.

P.

[SideshowScott]

29. TOTALY Agree Stone Roses ROCK..

Fools Gold is one of my fave songs

[Pert_UK]

33. I got a weird re-mix album in NY when I was visiting...

Typical, I go all the way to NY and end up buying loads of rare UK stuff 'cause it's cheap!

Fool's Gold is a work of genius and one of the best uses of a guitar + wah wah ever, IMHO.

P.

[ClintonTyree]

10. Glaring omission..............

Joe Walsh. This list is TOTALLY fupped-duck.

[Must_B_Free]

17. Joe Walsh is an asshole

he took guitar lessons from my grandpa and when my cousin met Walsh and mentioned it, he was like, rude to her. Fuck him. All he was famous for was getting drunk.

[kcwayne]

11. Huh?

How could they miss Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Eric Johnson?
How about Leo Kottke, Pat Metheny, Robin Trower, Peter Frampton,
Seals and Croft, Loggins and Messina, Steely Dan (can't remember his name).

the list goes on

[Must_B_Free]

15. walter becker

I agree not many are on my list...

and the 2nd generation classic rock? like Soundgarden? Metallica? WTF?

[DODI]

66. Walter Becker is the bass player.

[DODI]

67. Other left off:

The Beatles, all of them (per Guitar Player)
Terry Kath (Chicago)
Lowell George (Little Feat)
David Linley
Bonnie Raite
and yes,
Richie Blackmore

This list if bullshit. I am pretending they are not ranking them. Pete is in no way #50.

[DODI]

65. Thank you

Robin Trower is GREAT!!! I did not see any of the Steely Dan guys -- Danny Dias, Larry Carlton, Jeff Baxter, Elliot Randall, Rick Derringer, wait I will get more that were left off in a minute.

[zekeson]

13. Muddy Waters?

I was kinda thinking he might make the list? It didn't
say Rawk geetarists, did it?

I fail to understand their criteria. In the late 80's, early 90's in their own year end polls Peter Buck of R.E.M. topped guitarist of the year at least twice that I recall and he popularized a style of playing that paved the way for some of the others who make that list. He wouldn't be in my top 100, but it would seem he might be in theirs... But no Muddy -- WTF?

[Samuraimad]

28. ya, where's muddy?

i was taken by that also.

But no arguments on 1st. Hendrix IS GOD.

[Zuni]

60. Muddy is one of all time favorites

They have other bluesmen---Hubert Sumlin, Buddy Guy, T-Bone etc.
I guess Muddy is known more for his booming voice than his guitar playing, even though he is a beast with the slide!

[frylock]

20. where the HELL is michael schenker?!

Glenn Tipton? What a BS list.

[Rooktoven]

21. Kirk Hammet at 11?

oh yeah and like you guys said, no Alvin Lee, no Prince--

and Dickie Betts is the genius behind In Memory of Elizabeth Reed.

I think they are giving extra points to premature deaths.

[Zuni]

59. and so many true greats

behind him. Sad.

[Sufi Marmot]

23. Thompson is underrated at #19... n/t

[KG]

35. RT is best acoustic player of any on that list

maybe #1 if you added his acoustic and electric together.

that list is a popularity poll and not much else.

[sendero]

24. these lists...

... are mostly good for getting folk's dander up :)

I mean, I love the Chili Peppers, but Frusciante is way too high.

I love My Bloody Valentine, but I would hardly consider Kevin Sheilds to be a top 500 guitarist, much less top 100.

Tom Verlaine? Again, I appreciate Television, but their guitar is not the reason why.

Robert Fripp should be at least 20 positions higher.

I suppose it all depends on how you define "top" :)

[dolo amber]

74. Really?!

"Tom Verlaine? Again, I appreciate Television, but their guitar is not the reason why."


Hmmm...that is without a doubt the first time I have EVER heard that sentence uttered, even in print. I was thrilled to see Kevin Shields on there, and shocked NOT to see Richard Lloyd. Maybe I misunderstand your statement, but if you don't appreciate Television for their guitar, then I must've missed something, big time...that is what MADE Televison what they were.

[wyldwolf]

25. Were these determined by the pretentious writers of RS?

Are it's pretentious readers?

I won't argue with 8 of the top 10 if we're talking influence. But...

Ike Turner before Eddie Van Halen and Randy Rhodes?

Screw it, I can't read it anymore. It's a big joke.

[Dudley_DUright]

26. At least my top 5 favorites are in the top 10

(SRV, Jimmy Hendrix, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Jimmy Page) and most of my other guitar heroes made the list, although not where I would place them. Of course, lists like this are very personal and lots of subjective reasoning goes into them.

[SideshowScott]

30. #82 David Gilmore #83 Niel Young WTF??? And no Alex Lifeson!!!

And no Prince, Jerry Garcia COME ON Rolling stone!!
I know there are Rush heads out there who think Alex got gypped..
Oh well Rolling Stone became a hopeless sell out mag years ago/..If you want to read a REAL music mag read MOJO or Q

[rppper]

43. david gilmore is very under-rated

there was a thread about air soloing to songs a few weeks back....gilmores solo in "comfortably numb" was the winner....hell, even the solos on his solo album were gut wrenching. warren dimartini of ratt was as slick as van halen ever was...richie blackmore ahead of tony iommi?????? where are the Queenryche guitarists? the guy who played on ronnie dios first 2 solo albums?

[George_Bonanza]

56. David Gilmour is mesmerizing

I have a live version of Comfortably Numb and his lengthy guitar solo was enough to make Pink Floyd my favourite band.

[Zomby Woof]

31. fuck Rolling Stone

Gary Rossington, Allen Collins, Ed King, and Steve Gaines are all fitting for a place here. Several guitarists on this list (including Vernon Reid) have stolen their licks. But that is beside the point, for RS has never been nothing more than fish-wrapping with perfume ads.

[DODI]

78. They do good politcal commentary. I read it now for that.

[Fenris]

32. I think Rolling Stone should have a disclaimer on this list

Citing that this list has no relevance whatsoever and was compiled by a staff that has been behind the times since the early 1970s and is trying to play catch-up. In other words, this list was compiled by bald middle-aged guys who have been there since Keith Moon died, one or two serious rock journalists, and a handful of interns who spend their lunch hour in the bathroom listening to the Ramones and smoking pot.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

34. ....

Kurt Cobain and Jack White BEFORE George Harrison? Cobain was overrated. White is alright but better than Harrison? Gimme a break, this list sucks.

Kirk Hammit of Metallica?! 11? No way. Noooo way. :eyes:

[leftist_rebel1569]

37. yay, my hero made the list!

Tom Morello at #26...

And, to put Hammlett and Frusciante above him is a crime...

Also, why Is Kim Thayil at 100? he deserves more credit than that. And, where is Jerry Cantrell from Alice in Chains?

[oustemnow]

40. why all the Frusciante bashing on this thread?

Okay, it's only two posts, and it's not so much bashing as saying he was ranked too high, HOWEVER....

Check out his first solo album, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt. Rated PG for Pure Genius, I tell ya. Artistry at its purest.

[leftist_rebel1569]

42. let me correct myself then...

Frusciante is a very talented musician, and deserves to be amongst the ranks of the top 100...but he's ranked a little high. Upper 20's, maybe, is where I would put him.

And, I'll have to take a look at his albums, never seen them before...

[BurtWorm]

39. The Edge?! At #24?!

Oh my God! Jack White at #17?! Kurt Cobain at #12?!

That's a real useful list!

[megaplayboy]

41. At least they got #1 right...

..though the absence of Vai, Satriani, Stanley Jordan, Wes Montgomery, Muddy Waters, et al is laughable...

they could have just listed Hendrix 1-10 and it might have been more accurate:evilgrin:

[Redleg]

44. Pete Townshend at #50?

Bloody rip-off that is. 20 years ago he was in RS's top ten.

[StrongBad]

46. Where is Al Dimeola?

Did I miss something here?

And I would probably put Jimmy Page as #2

[tjdee]

47. The Edge is BELOW Kurt Cobain?

Whhaaaaa???

As a U2 fan, I'm quite pleased to see Edge receive the recognition he deserves. Jack White, huh? He's a new face and already outranks MANY people? Maybe I should give them another listen.

Although, in general, Rolling Stone has outlived its usefulness--and who is making this list anyway? I think they should poll the musicians (kind of tough, though, I'd imagine), rather than the editors who just sit around and push paper/keyboards. Granted, I guess they listen to a lot of music, but still, it seems wrong somehow.

[zekeson]

48. Django Reinhart?

I guess I should be glad that Django Reinhart and Muddy Waters aren't associated with the list. Many that are flavor of the week and won't be remembered in a decade. To leave off Django or Muddy igonres the creators of specific signature styles of playing that folks on the list built THEIR technique on - unbelievable.

[G_j]

70. I noticed that also.. others, Chet Atkins, Jim Hall,

James Burton, Wes Montgomery, Albert Lee, Steve Morse, Merle Travis etc. etc.

[DODI]

79. Burton is on there, Why Chet isn't I can't explain

If you like Chet, the album Chester & Lester is GREAT. The two together are a blast!

[ProfessorGAC]

49. Yikes!

Do NOT like that list. There are a lot of PUHLEAZE choices on there. And some profound omissions.

There are even some very important artists and performers who weren't particularly good guitarists on the list. (Cobain, for instance. Excellent songwriter. Excellent performer. Emotive singer. But, one of the best 100 guitarists ever?)

And the list killer! No Joe Satriani!!!! But, Kirk Hammet is #11. Satriani taught Hammet everything Kirk knows about guitar. But he didn't teach him everything Joe knows! All one needs to do is listen to their playing to hear the profound musical differences.
The Professor

P.S. - Where are Robert Fripp and Adrian Belew? How about Reeves Gabrels? Very suspicious taste in the list makers?

[Redleg]

50. No Kenny Burrell? No Django Reinhardt?

What the hell kind of list is that?

[opiate69]

51. A few glaring screw-ups.....

2 Duane Allman of the Allman Brothers Band
58 Dickey Betts
??? Considering Dickie Betts wrote and played all of the outstanding lead parts, how does he rate at 56 behind Allman?

10 Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
OK.. he's been around forever, and has written more hits than just about anybody ever will, but... as a guitar player, has he ever done anything that a first year student couldn't easily play?

12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana
Wrote some good tunes (albeit, nothing too complicated...), but couldn't play "Mary had a Little Lamb" if you spotted him "Mary had a"

17 Jack White of the White Stripes
Hmm.. entirely too much hype. I'll have to reserve judgement until their 15 minutes are up, when people can look back onjectively at them. Haven't heard anything I like by them yet, though. Nor have I heard anything that makes me think "guitar God"

86 Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath
86? OK... maybe I'm biased, since I've been a Sabbath fan since I was 12, but... go listen to "Supernaut", "Turn up the Night", or the outro to "Dirty Women" and tell me you could do that with 2 prosthetic fingertips on your fretboard hand...

[DODI]

81. I admire Keith

Yes, his stuff can be rather simple -- but it is his stuff and simple is not bad. Simple can be very hard to do. Try to imagine things before the Keiths, Jimmies, Erics, etc. I have always felt, and this is my benchmark for guitar and music stuff in general-- that the greatness is not just what they do, but what they introduced to the world. I think it can be harder to appreciate some of the older guys, like Holly, Richard, Berry (is Chuck on the list?) and Beatles because many of us weren't around when they first broke. They have always been there. But when you think of the profound effect they had when they first came around it give me shivers, their influence and soul. People had never played like them before to mass audiences. I am not a huge Jimmy H. fan, but I would place him at #1 because of what he introduced, influences his interpretations of the music of others and hsi own song writing abilities. Don't get me wrong -- I like Hendrix, I just can't listent to whole albums.. I don't like Rush much, but I do appreciate that they are great artists.

[Bake]

52. Greatest GUITARISTS of all time???

Since that's how RS captioned this thing, you'd think it would not have been limited to rock electric guitarists. Therefore, the fact that there are absolutely NO non-rock guitarists renders the whole damn thing null and void.

A list of greatest guitarists of all time that excludes Segovia??? How stupid is that?

Other glaring omissions: Tony Rice, Doc Watson, Norman Blake. Or some of the great country guitarists: Roy Clark, Jerry Reed (both of whom, I might add, are included in Guitar Player magazine's Hall of Greats).

Bottom line, this list is ridiculous, irrelevant, and just null and void.

Bake

[retread]

53. What a ridiculous crock of shit!!!

*

[stlsaxman]

55. Nice to see John Fahey, Bert Jansch, Eddie Hazel made the list...

but the best surprise was seeing ZOOT HORN ROLLO of THE MAGIC BAND!!!!

Yippee! There IS a God!

on edit: Sad to see no Andy Partridge there. and I guess Mike Keneally is an
un-known, which is criminal....

what's with the "What's-his-name From Such-a-band" shit?
Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin??? Robert Fripp of King Crimson???
Why didn't they say "George Harrison of The Beatles?" or
"Pete Townsend of The Who"

feh

[Zuni]

58. terrible order

I am partial to blues guitarists, so I was sad to see greats like Buddy Guy, Peter Green, Mike Bloomfield, T-Bone Walker and Hubert Sumlin behind some notably bad guitarists.
How could Buddy Guy be behind Johnny Ramone? Steve Cropper behind Sonic Youth? Dick Dale (the King of Surf Guitar) behind Kurt Cobain?
So many bad choices. How could Tony Iommi (of Black Sabbath, the man who invented heavy metal guitar) be that far behind Jerry Garcia, who invented nothing? How could T-Bone walker, one of the first guitarists to play a modern blues guitar solo in the 1940s, the first electric guitar great ever be behind Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine? How could Dave Davies of the Kinks, who invented distortion by stabbing an amp be behing the dork from Phish?
Tragic.
And where is Muddy Waters?

[leftist_rebel1569]

80. I agree with a few of those,

but definitely not the T-Bone Walker and Tom Morello one. Granted, T-Bone Walker was definitely one of the best, but Tom Morello, as i've said before, is a technical GENIUS. I think he deserves a bit more credit than you're giving him...

but that's my opinion. Feel free to disregard it, it's your music tastes...:)

[AntiCoup2K4]

61. Another glaring omission: Phil Keaggy

Hey, they got Garcia and Iommi on the list. Keaggy's missing some fingers too and he can outplay both of those guys. (and I love Sabbath and the Dead)

Even Clapton once called Keaggy the "best guitarist alive", when he was uncomfortable with his own "God" status.

[G_j]

62. a few that could have been on the list IMO

Joe Pass, Norman Blake, Herb Ellis, Albert King, Otis Rush, Lowell George, Doc Watson, Tony Rice, King Sunny Ade, Junior Brown, John Renbourn
and many others....

(please excuse the spellings)

all in all better than most 'best' lists though

[mitchum]

63. This is absolute horseshit

[NightTrain]

64. Glad to see Link Wray and Dick Dale receive some...

...long-overdue recognition!

[DBoon]

75. They both should be in the top 10!

Link Wray especially. That guy was a genius!

[DBoon]

76. Get Link in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Go here:

http://www.fullcirclepros.com/link/openingpage.htm

[Cocoa]

68. no John Kerry?

:-)

[sujan]

69. yea right

:D

[Droopy]

71. Eddie Van Halen at number 70?!

You gotta be kidding me. He's at least top twenty, probably top ten.

[Droopy]

73. And no Randy Rhodes!

That's a crime!