Top 100 guitarists of all time- according to rolling stone

Stryper · Sep 3, 2003

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
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

I personally would have liked to see Adrian Smith (iron maiden), Zakk Wylde (ozzy) or james hetfield(metallica) up there

indigo tree · Sep 4, 2003

Go Edge!

RTM · Sep 5, 2003

There is a disturbing lack of Phil Keaggy on that list. And Steve Vai. And Eric Johnson. And Joe Satriani. And why is Kurt Cobain at number 12?

Looks to me like they ranked them according to popularity instead of talent.

Axver · Sep 5, 2003

Edge should be number one. Simple as that. Sure, I'm insanely biased towards him because I'm an absolutely obsessed U2 fan, and that may get in the way of my objectivity, but he should be number one. Anyone with any knowledge of the guitar can play stuff like New Year's Day (seriously, the main riff is dead easy), but only Edge can make it talk and make it something more than a guitar riff. To quote Bono (not word for word) in regards to the guitar at the end of Love Is Blindness: "Edge's guitar is like a prayer. It's more eloquent than anything I could've said."

Alright, to concede a little, maybe he shouldn't be number one, but at least in the top ten. After listening to stuff like 11 O'clock Tick Tock, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Where The Streets Have No Name, Bullet The Blue Sky (the riff in this song is beyond incredible live), et cetera, I don't see how he can't be in the top ten. One of the great minimalists of our time. To quote Bono again: "Guitar hero ... this is The Edge!"

Johnny Kendall · Sep 5, 2003

At least they got the top pick right, cuz nobody can even come close to Hendrix...but i can't believe they placed Kurt Cobain at 12, ahead of Tom Morello and the guys from Radiohead...and David Gilmour is at 82?!?...

Phoenix · Sep 5, 2003

That list is a joke. Danny Gatton didn't make the list ? If the guitarists themselves were polled Danny Gatton would be at or near the top of all the lists.

indigo tree · Sep 5, 2003

Amen to that Axver. I've always that the the guitar riff at the begging of Streets was something more..I could never figure out what it was...Its so perfectly beautiful.And the on in I Still Havent Found.

Lion of Narnia · Sep 6, 2003

Bogus. Unless I missed it, where is Joe Satriani (Surfing with the Alien) ? And Jerry Garcia #13??? Give me a break...

Mephster · Sep 6, 2003

Yeah, James from Metallica, Edge, and Eddie van Halen should all be on there AND ranked higher, IMHO.

Boo to Neil Young!

Blackwing · Sep 6, 2003

Where is nuno bettencourt? also how about frank gambale and joe pass?

oneiric · Sep 6, 2003

12 Kurt Cobain of Nirvana ?

So overrated.

Axver · Sep 7, 2003

Indigo Tree - 'Amen to that Axver. I've always that the the guitar riff at the begging of Streets was something more..I could never figure out what it was...Its so perfectly beautiful'

I have the guitar tablatures to most U2 songs, including Streets, and I don't know how he plays it. I've tried to play it, but it is impossible to play it like Edge. He just ... he does it so masterfully that the guitar becomes something more than that. The live version on the Rattle And Hum video is absolutely incredible, and it's only slightly less so on Popmart - Live From Mexico City (the ending of it on the Popmart video is actually better, though).

I think his greatest achievement, no matter how overlooked it is, is the 11 O'clock Tick Tock riff. He's absolutely scorching (especially on the Under A Blood Red Sky video), and it's certainly enough to put him in the top ten. Then again, this list is an absolute joke, so ...

MikeMcK · Sep 7, 2003

Phoenix said:
That list is a joke. Danny Gatton didn't make the list ? If the guitarists themselves were polled Danny Gatton would be at or near the top of all the lists.

Yes, he did make the list. He's #63.

I just can't believe that there was no mention of Tony Rice, Clarence White, Don Rich, James Burton, Albert Lee, Bill Kirchen, Charlie Christian, Wes Montgomery, Mark Knopfler, Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, Alex DeGrassi, Doc Watson, Bryan Sutton, Leo Kotke, Norman Blake, Scott Nygard, Russ Barenberg, Michael Johnson, Christopher Parkening, etc while someone like Kurt Cobain, who couldn't even keep his guitar in tune, makes the list.

As much as Clarence White has influenced bluegrass, country and rock guitarists, it's stunning to me that he didn't get a nod.

It's not much of a list. It's obvious that they are slanted towards rock, and that's fine, but they need to specify that and they need to recognize that guitarists, good guitarists, tend to listen to and appreciate a lot of other guitarists outside of their own genre.

If you're going to talk about the best guitarists of all, I don't see how you can leave the guys I mentioned off the list. It's obvious that they didn't ask any guitarists what they thought.

Top 100 guitarists of all time- according to rolling stone

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