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Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time: Do You Agree?
Rolling Atone Released a List of Top 100 Guitarists of All Time. Here is the Rolling Stone List of Top 100 Guitarists
The end-of-the-year list season is well underway. First came the VH1 Top 100 Songs of the 00's, and now Rolling Stone ranked its choices of the best guitarists of all time.
The number one guitarist: Jimi Hendrix. Not a huge surprise there. Below you can see the full list. The top 100 guitarists were selected by their peers, but that won't stop us (or you) from second-guessing their choices.
Do you agree with Rolling Stone's picks? What about the order? Who do you think should be number one?
The Rolling Stone Top 100 guitarists of All Time (2011)
- Jimi Hendrix
- Eric Clapton
- Jimmy Page
- Keith Richards
- Jeff Beck
- B.B. King
- Chuck Berry
- Eddie Van Halen
- Duane Allman
- Pete Townshend
- George Harrison
- Stevie Ray Vaughan
- Albert King
- David Gilmour
- Freddy King
- Derek Trucks
- Neil Young
- Les Paul
- James Burton
- Carlos Santana
- Chet Atkins
- Frank Zappa
- Buddy Guy
- Angus Young
- Tony Iommi
- Brian May
- Bo Diddley
- Johnny Ramone
- Scotty Moore
- Elmore James
- Ry Cooder
- Billy Gibbons
- Prince
- Curtis Mayfield
- John Lee Hooker
- Randy Rhoads
- Mick Taylor
- The Edge
- Steve Cropper
- Tom Morello
- Mick Ronson
- Mike Bloomfield
- Hubert Sumlin
- Mark Knopfler
- Link Wray
- Jerry Garcia
- Stephen Stills
- Jonny Greenwood
- Muddy Waters
- Ritchie Blackmore
- Johnny Marr
- Clarence White
- Otis Rush
- Joe Walsh
- John Lennon
- Albert Collins
- Rory Gallagher
- Peter Green
- Robbie Robertson
- Ron Asheton
- Dickey Betts
- Robert Fripp
- Johnny Winter
- Duane Eddy
- Slash
- Leslie West
- T-Bone Walker
- John McLoughlin
- Richard Thompson
- Jack White
- Robert Johnson
- John Frusciante
- Kurt Cobain
- Dick Dale
- Joni Mitchell
- Robby Krieger
- Willie Nelson
- John Fahey
- Mike Campbell
- Buddy Holly
- Lou Reed
- Nels Cline
- Eddie Hazel
- Joe Perry
- Andy Summers
- J Mascis
- James Hetfield
- Carl Perkins
- Bonnie Raitt
- Tom Verlaine
- Dave Davies
- Dimebag Darrell
- Paul Simon
- Peter Buck
- Roger McGuinn
- Bruce Springsteen
- Steve Jones
- Alex Lifeson
- Thurston Moore
- Lindsey Buckingham
Okay, Keith Richards should be above Eric Clapton. Robert Johnson should be in the top five. Robert Fripp, Jack White and Slash should at least be in the top 50. Bonnie Raitt and Carl Perkins should be in the top 60. We can't argue with Hendrix, though.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (7)
at 11:36 on November 23rd, 2011
They missed the not so famous but equally brilliant session guitarist Phil Palmer
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Brandt Hardin (not verified)at 12:49 on November 23rd, 2011
Jimi invented Metal and everything Rock knows about the guitar after 1970 came from his psychedelic twisting of what the instrument could do. I paid homage to Hendrix with a portrait called Purple Haze on the anniversary of his passing recently. You can see it at dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/09/purple-haze-jimi-hendrix.html and tell me how the voodoo child’s music has influenced you!
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That Guy (not verified)at 22:07 on November 23rd, 2011
what a friggin' crock. Alex Lifeson at #98, way behind Bruce Springsteen, Joe Walsh, and Neil Young? Robert Fripp at #62, while Angus Young is at #24 and Prince is #33??? No Adrian Belew at all? They did waaaay too much LSD back in the '60s... and coke in the '70s, crack in the '80s, and meth from the '90s til now and just never came down. Reason #423 why I never buy or read Rolling Stone.
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gtaero (not verified)at 21:20 on November 24th, 2011
Wow......worst list I have seen.Agree with Jimi on top, but beyond that not too much.No Eric Johnston? Warren Hanyes? Jeff Baxter ? but PAUL SIMON???????Keith Richards in front of Duane Allman? I can go on and on.
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Bill Firely (not verified)at 03:38 on November 25th, 2011
Alex Lifeson #98 ??? Bad list.
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jfutral (not verified)at 06:51 on November 26th, 2011
Finally someone with just the list. I don't really need the article and bios, I know all the names. There are a lot of fine musicians, singers, and songwriters, but I agree with many who say that they do not belong on a list of 100 _guitarists_. Eric Johnson, Alan Holdsworth, Adrien Belew, Monte Montgomery, Phil Keaggy, Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, and Laurence Juber are egregious omissions. One article I read mentioned missing females, Joni Mitchell and Bonnie Raitt, fine musicians/artists, but don't count as _guitarists_. Although I do agree that Bonnie Raitt is a fine guitarists, there are so many killer female guitarists out there, their omission is equally egregious. Even if you want to stick with pop-rock, there is Orianthi, who shreds like no one's business.Of course, it would be easy enough to come up with a list of "100 Top guitarists who aren't on the Top 100 list but should be". I do agree with the original editor from 2003 that it pretty much is Jimi at No. 1 and everyone else is tied for No. 2, at the very least for all the guitarists he inspired after him. But then one has to consider the guitarists who inspired Jimi. I'm not sure what this is a top 100 list of, but it really isn't a list of the top 100 guitarists.Joe
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hot rockin (not verified)at 14:04 on November 27th, 2011
i would like to know what criteria they used for this list ! some on this list ,DO NOTdeserve to be on this list ! while others DID NOT make this list.........i'll give you several guitarists that should be there ! YNGWIE MALMSTEEN, JONNY LANG,JOE BONAMASSA ,ZAKK WYLDE,STEVE VAI, JOE SATRIANI,ERIC JOHNSON, and KENNY WAYNE SHEPARD . EVERY ONE OF THESE GUITARIST ARE FAR BETTER THAN A HUGE NUMBER OF THESE GUITARIST ON THE LIST !