It's incredible what some really talented people can do with a guitar. In this article, we'll be looking at various great guitarists.
We won't order or rank them; just check them out and listen to how amazing they each play a guide.
The Top 10 Guitarists of All Time
To start, we're going to go through your typical contemporary guitarists. You'll have likely heard most of these names before being mentioned as the greatest guitarists of all time, but if you haven't, here they are!
These should inspire you if you're learning to play the guitar.
BB King
BB King was an American blues guitarist famous for playing electric blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll, soul, and gospel music.
His popular songs include "Sweet Little Angel" and "Sweet Sixteen".
He played the guitar, sang amazingly, and influenced guitarists like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.
Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana is a Mexican-born guitarist famous for his Latin rock, blues rock, and jazz fusion music. He was taught guitar by his father, who was a mariachi musician.
His most famous songs include "Europa" and "Smooth", but there are plenty of others that you might also enjoy. After all, he's responsible for some of the sexiest guitar music ever.
Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry is the guitarist who inspired many artists, including "The King" himself, Elvis Presley.
His combination of blues and country fused into the incredible guitar playing he became famous for.
He was also famous for being notoriously difficult to work with.
Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen was a famous guitarist and the frontman for the band Van Halen. If you're interested in playing the electric guitar, we recommend listening to Eddie play.
He's famous for playing hard rock, heavy metal, pop rock, and glam metal.
His guitar playing earned him the nickname “Superman”.
Eric Clapton
If you thought that “Superman” was quite the nickname, Eric Clapton's fans call him “God”. The British guitarist is famous for rock and blues music.
Some of his most famous songs to look for include “Cocaine” and “I Shot the Sheriff”, not to mention “Layla” and “Wonderful Tonight”.
He's collaborated with many other great musicians, including Phil Collins and Mick Jones.
Jimi Hendrix
When you talk about the guitar, especially the electric guitar, you must mention Jimi Hendrix. For many, he's the greatest guitarist ever and always will be. He's famous for rock, psychedelia, blues, and R&B music.
Hendrix famously played left-handed but used right-handed guitars turned upside down and restrung. This gave him a unique style and sound fairly unique since the guitars he used weren't designed to be played in this way.
Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page's nickname is "The Wizard," and he is the guitarist and founding member of Led Zeppelin. He is famous for his rock, blues, folk, hard rock, and heavy metal guitar playing.
His most famous songs include “Stairway to Heaven”, “Black Dog”, “Whole Lotta Love”, and “Since I've Been Lovin' You”.
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is most famous for being the guitarist in The Rolling Stones alongside the singer Mick Jagger. He's also the second richest guitarist in the world, but that doesn't mean that's how much you can earn playing guitar.
With "The Human Riff" as a nickname, he takes a different approach to guitar playing, focusing on simplicity over virtuosity. This approach results in something special when applied to the blues rock, rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and hard rock that he typically plays.
Muddy Waters
Muddy Waters, also known as "The Lord of the Blues," is a guitarist who is famous for the bottleneck technique.
He's famous for songs like “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Rollin' Stone”.
He's considered one of the most terrific blues guitarists ever, along with Willie Dixon, Johnny Lee Hooker, and BB King.
Robert Johnson
Robert Johnson was known as "The Genius". This Delta blues guitarist left just 29 songs when he died, and much mystery surrounded his life.
Here they all are again with the genre they're most commonly associated with.
| Name | Genre |
|---|---|
| 1. Jimi Hendrix | Rock and Blues |
| 2. Eric Clapton | Rock and Blues |
| 3. Jimmy Page | Rock |
| 4. Robert Johnson | Rock and Blues |
| 5. Chuck Berry | Rock 'n' Roll |
| 6. Santana | Rock, Blues and Samba |
| 7. Muddy Waters | Blues |
| 8. B. B. King | Blues |
| 9. Keith Richards | Rock |
| 10. Eddie Van Halen | Rock |
Your Favourite Guitarists
When we initially published our list of the best guitarists ever, Superprof blog readers made it very clear that there are a few more that we need to include and while playing guitar is good for your health, omitting readers' favourites wasn't.
Your wish is our command, and here are your favourite guitarists.
Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy is the guitarist who inspired greats like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Need we say more?
He was also in Muddy Waters' band.
Look for songs like “Howlin' Wolf”, “Killing Floor”, and “Wang Dang Doodle”.
David Gilmour
How can you have a list of the greatest guitarists without Pink Floyd's David Gilmour?
In addition to being partly responsible for The Dark Side of the Moon, you can hear Gilmour on songs like “Another Brick in the Wall”, “Wish You Were Here”, “Comfortably Numb”, and “Hey You”.
Gary Moore
Gary Moore is a guitarist who is famous for blues, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz fusion. He is most famous for forming Thin Lizzy.
He was also in the bands Skid Row and Colosseum II.
Make sure you listen to “Still Got the Blues”.
Kirk Hammett
Kirk Hammett is the guitarist from the iconic heavy metal band Metallica. Regularly classed as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, he's worth listening to if you like heavy metal, thrash metal, or hard rock.
Slash
Slash is most famous for being the guitarist of Guns N' Roses. He's regularly mentioned as one of the greatest guitarists of all time, and you can hear this on songs like "Sweet Child O' Mine", "November Rain", "You Could Be Mine", and "Estranged". Take your pick!
Steve Lukather
Steve Lukather is the guitarist famous for the incredible riff from "Hold the Line" with his band Toto.
He's also an incredible session musician playing rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock, hard rock, and pop rock. He's played with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band and his jazz fusion band El Grupo.
Tom Morello
Tom Morello is famous for being in Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, and he also performs solo.
He also toured with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, and his guitar playing may make you rethink everything you know about playing the guitar.
Top Blues Guitarists
While we've already included some blues guitarists, we've done so from the perspective of Western contemporary music in general.
Some blues guitarists need to be explicitly mentioned within a blues context.
Jack White
Jack White is definitely a curveball when it comes to blues guitarists. Still, he's famous for garage rock revival, alternative rock, folk, country, experimental rock, and blues rock!
Listen to The White Stripes' covers of some classics like "Stop Breaking Down" and "St. James Infirmary Blues".
Jeff Beck
Jeff Beck is a guitarist famous for instrumental rock, jazz fusion, progressive rock, and blues rock.
His guitar playing is bright, confident, and edgy, and he somehow manages to include humour in his music and playing.
Joe Bonamassa
Joe Bonamassa is a blues rock and hard rock guitarist. Listen to his group Black Country Communion for a fine example of American blues rock.
He grew up on the sounds of BB King, a great guitarist who also praised Bonamassa.
Have a listen to the live version of "Just Got Paid". You're in for something unique.
John Mayer
John Mayer is a rock, pop, and blues guitarist. Have a listen to the album “Try”.
While his early music was mainly acoustic, with the John Mayer Trio, he started moving towards blues music.
Top Guitarists from “World Music”
Beyond contemporary Western music and blues, we must mention some incredible guitarists for their contributions to "World Music." While the label isn't particularly useful for describing non-Western music, these guitarists are worth listening to; discovering new music is just one of the benefits of playing guitar.
Bombino
Bombino is a guitarist from Niger who plays Saharan rock, blues, and Tuareg music. His playing and music tend to evoke both sadness and joy. Beyond his incredible playing, he's also an inspirational human being.
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía was a Spanish guitarist who played flamenco and classical guitar music. After all, he is from the birthplace of the guitar. His music is an excellent way for anybody looking to get into flamenco music, and his playing takes the classical elements of flamenco while blending jazz influences into it.
Suppose you'd like to learn how to play the guitar anywhere close to any of these guitarists. In that case, we highly recommend looking for a guitar tutor on the Superprof website.
Most tutors offer the first lesson for free, so try a few out before choosing the one that's right for you and the genre of guitar music that you'd like to play!
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