01
Eddie Van Halen
Eruption changed everything in 1978 — two-handed tapping made the guitar sound like a new instrument.
▲ Steady·Score +12
Music
Greatest Guitarists of All Time
Six strings, endless expression — who has done the most extraordinary things with a guitar in hand?
Pick your favorites · Every vote moves the ranking · Results update live
02
John Mayer
Classically trained blues meets pop — Slow Dancing in a Burning Room is a modern guitar masterpiece.
▲ Steady·Score +10
03
Chuck Berry
The father of rock guitar — Johnny B. Goode laid the template every rock guitarist still follows.
▲ Steady·Score +9
04
S
Slash
That top hat, that Les Paul, that Sweet Child O' Mine riff — Slash is rock guitar personified.
▲ Steady·Score +5
05
Jimi Hendrix
Purple Haze, Voodoo Child, Machine Gun — Hendrix redefined what a guitar could sound and feel like.
▲ Steady·Score +5
06
K
Keith Richards
The Rolling Stones' riff machine — Satisfaction and Gimme Shelter are among rock's greatest moments.
▲ Steady·Score +5
07
BB King
Lucille sang like no other — BB King's vibrato and bends are the soul of the blues guitar.
▲ Steady·Score +5
08
Eric Clapton
Slowhand — Cream, Layla, and Wonderful Tonight defined blues-rock across five decades.
▲ Steady·Score +4
09
David Gilmour
Pink Floyd's voice — his Comfortably Numb solos are voted the greatest guitar solos of all time.
▲ Steady·Score +4
10
Carlos Santana
Spiritual, sensual, and instantly recognizable — Smooth and Black Magic Woman crossed every genre line.
▲ Steady·Score +2
11
Stevie Ray Vaughan
Texas blues mastery — Pride and Joy and Little Wing brought blues roaring back in the 1980s.
▲ Steady·Score +1
12
Jimmy Page
Led Zeppelin's sonic architect — Stairway to Heaven's solo is the most iconic guitar moment ever.
▲ Steady·Score -1
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“Eddie Van Halen”
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