Top 10 Guitarists of All Time

Duane Allman

Eric Clapton

Buddy Guy

Jimi Hendrix

Jimi Hendrix is widely regarded as the greatest guitar player in history not just because he had considerable blues chops but also because of his wild creativity with his instrument. The man was capable of churning out sounds that no one had ever heard before, and his mastery over the electric guitar has still never been matched. Hendrix often got lumped in with the late 60s hippie movement, but he was really a thing unto himself, a freight train that tore through the music scene with unrelenting sonic power.

Derek Trucks

B.B. King

King’s guitar playing was simply gorgeous, highly expressive and emotional while also being technically flawless. Coming out of the Memphis blues music scene, King’s playing had a uniquely soulful sound that was almost vocal in its shapes and intonations. While most music fans are now quite familiar with his style of blues guitar playing, King was utterly new in his time, and his work influenced virtually every rock and blues guitar player to come.

Billy Gibbons

Albert King

Jimmy Page

As a guitarist, Jimmy Page can do practically anything—blues, Beatles-style pop, folk rock, jazz, heavy metal, and so on. With his considerable talent, he could have made any kind of music, so it’s interesting that he left all the traditional forms behind and pioneered the signature Led Zeppelin sound that would prove so influential to all heavy metal and hard rock acts to come. Like all great guitar players, Page thought of his music in terms of songcraft and refrained from the type of self-indulgence that can kill a good song. With Zeppelin, he also grew into a formidable songwriter and producer.