Top 10 Guitarists of All Time

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.

Guns N’ Roses were clearly more talented than their hair-band contemporaries, even though they didn’t always get credit for it. While Axl Rose was a big reason for their success, Slash gave the band a raw musicianship that Rose simply didn’t possess, and it’s hard to imagine that GNR ever would have gotten anywhere without him. On Appetite for Destruction alone Slash delivers five or six truly iconic guitar lines.

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.

Richards has always been openly derisive of the type of pretentious virtuosity that many of his contemporaries used. Rather than showing off, Richards always played in service of the song, and The Rolling Stones’ music in general is remarkably short on fancy solos or long instrumental passages (with some notable exceptions, of course). But even though he doesn’t show off, the pure energy of his playing is what gives so many Stones songs their power.

What can I say, the essence of rock and roll!

Dont say anything, let the guitar speak.

The man defines blues playing. From the beginning of his career to end he basically brought blues into mainstream society again. In many peoples opinions he is the greatest blues player of all time. From classics like "Pride and Joy" to his remake of "Little Wing" he truly has reinvented the style of blues playing and truly is one of the top guitarists of all time. Though his life was ended tragicly young as well as some others in the top, 10 you will not see a top 10 guitar list without SRV because hes just that remember able.

Carlos Santana really is the dude when it comes to making impossibly hard riffs look as easy as breathing in and out. With a career spanning more than 40 years and some cracking collaborations under his belt including Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Rob Thomas and Lauryn Hill, this is one guitarist who has kept on top of his game by adapting to the popular music trends of the time and adding his own flavour.

Black Sabbath's legendary guitarist has been bashing away at guitar licks since 1970 for Ozzy's metal greats. He's a super-reliable riff monster 24/7.