A List Of Guitarists Who Have Influenced Many Musicians

John McLaughlin

John McLaughlin of Doncaster, England, is a key figure in the development of “fusion” music. He won the Grammy Award for Best Improvised Jazz Solo in 2018. John also had an impressive list of artists with whom he had collaborated at one point or another. While being on this list is hardly a reason to rub shoulders with rock royalty, there aren’t many guitarists who can claim to have shared Miles Davis’s stage. McLaughlin actually played on Miles’ most famous album, Bitches Brew.

John McLaughlin

Steve Morse

Steve Morse is the founder of the Dixie Dregs and the lead guitarist for Deep Purple since 1994. In 1986, Steve Morse joined the popular rock band Kansas as the lead guitarist. The albums Power and In The Spirit of Things were released while he was a band member. Although he is now a member of the Flying Colors supergroup, Morse claims that when he was with Deep Purple, his bandmates forced him to ride in a separate vehicle because he would constantly play guitar as they went from gig to gig.

Steve Morse

Peter Green

Peter Green was a co-founder of Fleetwood Mac. Mr. John Mayall, the British blues godfather, hired him in 1965, a man who found more than a few guitarists on this list, and his career took off. In reality, the guitarist in John Mayall’s band who Peter Green replaced was none other than Eric Clapton, who, as you might expect, was further down the list.

Peter Green

Robin Trower

Trower was regarded as one of the best guitar players due to his Jimi Hendrix-like skills and alleged capacity to bend notes better than any other player alive. However, when he was a member of the famous group Procol Harum in the 1960s, his guitar playing became even more popular. The album Bridge of Sighs, released in 1974, is widely regarded as Trower’s pinnacle achievement. In the 1980s, Trower formed a band with Jack Bruce, the Cream bass player.

Robin Trower

Tom Morello

Before becoming a rock god, Tom Morello received a BA in Social Studies from Harvard University. In the 1990s, Morello met Zack de la Rocha. Rage Against the Machine, one of the most successful and influential rock bands of the 1990s, was formed. Rage Against the Machine performed outside the Staples Center Convention Center in Los Angeles in 2000, hosting the Democratic National Convention. As the show progressed, the audience became increasingly enraged and violent, eventually resorting to throwing rocks at one point.

Tom Morello

Paul Gilbert

Gilbert is best known for his fast guitar playing and stylistic versatility. Gilbert was tapped to fill in as a guitarist for Ozzy Osbourne, the legendary metal-monster when he was just 15 years old in the early 1980s. At the time, Ozzy’s manager and producer were adamant about not bringing in a child to play guitar for a man who had previously led Black Sabbath. Most guitarists on this list would never combine speed picking with legato and Spanish guitar techniques in the same sentence.

Paul Gilbert

Malcolm Young

AC/DC, Australia’s largest rock band, was co-founded by Malcolm Young and his brother Angus. Malcolm continued to play rhythm guitar while Angus took the lead. According to legend, they chose the name AC/DC after seeing the letters on the top of their older sister Margaret’s sewing machine. Malcolm and his band were touring Europe with Black Sabbath by the late 1970s. It was said that they didn’t get along with Black Sabbath very well. According to one story, when things got heated, Sabbath guitarist Geezer Butler pulled out a Malcolm knife.

Malcolm Young

George Harrison

Another great artist died ahead of his time. This original Beatles member died in 2001 from throat cancer, which he attributed to years of smoking. Harrison was the first Billboard Century Award winner in 1992. It marked Harrison’s “critical role in laying the groundwork for the modern concept of world music.”

George Harrison

Michael Schenker

“A legendary figure in the history of metal guitar,” according to Michael Schenker. The German guitarist was also a founding member of the Scorpions, a rock band. In the mid-’70s, he and his brother, Rudolf Schenker, formed the UFO band. Overall, Schenker has left and rejoined the UFO band at least three times and has written a song after each reunion.

Michael Schenker

Duane Allman

Howard Duane Allman was the founder and leader of the Allman Brothers Band, a band that allowed him to play with his brother, Gregg Allman. Duane was tragically killed in a motorcycle crash that smashed his internal organs. He was well-known for his expressive slide guitar playing and improvisational ability on the instrument. “Live at the Fillmore East” by the Allman Brothers is widely regarded as one of the best live rock albums ever recorded.

Duane Allman

Paul Kossoff

Paul Kossoff was a guitarist who was in high demand because of his uncanny timing and complex ability to solo. He was a member of the famous band “Free” and was in high demand as a guitarist because of his uncanny timing and complex ability to solo. Unfortunately, Kossoff began using drugs when he was 15 years old. He died of a pulmonary embolism on a flight from Los Angeles to New York on March 19, 1976.

Paul Kossoff

Keith Richards

Keith Richards, arguably the best rhythm player in history and one-half of the “Glimmer Twins,” is a co-founder of the Rolling Stones with his partner Mick Jagger. Richards was dubbed the “creator of rock’s greatest single body of riffs” on guitar by Rolling Stone magazine in 2011. Richards was also the inspiration for Johnny Depp’s character, Pirate Captain Jack Sparrow, in the Caribbean films’ Pirates. This is what sets him apart from everyone else you’ve met.

Keith Richards

Billy Gibbons

Billy Gibbons would be the lead guitarist and lead singer of ZZ Top if his beard didn’t give it away. Early in his career, Gibbons founded The Moving Sidewalks, which served as an opening act for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, allowing him to become close friends with Jimi. Billy Gibbons’ genius is undoubtedly responsible for ZZ Top’s Texas blues boogie sound, which is now selling out concerts worldwide.

Billy Gibbons

Joe Bonamassa

Joe Bonamassa famously opened for B.B. King when he was just 12 years old. B.B. King said that when he first started playing, the audience fell silent for a moment as they realized it was the child who was making those sounds. However, once the truth was revealed, the audience went insane, and Bonamassa performed in front of large crowds ever since.

Joe Bonamassa

Mick Taylor

Mick Taylor was the blues virtuoso Mayhall had been looking for. Taylor continued to perform with The Rolling Stones until 1974, proving that he was a mix of Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. Slash, the guitarist for Guns N’ Roses, has stated that Taylor had the most influence on him as an artist.

Mick Taylor

Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine was Metallica’s first lead guitarist. Mustaine was fired from Metallica on April 11, 1983, due to his alcoholism, substance addiction, violence, and feuds with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich’s founding members. Despite this, he achieved great success in his career thanks to the band he founded, “Megadeth.” In his band, he is known for both singing and playing fast, amazing lead lines.

Dave Mustaine

James Hetfield

Hetfield is an unstoppable guitar force. Hetfield is credited with inventing the sound of speed metal and instilling an unrivaled sense of rage in the music industry. Hetfield went to rehab for substance abuse in 2001. He’s been residing in Vail, Colorado, since then.

James Hetfield

Pete Townshend

Townshend co-founded The Who, one of the most influential rock bands of all time. He wrote in his biography about growing up in London shortly after WWII, “I wasn’t trying to play beautiful music. I was confronting my audience with the awful, visceral sound of what we all knew was the single absolute of our frail existence—one day, an airplane would carry the bomb that would destroy us all in a flash. It could happen at any time.”

Pete Townshend

Kirk Hammett

Metallica’s previous guitarist, Dave Mustaine, was replaced by Kirk Hammett, who is also a member of the band. After frontman James Hetfield approached Hammett, his parents put him on a plane to New York to meet with the band. When the kid walked into the venue, the band was not impressed, but when he nailed the solo for the hit “Seek and Destroy,” they hired him on the spot.

Kirk Hammett

Chuck Berry

Chuck Berry was a rock and roll pioneer. Berry gave rock music three things: an irresistible swagger,  a focus on the guitar riff as the primary melodic element, and a focus on songwriting as storytelling.” Joe Lynch wrote the piece. There is no doubt that today’s rock music would not be what it is today if it weren’t for Chuck Berry.

Chuck Berry

Steve Howe

Howe is the lead guitarist for the progressive rock band Yes. After leaving The Velvet Underground, Howe was the lead guitarist on Lou Reed’s first solo album, further cementing his reputation. Howe had a successful solo career after leaving Yes. In 2017, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame.

Steve Howe

Rory Gallagher

Rory Gallagher was a blues and rock legend. His albums have sold more than 30 million copies around the world. Gallagher died tragically on June 14, 1995, from the effects of a failing liver caused by alcohol, narcotics, and an MRSA infection. Because of how well he plays the blues, he has influenced a lot of blues guitarists.

Rory Gallagher

Zakk Wylde

Zakk Wylde began his career as a member and lead guitarist of a small band called Stonehenge. He eventually auditioned for and was hired as Ozzy Osbourne’s lead guitarist, which he held for a long time. He’s also a member of the Black Label Society heavy metal band, where he sings lead. Wylde is well-known due to his undeniable stage presence. When Ozzy was on stage, he used to say that getting the crowd to look at him was difficult.

Zakk Wylde

Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa was a master of nonconforming free-form improvisation. Zappa was a prolific artist, releasing more than 60 records with his band, Mothers of Invention, and solo artists. Zappa is a self-taught guitarist who is regarded as one of the new era’s most influential guitarists. In his later years, Zappa led orchestras and recorded jazz and classical music albums.

Frank Zappa

Yngwie Malmsteen

In the 1980s, Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, better known as Yngwie Malmsteen, became famous for his neoclassical metal style. With 20 studio albums under his belt, Yngwie Malmsteen remains one of the most prolific artists working today. In 2018, he signed with Mascot Records and showed no signs of slowing down!

Yngwie Malmsteen

John Petrucci

John Petrucci is best known as a founding member of Dream Theater. Every “Top Guitarist” essay and post in magazines and on the internet features Petrucci’s name. He’s best known for fusing classical and jazz phrasings into rock chord progressions, resulting in a sound that’s unlike anything else in the rock world today.

John Petrucci

Prince

With his guitar playing, the late musician Prince could make anyone’s jaw drop. Prince was known for his ability to master various musical styles, including disco, punk, R&B, new wave, soul, pop, and psychedelic. Prince is one of the best-selling musicians of all time, with more than 130 million albums sold by his adoring fans.

Prince

Synyster Gates

Synyster Gates is the lead guitarist for the band Avenged Sevenfold. Total Guitar named him the Best Metal Guitarist in the World in 2016 and 2017. He’s a big jazz fan, and Django Reinhardt, the legendary gypsy guitarist, is one of his biggest influences. He also mentions Danny Elfman, the frontman for Oingo Boingo, as someone he admires.

Synyster Gates

Carlos Santana

Carlos Santana went on stage at Woodstock and wowed the mass of people. His band Santana rose to prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, pioneering a fusion of rock and roll and Latin American jazz. He won a Grammy, a Billboard Century Award, and numerous other accolades.

Carlos Santana

Angus Young

Angus Young is known for his active appearances, schoolboy-uniform outfits, and his duck walk take on Chuck Berry. Young is 65 years old, and his playing style is heavily influenced by blues, power chords, and Scottish folk music. His ability to play one-handed arpeggios is well-known in his solos!

Angus Young

Dimebag Darrell

Dimebag from Damageplan Darrell has never received formal guitar lessons, but his style is legendary. He used the major third to add dissonance to his minor key tonalities in his riffs and leads. He had incredible picking ability as well but preferred legato phrasing.

Dimebag Darrell

B.B. King

B.B. King was the first to introduce a sophisticated guitar solo style to the world. He pioneered new techniques for electric blues by using string bending and vibrato. B.B. King, the undisputed “King” of the blues guitar, was a lifetime friend of the blues and one of the greats of all time.

B.B. King

Mark Knopfler

Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler is a co-founder of the band. He is a finger-style guitarist, a four-time Grammy winner, and a three-time University of Music Honorary Doctor of Music. Sultans of Swing, from Dire Strait’s first album, is an absolute masterpiece of guitar showmanship.

Mark Knopfler

Randy Rhoads

Randy Rhoads was a major influence on neoclassical metal, having played with Quiet Riot and Ozzy Osbourne. Hundreds of well-known guitarists credit him as an influence. At the age of 25, he died tragically while on tour with Ozzy Osbourne in 1982. A single-engine plane carrying a few band members, including Rhoads, collided with the top of the tour bus, spiraled out of control, and killed everyone on board.

Randy Rhoads

Gary Moore

Gary Moore, another former member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, has been dubbed a true virtuoso. He had success in several bands and as a solo artist. He had eleven solo Top 40 hits in the UK as a recording artist. In 1993, he collaborated on an album with former Cream members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

Gary Moore

Tony Iommi

Tony Iommi is a founding member of the Black Sabbath. He changed his playing style after an accident in a factory where he worked as a teenager. He lost the tips of his middle and ring fingers on his right hand. He went on to become one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time.

Tony Iommi

Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani made a living as a guitar instructor before becoming a rock god, even teaching a young guitarist named Steve Vai at one point. His breakout album, Surfing With the Alien, which features the iconic illustration of Marvel Comics’ Silver Surfer on the cover, cemented his reputation as one of the best instrumental rock guitarists of all time.

Joe Satriani

Jeff Beck

The guitarists who played with The Yardbirds are all phenomenal. Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page were the members of the Yardbirds. Jeff Beck is a true guitar genius whose work spans blues rock, hard rock, and electronica, among other genres. He doesn’t appear to be slowing down. He’s been seen playing with Johnny Depp at live shows recently.

Jeff Beck

Steve Vai

Steve Vai got his start in music by transcribing a complicated Frank Zappa song on notebook paper and sending it to the artist. After reading the page, Zappa mailed a plane to Vai, who flew a few to Los Angeles and joined the band. Vai is another virtuoso who has been described as a very individualistic player.

Steve Vai

Ritchie Blackmore

Ritchie Blackmore is a co-founder of Deep Purple and a highly accomplished guitarist and composer. Single guitar notes are hard-punched, combining his free-flowing jamming style with softer, almost pipe organ sounds to create a sound that hasn’t been duplicated.

Ritchie Blackmore

Slash

Slash is Guns N’ Roses’ lead guitarist. He has received critical acclaim for his guitar playing since he began his career in 1981. He shared the stage with some of the world’s best guitarists, including Lenny Kravitz, who described him as “probably the best guitarist he’d ever played with.”

Slash

Alex Lifeson

Alex Lifeson is the guitarist for the progressive rock band Rush. He plays the mandola, bouzouki, and mandolin, as well as electric and acoustic instruments. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Lifeson now aspires to be a painter, a restaurant owner, and a licensed pilot.

Alex Lifeson

Brian May

Brian May is the lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the legendary Queen band. May is known for his soaring guitar solos and combining rock and roll and classical music styles. Regardless of which band he’s in at the time, his distinct voice is instantly recognizable. Brian May has resurrected Queen and brought them back to the forefront of rock.

Brian May

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Vaughan was a key figure in the revival of the blues in the 1980s. David Bowie, who chose Vaughan to play guitar on his new album Let’s Dance in the mid-’80s, recalled his lightning-fast fingerpicking. Vaughn was an instant hit, and opening acts included The Stray Cats and Eric Clapton. He is remembered as a legendary guitar player.

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton is God. -Well, that’s what the graffiti scrawled once declared on London houses. Eric Clapton, a member of The Yardbirds, Cream, Derek, and The Dominos, is the first three-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Clapton has won 18 Grammy Awards and has sold over 100 million albums worldwide.

Eric Clapton

David Gilmour

Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour was a member of the band. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest guitarists of all time. Pink Floyd took their transformative sound from their roots as a blues/folk band and turned it into an acid rock genre that no other band could match. As new fans of the band emerge, the Moon and The Wall’s albums Dark Side continue to sell millions of copies each year.

David Gilmour

Eddie Van Halen

The founder of the hard rock band Van Halen is an absolute guitar beast. Edward Van Halen and his brother Alex were discovered by Gene Simmons of Kiss and formed one of the most successful rock bands of all time, led by David Lee Roth and Sammy Hagar. Van Halen was voted number one on Guitar World Magazine’s list of the best guitarists of all time in 2012.

Eddie Van Halen

Jimmy Page

Jimmy Page is the founder of the Led Zeppelin rock band. Well, guess what, though? He was also in The Yardbirds. As a twenty-year-old in the 1960s, he was one of Britain’s most sought-after guitarists. Now, Page was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Jimmy Page