Jimi Hendrix Tops Rolling Stone's Guitar Gods List: Who Is the Greatest Guitarist of All Time?
SLIDESHOW: Greatest Guitarist of All Time?
Jimi Hendrix
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Jimi Hendrix
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello says Hendrix "exploded our idea of what rock music could be."
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Eric Clapton
Eddie Van Halen says Clapton's early, blues-based sound is "still the core of modern rock guitar."
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Jimmy Page
Joe Perry says "listening to what [the Led Zeppelin guitarist] does on guitar can transport you."
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Keith Richards
Nils Lofgren of the E Street Band says the Rolling Stone guitarist "wrote two-and three-note themes that were more powerful than any great solo."
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Jeff Beck
Mike Campbell of the Heartbreakers says Beck "has the combination of brilliant technique with personality. It's like he's saying, "I'm Jeff Beck. I'm right here. And you can't ignore me."
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B. B. King
ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons says King originated two figures that "never fail to get you moving in your seat -- or out of your seat. It's that powerful."
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Chuck Berry
As a teenager, Keith Richards listened to every lick Berry played. "That cat wrote songs that had so much sense of humor and so much intelligence," Richards tells Rolling Stone.
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Eddie Van Halen
Mike McCready of Pearl Jam calls the Van Halen guitarist "a master of riffs," adding, "you can play the things he's written, but there's an X factor that you can't get."
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"His playing was effortless," Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello says of Hendrix. "There's not one minute of his recorded career that feels like he's working hard at it -- it feels like it's all flowing through him."
Rolling Stone gathered a panel of famous guitarists to weigh on on their peers and influences -- and Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Jeff Beck round out the top five guitar gods.
But it's pretty amazing that 41 years after his death at age 27 -- and after only a four-year career as a superstar -- Hendrix still comes out on top. From Hendrix to Eric Clapton to Jimmy Page, click through Rolling Stone's top eight choices and tell us: Who is the greatest guitarist of all time?
Top Opinion
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Stephen Smith 2011/11/23 21:18:43Jimmy Page
+16James Patrick Page - Zozo. In my opinion, Hendrix was too messy & untidy. I'm not talking about jamming. I'm talking about general play.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?...
There were others in other catagories that were better.