The Greatest Guitarists Ever

Forgetting to include John Frusicante on this list is almost inexcusable.

Dick Dale at # 41? you've got to be kidding !! he is a pretender to the throne; a much better choice would have been Nokie Edwards of the Ventures.

Where the hell is Mark Knopfler
and Peter Frampton!?

Notably absent, Tony Iomi

Eric Clapton #3, while B.B. King sits at 31, Buddy Guy at 35, Albert King at 44, and T-Bone Walker at 50?

Eric Clapton ripped these guys off and made millions. He is by far the most over-rated guitarist ever. Not to mention he hit women. Sure he is a decent guitar player, but there are at least 2 dozen blues guitarists I'd put before him.

How on earth could you leave out Ike Turner, one of the great guitarists of rock & roll? Perhaps you have never hear him play, but he was an accomplished guitarist way back from the early 50s with his Kings of Rhythm Band long before Miss Tina came on board.

Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Frusciante?

After scanning the list several times (assuming I just missed him), nope, Al Di Meola apparently could use some lessons from Keith Richards. Give us a break--

Jerry Garcia was not listed? Please!

CC DeVille should have been on this!

mason williams please

What cave have you been living in for the last 40 years or so? Did any one of you ever hear of Jerome Garcia? He was better known as Jerry Garcia and happened to have played with a little band up in San Francisco called the Grateful Dead for a little over three decades. I believe he's in the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame by himself and with the Grateful Dead. He has multiple platinum records, multiple gold records, Grammys, and he has more accolades than some of the guitarists listed on this list of yours. And this list of yours is off by far! It doesn't even include Hank Garland on the list!! GET REAL!!!

No Jerry Garcia?

MICK RONSON!

Yngwie, Les Paul, Segovia and Blackmore after... Jack White??? Seriously???

This must be a joke.

Alvin Lee of TYA.

Neil Young
Mick Ronson
Robby Robertson
Steve Stills
Wilson Pickett
Joni Mitchell (thats right) Joni Mitchell
Chris Hillman
Don Felder/Joe Walsh
Robbie Kreiger
Lou Reed
JamesHhoneyman Scott

You guys are asleep

Wow. This list is seriously flawed. Jack White at #15? Seriously!? He doesn't even belong in this list. Jeff Beck at #11?? Your #3 pick, Eric Clapton has said Jeff Beck is the greatest. I think he may know what he's talking about. And where is Joe Satriani and John Mayer? JImi Hendrix doesn't belong at number one. He was good, but not the greatest. SRV should be a lot higher too. It's sad when people who are uneducated about music simply pick who their favorite musician is and try to place them at #1.

What? No Michael Hedges?

What about Alex Lifeson? Did Rolling Stone magazine come up with this list? ;o)

what no john frisciante?

You still did not include Jerry Garcia.
Very lame list

These guys are all really good, but if Tommy Emmanuel isn't in the top 50, this list is totally bogus.

Alvin Lee of Ten Years After -- for sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFpfureaCVs

This should be named "Most Popular Guitarists". Putting Eddie Van Halen in front of Paco de Lucia and Joe Pass is obsurd.

Where's Nigel North , John Williams , Lonnie Mack, Larry Coryell ?? These lists are moronic and the people above would agree.

0. Jerry Garcia
1. Jimi Hendrix
2. Jimmy Page
3. Eric Clapton
4. Duane Allman
5. Stevie Ray Vaughan
6. Richard Thompson
7. Chet Atkins
8. Eddie Van Halen
9. Robert Fripp
10. David Gilmour
11. Jeff Beck
12. Frank Zappa
13. Merle Travis
14. Carlos Santana
15. Jack White
16. Randy Rhoads
17. Paco de Lucía
18. George Harrison
19. Johnny Marr
20. Les Paul
21. Andrés Segovia
22. Django Reinhardt
23. Leo Kottke
24. The Edge
25. Angus Young
26. Ritchie Blackmore
27. Wes Montgomery
28. Yngwie Malmsteen
29. John McLaughlin
30. Eddie Hazel
31. B.B. King
32. Joe Pass
33. Chuck Berry
34. Roy Clark
35. Buddy Guy
36. Tom Morello
37. Doc Watson
38. Keith Richards
39. Pete Townshend
40. Julian Bream
41. Dick Dale
42. Charlie Christian
43. Christopher Parkening
44. Albert King
45. Mike Bloomfield
46. Ry Cooder
47. John Fahey
48. Sharon Isbin
49. Paco Peña
50. T-Bone Walker

I forgot Mick Abrahams , Studebacker John , Rory Gallagher, Peter Green , Troy Turner, Roy Buchanan, Jessi Mae Hemphill , Johnny Winter , Narciso Yepes , Jimmy Reed, Hollywood Fats.

How can Joe Satriani not be on this list? Really, he should be in the top ten.

The classical guys got cheated. No way Christopher Parkening and Andres Segovia should be so low on the list. Have you heard those guys?

Steve Vai? Joe Satriani? Robert Cray?

Pat Metheny?

Jimmy Page ahead at number 2. Just goes to show you people are idiots.

Where is the guy from Yes? Steve Howe? He was one of the greatest I ever saw and I saw Yes 8 times. I do agree with Jimmy Page being right up there. Clapton was great but boring to watch. My all time favorite ax man of the mighty Zeppelin was Jimmy Page for sure.

Derek Trucks is Top 5?

The Edge? Is this a misprint?

Joe Satriani? Where is Joe?

You forgot Joe Satriani. The list is invalid...

Knowledgeable guitarists know that Alex Lifeson of Rush should be on this list. How about Michael Schenker of UFO fame?

You can't be serious with Jeff Beck at 11TH. #1 at best #2 at worst. Hendrix always has been way overated. He just played fast and mumbled.

Really! come on now. Yes, I would have to put Hendrix at the top, but David Gilmour is a very close second! The fact that you put Eddie Van Halen before Gilmour, makes me ill! I consider Jeff Beck a better guitarist than Van Halen. You guys need to re-think this, putting Gilmour at #10 is a disgrace!!!

George Harrison??? Duane Allman ??? Frank Zappa ??? Dick Dale??? C'mon. I thought this was about people who REALLY know how to play.
What about Jerry Reed??? He'd make all of those I mentioned run for cover. This is not a contest for who can play, but rather those people who are known for reasons other than their talent. Right???

Why is Santana not even on the list? This sucks!

Carlos @ 14??? Seriously, you must be joking. Maybe he should have lit his guitar on fire literally instead of figuratively.

So nice to have a cadre who picked for you the 'best ax players.' Go figure.

Wheres John Fusciante?

Tommy Emmanuel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQhECkexmSI&feature=related

What?? Where's Steve Lukather??? One of the most brilliant guys ever!

Where's Slash? Joe Perry? Synyster Gates? Dimebag Darrell? You got a bunch of good ones, for sure, but you guys are idiots.

No Steve Howe, No Trey Anastacio, No Gerry Garcia??? You're somewhat o.k. with the first five but after that the list gets very suspect. Overall this list is a joke. . .

EVH at number 8? And to give Paco de Lucia and Segovia spots outside the top 5, You have to be crazy. This is the problem with people who vote on instinct rather than musical knowledge.

Wes Montgomery is ranked #27? What the hell?!!

You forgot Ronnie Earl and Charlie Byrd. I might also throw in Emmy Lou Harris

where's Jerry?

Missed a few Sir Van Halen, Sir Yngwie Malmsteen, Greatest Ever Sir Tony Iommi... Thy deserve to be here :)

DIMEBAG DARRELL BLOWS ALL THESE FOOLS OUT OF THE WATER!!!

i still can't believe that jack white is on this list... it's like a slap in the face to so many unsung, unrecognized awesome guitarists out there. but, popularity contests rarely make sense. i guess justin bieber and taylor swift would be on the list too if teeny boppers had their vote too.

sigh

I think my project turned out very well, added some nice pieces of art to it too.. Let me know what you think of the list. It contains 227 Guitar Players, there is no ranking, they are sorted by year of birth and decade.

The Ultimate List: Greatest Guitarists Of all Time

http://www.insanemom.net/the-best-guitar-players-greatest-guitarists-of-all-time/

Jack White, Johnny Marr and Angus Young rate above Ritchie Blackmore? Ridiculous!!!

*** HOW COULD YOU EVER FREAKING FORGET BOB DYLAN? YOU INVALIDATED YOUR ENTIRE ARTICLE BY NOT PUTTING HIM SQUARELY IN THE TOP 5. GOOD BYE "LA MAGAZINE" ***

How can u leave Prince out of the top 50? Silly

Max Eider is one hell of a guitar player - played with The Jazz Butcher.

Carlos Santana must be in top three, along with Eric and Pass

I was surprised George Thorogood was not included.

...and Mike Campbell, a Heartbreaker, should be on there somewhere....

Where is Pat Metheny? You're kidding right?

T-Bone Walker at 50? Come on. Next you'll tell me that George Bush was appointed president in 2000 by the SCOTUS.
Albert King at 44? Come on
Charlie Christian at 42.....what are you smoking? Pass it around

Jack White #15, Les Paul #20?

What a f#cking joke.

Hello............what about Peter Frampton!! He took guitar to another level including doing an instrumental album for which he won a Grammy!!

Ya he got sucked into being a teeny star for a while but he is a great and under appreciated guitarist (even play on "All Things Must Pass with George Harrison....all the acoustical parts!!)

This list blows!!! What about Tony rice, Chet Atkins, Derek trucks, Warren Haynes, and most of all Jerry Garcia who every made must not listen to guitar!!!!!!

RICK DERRINGER???

Seems the Allman Bros freaks found a poll they could stack. Why no Mike McReady?

Pound for pound Greg Howe, Jason Becker and Ritchie Kotzen should have been on the list!

Brian Setzer?

Steve Howe should be Number 1

Prince? The greatest guitarist and song writer of all time!!!

are you kidding me. it goes to show that the coomen person knows nothing about skill. Where is Steve Vai and joe satraiani.

Why you would list that spud, The so-called "Edge," and leave out both Lennon and McCartney is truly deranged.

Steve Hunter? Billy Gibbons? Robby Krieger? Justin Hayward?

You DO have some cheese...?

Where the hell is Shinbone Jefferson? He lived down the street from my Grandma, used to sit on the porch and play for us kids. Best EVER!

Pete Townsend after eric clapton-no way,hendrix #1 hardly,how much research did you guys do on this?? 2 hours

Bruce Springsteen
Both guys from the Ventures
Steve Van Zandt

DUANE EDDY belongs on the list. He may not be the technical virtuoso that some of the listed guitarists are, but his "Twangy Guitar" impact and sales and influence in the late 1950s and early 1960s was historic.

Has anyone ever heard of Willie Nelson?

You should call this greatest "Rock Guitarists" as the majority of these guys play rock. You missed most of the AWESOME jazz guitarists like: Pat Martino, George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Grant Green, Pat Metheney, Mike Stern all of whom would BLOW AWAY at least three quarters of these Rock n Roll clowns on your list. About the only thing you got right was putting Jimi Hendrix at the top spot. The man truly was an incredible genius.

And which guitarist on your list could "humble" "The Humbler" (much less outplay him over any number of different musical genres..?) His videos may be found and viewed online....

Well what about Chuck Berry I'm from Australia, he had a-lot to do with the hero guitar thing your on about here, how much influence did this man have? And you've forgotten?

John Lawrance from the band Black Sun Australia.

Carlos Santana > malmsteen? On what planet?

Clarence Gatemouth Brown

WHERE THE HELL IS DAVE DAVIES OF THE KINKS??? DUH, YOU REALLY GOT ME ON THAT ONE.

I miss next ones
Steve Hackett
Larry Coryell
Al Dimeola
Joe Satriani
Rory Gallagher
Mike Stern
Johnny Winter
John Mayall
Allan Holdsworth
Terje Rypdal
John Abercrombie
The first of all : John Maclaughlin for his widest music: jazz, rock, hinduism, classical, flamenco, electronic

JOHN FRUSCIANTE!!!!!!!

Randy California - Spirit

Hysterical.
Polls, a product of our age. But I love them because they just point out the absolute ignorance of people. This one is, well, hysterical.

What kind of moron puts a visionary like Pete Townshend behind Django freaking Reinhardt?

This list is seriously a bad list. You would think this was put out by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Dick Dale? Seriously?
Jack White? Pathetic

Some people posted so great guitarists left off the list like Satriani,

But what about these amazing talents?

Prince
Jennifer Batten?
Nuno Bettencourt?
Bruce Kulick?

Do people have their heads in the sand? Go see the last three at a clinic and get your mind blown.

LOL where in the hell is Jerry Garcia This list is just dumb without him. should be in the top five

This list is bound to draw complaints, as it lumps together the virtuosos and shredders like Segovia, Yngwie, and Van Halen (Vai and Satriani should be on the list, of course) those who create a band's sound with guitars (the Edge, Pete Townsend, Jack White, BB King), and those who were wildly original and influential in their styles (Dick Dale, Kotke, Django, Hendrix, Page, Beck, Les Paul), and those who weren't great but who we simply like (Richards). Love them all, but also included should be the masterful Allan Holdsworth.

I second Brian Setzer...
What about Steve Morse?

where's Terry Kath?

Just goes to show what a waste of time "best of " lists are. It is a popularity contest, not an indication of a persons talent. That "popularity" extends only so far to the voters musical experiences which are usually dictated by the very media who puts on these "best of" lists. Quit being good sheep people. Listen and think for yourselves. By the way, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Oz Noy would be worthy of a best of list

Go along with all the other commentators, you've missed some good axmen, included people like Jack White!
Can I add Steve Hackett, Robert Cray and Joe Bonnamassa to the MIA list

Carlos Santana?? The most overrated guitarist in music....Just because he made the most annoying, overplayed song in history with Rob Thomas does not make him a legend.....