- B.B. King: He doesn’t call his guitar Lucille to be cute. With King’s emphasis on vibrato, she sounds like a real woman singing the blues.
- Keith Richards: The most notable of Chuck Berry’s many disciples is also the creator of more memorable riffs — “(I Can’t get no) satisfaction,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “Gimme Shelter,” “Start Me Up,” etc – than anyone else in rock ‘n’ roll.
- Eric Clapton: Fluent in every blues style, Clapton is probably best known as the king of the Tulsa Sound. He’s also among the most melodic of guitarists, using his solos to move a song along instead of stopping it cold.
- Jimmy Page: Page’s guitar sounds like six guitars, and the heaviness of his right hand is key to the instant recognisability of Led Zeppelin’s sound.
- Chuck Berry: The father of rock-‘n’-roll guitar, his staccato influence is still heard on most songs today.
- Les Paul: An amazingly talented guitarist, Paul had a series of futuristic-sounding hits in the 1950s. But his music has been superseded by his invention: Paul pioneered the design and construction of the modern electric guitar, which made everyone else on this list very rich.
- Yngwie Malmsteen: The Swede’s superfast “neoclassical” style, (he credits Bach and Paganini as influences), is a blur of scales and technical precision. It almost makes you forget that the great bulk of his music is so fast that it’s unlistenable.
- Prince: He does a little singing, but Prince also plays a mean lead guitar. The solo on “Let’s Go Crazy” is a frequently cited example of his frenetic style, but covers of “Just My Imagination” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” prove he can also play under control.
- Johnny Ramone: No one hated guitar solos more than Johnny Ramone, so it’s not surprising he perfected the punk style, packing chords together tightly and leaving no space for freelancing.
