Legendary musician Jimi Hendrix was named the greatest guitar player in history Wednesday by Rolling Stone magazine in a list compiled by a panel of music experts and top guitar players.

"Jimi Hendrix exploded our idea of what rock music could be: He manipulated the guitar, the whammy bar, the studio and the stage," said Grammy-winning guitarist Tom Morello in the magazine, citing Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" as key tracks.

Hendrix is joined by the likes of Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jimmy Page and Pete Townshend among the top 10, in a list laden with rock 'n' roll icons spanning decades.

The panel of experts recruited to vote for their favourite guitar players included musicians such as Lenny Kravitz, Eddie Van Halen (who was voted No. 8), Brian May and Dan Auerbach from The Black Keys, along with a selection of Rolling Stone's senior writers and editors.

The experts also weighed in on their favourites, with Pearl Jam's Mike McCready calling Eddie Van Halen "a master of riffs" and Joe Perry praising Jimmy Page's "vision of how to transcend the stereotypes of what the guitar can do."

The full list will be featured in a special issue with four special covers of Van Halen, Clapton, Hendrix and Page, and will be on newsstands and online at rollingstone.com on Friday. Rolling Stone's top 10 greatest guitarists follow:

1. Jimi Hendrix

2. Eric Clapton

3. Jimmy Page

4. Keith Richards

5. Jeff Beck

6. B.B. King

7. Chuck Berry

8. Eddie Van Halen

9. Duane Allman

10. Pete Townshend

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/1...7AM0CB20111123

And here comes the list of obscure nobodies that are "better" than these guys

The top three are right on the money. After that it becomes subjective.

How long before Yngwie Malmsteen is mentioned in this thread?

Beck might be a tad low. Keith is probably the best Rhythm guitarist so Beck s/b 3rd or 4th.

Meh. That list definitely includes some greats (Hendrix, Van Halen, Beck), but I'd say that is a list of the 10 "most influential guitar players" as there are lots and lots of guitar players that are technically better than those listed.

Jimmy Page is the sloppiest fucker I've ever heard live. Fumble fingers deluxe.

Chuck Berry 7th best guitar player ever?

I'll bite.

Malmsteen isn't even the best in his niche genre and is just a bad joke nowadays. Every solo of his contains the same mindless harmonic minor wankery. He has no feel and his playing is soulless.

That said, he crushed on the first Alcatrazz disc as well as the first Rising Force cd.

Boy, music must have been great in the 1960s. Nine of the ten greatest guitarists of all time were active in that one brief span. I'm so jealous of Jan Wenner.

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That's exactly what it is. I've learned to stay away from the words "greatest" or "best" in these matters since this isn't an Olympic sport. So for what it is, it's a good list.

I was flipping through the list (for some reason, I still subscribe to this piece of crap) and I found Derek Trucks rated number 17. I like Derek Trucks (he might be my favorite modern guitarist), but 17th all time?! Even fucking Santana was at something like 24. Stupid.

any list that doesn't have Prince in the top 10 is just confusing.

No love for Michael Hedges? But good to see five Brits in the Top Ten

I suppose having JH as Number One means that you can legitimately omit the likes of Uli Roth and Frank Marino.

Learning to cop a few Hendrix licks doesn't qualify you as a great or groundbreaking guitarist.

^
one of the absolute dumbest things I've ever heard about Prince...ever.. Congrats!

Angus over Iommi?

Prince is a very underrated guitarist, but probably not fit for the list. Regardless, it looks like you have to be over 50 or dead to qualify. Out of the 10, Eddie Van Halen probably should have been 1st.

Neil Young is my favorite.

knowing Rolling Stone has a hard on for Cobain, surprised he's not on the list

#73

Really not surprised Alex Lifeson is nowhere to be found on the extended list.

He'd be in my top 10.

Rolling Stone only stays in publication so that Pitchfork won't be the most useless music source.

Bit surprised Knopfler is not in the Top 10. Really they should do two lists: 1 for composer/influence, and 1 for technical ability.

fixed