Jimi Hendrix Named Greatest Guitarist Of All Time By Rolling Stone

Self taught and genre-bending, Jimi Hendrix defined rock & roll. With a legacy that lives on nearly half a century after his death, it comes as no surprise that Rolling Stone has named him the Greatest Guitarist of All Time.

In a new list revealed on Wednesday, Hendrix topped a field of legendary axe-wielders, retaining the title he earned from the magazine in 2003. The Woodstock headliner and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer performed in a number of bands, including the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and pioneered the use of feedback and distortion. That revolution is one of many things that Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello highlights in his short writeup for Hendrix in the magazine.

"He seamlessly weaves chords and single-note runs together and uses chord voicings that don't appear in any music book. His riffs were a pre-metal funk bulldozer, and his lead lines were an electric LSD trip down to the crossroads, where he pimp-slapped the devil," Morello writes.

Following Hendrix on the list at number two is Eric Clapton, with Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Jeff Beck making up the rest of the magazine's top five guitarists, as chosen by a panel of experts. B. B. King, Chuck Berry, Eddie Van Halen, Duane Allman and Pete Townshend round out the top ten.

To see the whole list, click over to Rolling Stone.

Comments

[Clint Maxey]

04:23 PM on 01/10/2012

o Ya gotta agree with Chet Atkins, best country picker to ever walk the face of the planet, jerry reeds pretty good too!

[Clint Maxey]

04:20 PM on 01/10/2012

Hendrix is not anywhere near the best guitarist ever, u line him, Stevie ray Vaughan and Edward van Halen up and Stevie will make Hendrix look like he never even learned to play and Edward would embarrass both of them. there is so many guitarists better than Hendrix its not even funny. any one who thinks Hendrix is the best guitarist must think the Beatles are one of the best bands too. ridiculous!

[lawdini]

05:27 PM on 12/18/2011

I would put Page second, then Beck, then Clapton.

[lawdini]

05:23 PM on 12/18/2011

I was listening to Machine Gun today. It's so brilliant, so on, its almost hard to listen to. It's heartbreaking that this genius passed away so young.

[Jondrea Smith]

02:52 PM on 12/18/2011

Funny thing is I doubt Hendrix would accept such an award. Not that he isn't in my top list, but that he was so self-effacing that it was hard to get him to brag on himself. He probably would've tried to pawn it off on Guy, King, or one of his other contemporaries.

[huggfat]

02:23 AM on 12/18/2011

agree with Gutrhie Govan...ranked too low or entirely missed -- shawn Lane, Terry Kath, Jan Akkerman, tommy bolin, junior brown, alan holdsworth, guthrie govan,

[nikto]

03:12 PM on 12/13/2011

A Brit named GUTHRIE GOVAN blows them all out of the room, technically.

But those guys were the original creators of the current rock-shred style, and had the advantage of playing on GREAT SONGS.

Playing a great solo is cool, but playing a great solo on a classic record like "Layla", or
"Beck-Ola" or "Led Zeppelin 3" reaches a whole other level.

[Siren Song]

12:51 AM on 12/07/2011

Where, may I ask, is Alvin Lee of Ten Years After? I saw them in concert a long, long time ago, and they were brilliant.

[gorgar11]

10:50 AM on 12/06/2011

Here's my top ten guitarists. 1. Jimi Hendrix, 2. Gary Moore, 3. Jeff Beck,
4. Jimmy Page, 5. Ronnie Montrose, 6. Joe Satriani, 7. Carlos Santana, 8. Eric Clapton,
9. Robin Trower, 10. Brian May.
I can't believe that Gary Moore didn't even make the list. The only competition that he has is Jimi.

[qzy]

12:50 PM on 12/04/2011

Let's not delude ourselves. None your your, pasty-faced, stool sitting, tea drinking, vegetarian, "Jazz Guitarists" could do what Angus Young did. They would die if they tried.

[Charles Burch]

04:49 AM on 11/29/2011

Who is the greatest writer of all time? The greatest composer? The greatest painter? What is it with Rolling Stone? One thing I know: Great magazines don't live on lists and self-proclaimed awards.

[Leftturn Signaler]

11:54 AM on 11/28/2011

The point is this; once ground is broken it's much easier for others to follow.

As I sit glancing at my (new) White Stratocaster, I can only remember how I and my generation were inspired by his music. He was more than a guitarist. He was a revolutionary in so many ways.

I for one think that titles like "the greatest" miss the point. Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, T Bone Walker, Robert Johnson; they're all up there at a level most of us mere mortal players only dream of most nights. Duane Allman, Stevie Ray Vaughn John Mayer, BB Freddie and Albert King, Albert Collins. . . I don't think that Hendrix, who was actually a fairly shy and modest person off stage would have claimed to have been better than any of those guys.

And what about Andres Segovia, without whose influence the guitar would still be a second tier rhythm instrument?

Hendrix may not have been THE greatest, but he's absolutely in a tie with those others I named, as well as who knows how many unknowns.

Fly on Voodoo Chile.

[Zork4]

10:51 PM on 11/26/2011

Chris Spedding, Phil Manzanera, Steve Hackett come to mind. I didn't have the patience to look at them all, but I hope they're in there somewhere.

[foreffectivegovernment]

06:53 PM on 11/26/2011

www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-c66SJPuUI

This is real guitar pickin'. All other is just rthymic noise.

[foreffectivegovernment]

06:45 PM on 11/26/2011

Chet Atkins, Jerry Reed, Roy Clark, Glenn Cambell, and Merle Travis play music on guitar. The rest is just NOISE.

[Zork4]

10:46 PM on 11/26/2011

...to you.