There are huge stars like Prince, Joni Mitchell, and Neil Young, and behind-the-scenes masters like Memphis soul great Teenie Hodges and smooth-rock assassin Larry Carlton. There are peerless virtuosos like Pat Metheny, Yvette Young, and Steve Vai, as well as primitivists like Johnny Ramone and Poison Ivy of the Cramps. The list has rock, jazz, reggae, country, folk, blues, punk, metal, disco, funk, bossa nova, bachata, Congolese rumba, flamenco, and much more. The earliest entrant on the list (folk music icon Elizabeth Cotten) was born in 1893, the youngest (indie-rock prodigy Lindsey Jordan) was born in 1999. We wanted to show the scope of the guitar’s evolution. But mythic guitar gods like Jimmy Page, Brian May, and Eddie Van Halen are only one part of the story. Guitar players are often as iconic as the lead singers for the bands they play in. Our new expanded list was made by the editors and writers of Rolling Stone. It was compiled by a panel of musicians, mostly older classic rockers. Rolling Stone published its original list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists in 2011. That’s why thinking about what makes a great guitarist is so much fun. Anybody can pick up a little guitar in no time at all, but you can spend a lifetime exploring its possibilities. It is who I am.” The guitar is the most universal instrument, the most primal, and the most expressive. “My guitar is not a thing,” Joan Jett once said.
