WELCOME

Where would rock’n’roll be without guitarists, eh? Answer:

Rock Rules The Top 20 Again

Guitar music back with a bang in a new renaissance

RIP

Thank you and good night

Mick Fleetwood Plans Farewell Mac Tour

Drummer says the band “owe it to the fans”

Download 2021 Cancelled

But Iron Maiden re-booked for the 2022 event!

NEWS

Black Sabbath bassist/lyricist Geezer Butler has confirmed the

The Offspring

Dexter and Noodles on opioids, sex droughts and growing old disgracefully

Levara

Fusing rock-star genes with synth-rock jams, this LA trio have come for our stadiums

BURIED TREASURE

Riches from the rock underground

NEWS

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has confirmed

Chris Holmes

The former W.A.S.P guitarist on Blackie Lawless, his new documentary, giving up booze, and that interview

MY FIRST LOVE Deep Purple

MADE IN JAPAN

NEWS

Pete Townshend has used lockdown to write lyrics

Dropkick Murphys

Ken Casey on sobriety, stolen puddings, and the resurrected art of smashing TVs with sledgehammers

Jacob Bryant

Meet the North Georgia country rocker with a troubled past and a bright future

Michael Schenker

The influential guitarist on immortality, alcoholism and why he’ll never make peace with elder brother Scorpion Rudolf

The Dust Coda

They all like AC/DC, they’re not always on 11, they spent lockdown getting a record deal, they’ve played some unusual gigs…

THE HARD STUFF the ultimate ROCK REVIEWS section

☆ ANDREW STUART/PRESS ★★★★★★★★★★ A CLASSIC ★★★★★★★★★ ☆ EXCELLENT

THE HARD STUFF ALBUMS

Joel Hoekstra’s 13: some mouthwatering moments. GRETA VAN

BEST OF THE REST

Other new releases out this month

THE HARD STUFF REISSUES

□ L7 Wargasm: The Slash Years (1992-1997) CHERRY RED

THE HARD STUFF STUFF BOOKS & DVDs

GETTY All Or Nothing: The Authorised Story Of

Tour Dates

KEVIN NIXON

LIVE!

Todd Rundgren Clearly Human virtual tour, Nashville, USA

The Soundtrack Of My Life

Glam-rock icon  Suzi Quatro on the records, artists and gigs that are of lasting significance to her

100 MOST INFLUENTIAL GUITARA HEROES

A few months ago, our sister mag Total

ROBERT SMITH

All spidery substance and no “empty flash”, The Cure frontman makes the guitar sound like no one else

Les Paul

Jimmy Page: “I was just dazzled by the

Luther Perkins

Hugely influential Mississippian Luther Perkins (1928-1968) played a

Pete Townshend

With all the arm-wheeling and his relative lack

Frank Zappa

Being so lauded as a composer and arranger

Steve Lukather

Appearing on Jacko’s Thriller and countless other mainstream

ELYSE STEINMAN

A founder member of southernflavoured boogie band Raging

LARRY LALONDE

LARRY LALONDE: SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY x2 Joe Satriani’s other students

MARC RIBOT

Meet the daring sonic chameleon (and a guitarist for Tom Waits, The Black Keys and others) whose playing has taken in rock, free jazz, classical, hardcore punk, Cuban music and more

SYLVAIN SYLVAIN

He had the look, the attitude, the talent, the desire. Had heroin not intervened, he reckoned his band the New York Dolls, not the Stones, could have been the Greatest Rock’n’Roll Band In The World

KURT COBAIN

He’s widely celebrated as a songwriter, but the Nirvana mastermind also changed everything for a new generation of guitar players

Kurt Cobain And Me

Brothers Osborne guitarist John Osborne on his first

SISTER ROSETTA THARPE

Whichever way you slice it, Sister Rosetta Tharpe

DEVIN TOWNSEND

DEVIN TOWNSEND: ERICH SAIDE/PRESS; GETTY x2 Having got

Steve Hillage

The former Gong guitarist/hippie-in-chief seems to have flown

Jimi Hendrix

Brian May: “It was a bit of a

Joe Bonamassa

“Best guitarist of his generation!” cry the lovers

Andy Summers

The Police’s musical identity owes much to Summers’s

Jeff Beck

Jennifer Batten: “He’ll listen to stuff that’s really

James Williamson

It was hard to compete with the charisma

MICK GREEN

Wilko Johnson on the first time he heard The Pirates’ chief six-stringer

TOSIN ABASI

Anyone who thinks there’s nothing new left to be done on guitar, watch this space

Ritchie Blackmore

Mikael Åkerfeldt (Opeth): “His crowning achievement was in

Mick Taylor

The Bluesbreakers graduate brought a slide master’s touch

Brian May

Recently voted The Greatest Guitarist Of All Time

Dave Navarro

Largely seen as John Frusciante;s replacement in the

Kim Thayil

An architect of the ‘Seattle Sound’, the Soundgarden

Joe Perry

Aerosmith just wouldn’t have the swagger without Joe

STEVE ROTHERY

Marillion’s longest-standing guitarist regularly features in our sister

NITA STRAUSS

A technician from the start – she cites

JONI MITCHELL

She’s best known as one of the greatest singer-songwriters of her generation, but her mostly open-tunings one-of-a-kind guitar playing occupies a field of its own

David Crosby On Joni Mitchell

“I think she is the best writer of

TODD RUNDGREN

From using a guitar to simulate motorbikes on Bat Out Of Hell, and the sound of strangled chickens on A Wizard, A True Star, we revisit the case for the singer, songwriter, producer’s guitar genius

RICK NIELSEN

Behind the oddball exterior and the daft guitars is someone who could show guitar heroes a thing or

Slash

Through his illustrious career with GN’R through his

Albert Collins

The Master Of The Telecaster’s highly influential funky

Jimmy Page

Myles Kennedy: “I was definitely a Page man.

Adrian Smith

Surely the best guitarist is the one in

Albert Lee

Eric Clapton has called Albert Lee “the greatest

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

“Nothing is more beautiful tha a guitar,” Chopin once

THURSTON MOORE & KIM GORDON

They may have been the Led Zeppelin of

GARY CLARK JR

He might be a relatively new kid on the blues block, but his Grammy-winning combination of guitar playing, music and lyrics has fast-tracked him to its top table. 

GLENN TIPTON

As half of Judas Priest’s twin-guitar firepower he’s one of the architects of heavy metal

Albert King

This revered, hugely influential Mississippi bluesman flipped his

Allan Holdsworth

Straddling the worlds of jazz, prog, fusion and

Steve Howe

The Yes guitarist’s erudite, progressive ethos traverses many

Keith Richards

Driving the Rolling Stones for almost six decades,

Eric Gales

Fiery, instinctive and evocative of Hendrix, the Memphis

FREDDIE KING

While his name is spoken in respectful tones

MYLES KENNEDY & MARK TREMONTI

If it’s a revelation for you to find

TERRY KATH

If Hendrix said the Chicago guitarist was the best, who are we to argue?

Bert Jansch

Want an appreciation of Bert Jansch? Ask Jimmy

Peter Frampton

You don’t get to be a touring guitarist

Dimebag Darrell

Mark Tremonti: “He’s had a huge influence on

Phil Manzanera

Enormously influential as Roxy Music’s guitarist, Manzanera has

Kirk Hammett

The Metallica legend has a style and sound

Eric Clapton

Jason Isbell: “I was a huge Clapton fan.

GUTHRIE GOVAN

Coming of age as the fastest gun in

MEMPHIS MINNIE

One of the first blues artists to experiment

NANCY WILSON

It’s a true but sorry state of affairs to say that there are still relatively few high-profile female guitarists. The Heart guitarist is one of those, helping to inspire others to fight for their right

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM

His guitar playing and songwriting (“Lindsey’s work with Fleetwood Mac is faultless,” says Mick Fleetwood) helped take Mac from almost washed up to world domination

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Nobody – nobody! – rocks a Fender Telecaster

RANDY RHOADS

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: SHUTTERSTOCK; GETTY x3 Technically gifted, with a scholarly

Chris Stein

With Debbie Harry at the mic, Blondie’s guitarist

Jack White

He re-envisioned the blues - and the way

Billy Gibbons

No technical showboater, the ZZ Top gun is

Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Kramer: “He was an absolute genius. The

B.B. King

He lived to the age of 89, inspiring

Poison Ivy

Inspired by Bo Diddley guitarist The Duchess, The

ELMORE JAMES

Jimmy Page said James’s slide tone “knocked you flat”. He was far from being the only one floored by it. 

STEVE CROPPER

At the very least, if you’ve ever heard anything on the Stax Records label, then you’ve heard his masterful guitar playing, and he might well have also written it and produced it

STEVE MORSE

The Deep Purple guitarist scores guitar-mag polls, but is often overlooked by the mainstream

Peter Green

Peter Green was thrust into a competitive scene

Page Hamilton

Best known as the guitarist in alt.metallers Helmet,

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Gone far too soon, the shovel-handed Texan’s exhilarating

Peter Banks

Yes’s original guitarist never really fulfilled his potential

Duane Allman

He died at just 24, in a motorcycle

Joe Satriani

Satriani is the former guitar teacher (to Vai

BONNIE RAITT

Ina 50-year career, singer-songwriter and demon bottleneck guitar

ROBERT FRIPP

GETTY x3 In late 1968, with the British

RORY GALLAGHER

Forget the money, forget the fame, forget the acclaim, He was in it for just one thing – the music. And when this Irish wizard played it, he was one of the greatest

HANK MARVIN

Brian May on the profound influence the underrated Shadows leader and prototype guitar hero

Alex Lifeson

Lauded as an inspiration by artists from Paul

Chuck Berry

An often controversial character, but an irrefutable pioneer

Danny Gatton

Joe Bonamassa: “Eightyeight, nine, this was the height

Mike Oldfield

The Moonlight Shadow solo remains astonishing, but for

Carlos Santana

A true innovator, a fiery fuser of rock,

Stephen Stills

Hugely underrated, Stills is so much more than

DEREK TRUCKS

Listening to Derek Trucks, whether he’s in full-bore

SCOTTY MOORE

While releasing a solo album titled The Guitar

MICK RONSON

While all around him sang his praises, he was a reluctant rock star, the quiet genius who just wanted to play music the way it was meant to be played

GARY MOORE

A gifted guitarist who could turn his hand to any style of music, “he just happened to come along after all the guitar heroes, so he never really got the acclaim,” says Bernie Marsden

GEORGE HARRISON

Overlooked in The Beatles’ early days, he has since been reappraised as one of the great stylists

Clem Clempson

A much-travelled guitarist (Colosseum, Humble Pie, Jack Bruce,

Jeff Buckley

The multi-octave vocal swoop overshadows all. But Buckley

Joanne Shaw Taylor

A superb player with as much of a

Angus and Malcolm Young

Individually they’re masters. Together they were a fourarmed

Clarence White

A country-rock pioneer, the former Byrds guitarist’s key

David Gilmour

Grant Nicholas (Feeder): “You probably wouldn’t think of

MICK JONES

Acosmopolitan ear and an open mind saw lead

PRINCE

He could do it all. His musical world

TONY IOMMI

He’s the Iron Man – in more ways than one. In terms of influence, the Black Sabbath guitarist is full of it. We talk to the man who wrote the heavy metal guitar rule book

IT’S A SIX-STRING THING

All this talk of guitarists got you hankering for some hot six-string action? We’ve teamed up with the good people at Mascot Records to bring you this exclusive compilation of some of the very best

THE ONLY WAY IS UP

Had you blinked in 2019 you might have missed Greta Van Fleet on their flight to the stratosphere. With a new album about to turbo-charge the engines, they’re getting even closer

AND FOR OUR NEXT TRICK...

The Illinois Anglophiles “didn’t plan for any of this to happen” but, deep into their fifth decade of existence, Cheap Trick are enjoying a late-career surge of creativity

WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU…

Shedding band members but swaggering on, The Treatment are betting on their fortunes taking an upturn with fifth album Waiting For Good Luck. All this while telling tales of liquor, vampires, serial killers and getting pranked by Alice Cooper

IF YOU WANT BLOOD

Hard-hitting British turbo-duo Royal Blood return with a new album – their most danceable, most feelgood album yet – and, more importantly in the long term, one member’s new sobriety

LET IT BEE

While the return of American band Touch will be a delight for AOR fans, it’s also likely to see the return of people re-telling a 40-year-old story that the band wish would just fly away

BEST OF THE REST

Other new releases out this month