INSANITY of Rolling Stone 250 Greatest Guitarists

Rolling Stone's 250 Greatest Guitarists of all time list came out recently and caused quite a stir. It was controversial, primarily because of who they left off. I give my thoughts on guitarists who were left off of the list and these are some who just came to mind. I missed many more but it wasn't difficult to find some glaring omissions in Rolling Stone's list. Who would you put on there?
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[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Who do you ABSOLUTELY believe should have been on the list?

[@davidfitzgerald6060]

Olly Murs is a legenday vocalist and plays acoustic guitar

[@daviebananas1735]

@@davidfitzgerald6060Agreed. It’s a disgrace he isn’t on this list.

[@jonbigg7385]

Definitely all the guys you mentioned along with Andy Timmons and Mark Tremonti.

[@mosskey]

Chet Atkins wasn't on the list?? Lol oh my

[@surfwriter8461]

@@mosskey Actually, he's on the list. I forget what number, but I'm sure he's there. There are many who deserve to be included, knowing you can't list everyone, but also at least 75 or more who don't deserve to be on any such list. It's an outrage some of the incompetent bozos they chose to honor.

[@bkline111]

Country players are so disrespected. Chet Akins, Roy Clark, Glenn Campbell.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

AGREED!!!

[@Vattenballong128]

And the great Joe Maphis, king of the strings!

[@wolfgangdevries127]

And Dave Stewart!

[@RichWards-Wins]

Dude tiny tim can rock the ukelele...

[@jimmythebold589]

those three weren't on the list? you kidding me?? also, tommy emmanuel! and freaking DOC WATSON!

[@lylecaine4833]

The absence of Allan Holdsworth on any greatest guitarist list is egregious by any measure. Not only was he extraordinary and innovative on a level that other guitar players only dream of, but virtually any guitar player you can name out of a list of 250 would readily agree.

[@sseltrek1a2b]

very few people elevated the instrument like Holdsworth...great respect from players everywhere, but no respect commercially, and now no respect in death...

[@hlp020dd]

Holdsworth, Eric Johnson, Larry Carlton. Top 3 pick your order.

[@gerardcote8391]

@@hlp020dd I would say Al DiMeola, Yngwie Malsteen, and Joe Satriani top 3. And if you want to round of a top ten 4 & 5- Teru and Hizaki kzbin.info/www/bejne/rpqZZnilfJlmgdE 6 & 7 -Miyao and Midori kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJikqaN7paqWpNE 8- Saki kzbin.info/www/bejne/g32wY6iki5Werbc 9- Eddie Iron Bunny kzbin.info/www/bejne/b5jKpJqEjdKbgbs 10 - Herman Li and Sam Totman combined kzbin.info/www/bejne/r4THfZuVd5h7oKM

[@MrHobbit60]

What I came here to say. This list is a joke, but ignoring Holdsworth means that it has lost every last shred of credibility that it may have attempted to have.

[@davidwoods358]

Omitting Allan Holdsworth and Danny Gatton from any greatest guitarist list is at minimum a criminal offense.

[@user-sq5qn3qm2b]

Maybe I clearly have no idea but I was surprised Zakk Wylde wasn't included.

[@gkrman]

No Gary Moore? WTF!

[@NewGoldStandard]

Joan Jett and Joni Mitchell are ahead of Mark Knopfler, Joe Satriani, Joe Perry, Mike McCready, Steve Vai, and Slash??? And, Julian Lage (check out Nocturne live in LA if you don't know) isn't even mentioned?! Nor was Buckethead. This list is an embarrassment.

[@JB-ti7bl]

The list shows that RS is now just feeding off the corpse of its former self: trolling for a few clicks from angry fans and DEI progressives happy to see more female representation.

[@CareySullivan-cu3fw]

The people that run rolling stone are woke leftist. They wanted as many females on there as possible.

[@bobpascarella4496]

Alan Holdsworth...a crime to all guitarists that he was not included. And Robin Trower.

[@MrSteviethegreat]

George Benson. he was one of the very few artist who had platinum instrumentals that sold millions. He influence pretty much every jazz or R&B player after him.

[@Ifoughtpiranhas]

They didn't add Peter Frampton either. Nothing against any of the artists that was on the list, but Frampton would smoke a lot of those indie artists on that list. I wonder if anyone born before 1983 contributed to making that list.

[@edeledeledel5490]

Probably since Elizabeth Cotton and Django Reinhardt feature.

[@JB-ti7bl]

David Fricke is listed as one of the contributors.

[@garyolshan4177]

Leaving off the great Peter Frampton shows Rolling Stone is piece of shit better used as toilet paper if needed

[@apocketfulofheep]

I think Steve Vai in a song described Rolling Stone Magazine the best. "Those people think they are holier than Moses but they are just a bunch of f'n posers"

[@mrmindtrick99]

SRV at 20 is the greatest injustice I think has ever occurred

[@Theweeze100]

RS is not interested in guitar players, they’re just interested in making a political statement. It’s like Butch Trucks mentioned regarding their list of greatest drummers. They value celebrity over substance!

[@maximuskhan2100]

Filling quotas

[@JimmyRJump]

- Alvin Lee - Gary Moore - Michael Schenker - Ullrich Roth - Ted Nugent - Buckethead - Estas Tonne - John Mayal - Dave Matthews - Jeff Healey - Marty Friedman - Jason Becker - Chris Oliva - Zakk Wylde - Allan Holdsworth - Joe Bonamassa... And Ritchie Blackmore should be above Jimmy Page.

[@stevegrodis2426]

Being an acoustic guitarist, I can't believe Tommy Emmanuel and Leo Kottke were not on the list. At least they had the good sense to include John Fahey.

[@Zod741]

Tony rice

[@gerardcote8391]

You missed out Roy Clark and Alan Holdsworth.

[@JB-ti7bl]

You're right, guitar players didn't assemble Rolling Stone's list, their DEI dept did.

[@broken927]

DIE is more like it.

[@Tsagan]

Tommy Emmanuel is my favorite acoustic guitar player. Truly 1 of 1

[@frederickglasser5617]

Put on a helluva show late last year in San Juan Capistrano.

[@wraith1977]

Their criteria for “guitar player” is very loose. It’s seems to be if they ever played a guitar they’re a “guitar player”. There’s a lot of singer/songwriters on the list that have great songs but I would never say they were “guitar players” as that wasn’t the focus of their music.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Precisely. I love great songwriters who I would never call great guitarists and that's totally fine! But it's like me calling Johnny Depp one of the greatest guitarists because he does play and he's had massive cultural impact on society....just not with the guitar, ha.

[@grogueQ]

I've watched a lot of these videos complaining about the list, and every one of them wants to name the guitarists that should be here. I would like to see a list of who shouldn't be here. With all the incredible guitarists left off this list, let's get rid of a couple to make room for them. Disclaimer: the names I'm about to list may be great songwriters and/or incredible musicians and I don't want to put them down, but with all the better possible entries they don't belong here. Here we go: Paul McCartney. Incredible musician, bass player, songwriter, not in the top 250 greatest guitarists. Neil Young, some of the greatest songs ever written, not in the top 250 guitarists. Joan Jett: really? Joni Mitchell: wonderful, not in the top 250 guitarists. Bob Dylan: maybe for his incredible influence, but his guitar playing? These are just a few, but I really don't have time to fish through that horrible website to look at the list again.

[@michaelhogan6770]

Its not a list of the 250 Guitarists Its the list which generates the most controversy and $ for RS

[@HawklordLI]

Robbie Krieger, Mark Knopfler and Pat Metheny behind Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, PJ Harvey and Bonnie Raitt? And where the hell is Roy Buchanan? Rolling Stone has reached a point where the only thing they're good for is being placed at the bottom of a bird cage.

[@SleepFan771]

Rolling Stone leaving off Yngwie Malmsteen, Marty Friedman, Jason Becker, Guthrie Govan, Uli Jon Roth, Chuck Schuldiner, Alexi Laiho is truly nuts.

[@TheChenny73]

Malmsteen Friedman great players but are they “Great Guitarists” that’s debatable.

[@SleepFan771]

@@TheChenny73 They're easily 2 of the greatest guitarists ever.

[@TheChenny73]

@@SleepFan771 While I agree with you (love Megadeth 80s and 90s, love some of Malmsteen however some of his music is marred by 80s metal cliques and is very dated) I can see why a guitarist with far less technical prowess is on the list and pretty high up there at 47 (The Edge). I agree with RS technical skill isn’t everything and doesn’t necessarily make one a great guitarist.

[@AndyGrazianoNYC]

Thank you for including bumblefoot, Ron was my teacher in high school, and I witnessed him do incredible feats of musicianship like you said.

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Bumblefoot is a shekeler, like David Lee Roth and Kevin Dubrow.

[@lvbandmore]

Sadly, even you missed Allan Holdsworth. Along with Derek Bailey, Masayuki Takayanagi… ok I can see how these lists will be exclusionary no matter what 😅😂

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

I thought of Allan right after I made the video, ha. Hated that I left him off this quick rant. I saw him once at the Baked Potato in Hollywood. Unreal and in a league of his own!!!

[@Bokkie100k]

Is Jan Akkerman on the list?

[@TheRealDealBobbySteele]

Steve Miller, Roy Buchanan, Buckethead, Doc Watson, John 5, Guthrie Govan, Zak Wylde so many legendary guitarist left off the list

[@Hanzi.J.]

Roy Buchanan is on (183)

[@andyxjo1]

@@Hanzi.J.Roy is top 20 no matter what they say

[@Hanzi.J.]

Roy is great, the number means nothing. What about Jason Becker No.1. The whole list is just opinion game.@@andyxjo1

[@gerardcote8391]

Just started watching this but already need to comment. In the 1980s one guitar magazine asked the top guitarists, who were the best guitarists. And over half of them had Al DiMeola either 1, 2, or 3. And 90% had his name somewhere on the list. If he was universally recognized as great I had to check him out. Since then, it took decades to find, Jazz is not a big section to music stores, but my CD collection has all but 2 of his CDs.

[@indianajim]

The problem with the list is it was poorly named. It should have been “Our Top 250 Favorite Musicians who Happen to Play Guitar.” Not greatest guitarists. Not even close.

[@joelhaaland2639]

I just stopped long enough to say that Gary Moore is not on the list ! More reason for my attitude that I wouldn't insult my ass by using the Rolling Stone for toilet paper !

[@xers999]

One of the greatest Jazz guitarists... Joe Pass. Probably the GOAT in acoustic guitar... Tommy Emmanuel. Master Blues guitarists... Gary Moore / Joe Bonamassa... all missing from the list. They must be insane.

[@sjdanthem]

Wes Montgomery, Peter Frampton, Allan Holdsworth

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Agree agree agree!!

[@amafirenze-vi1uh]

Wait... Montgomery is not in the list?

[@sjdanthem]

@@amafirenze-vi1uh Yeah, I think I messed that up.

[@thomasespositio3139]

rolling stone doesn't like Jazz or Country hey Benson,Wes, Barney Kessel, Tal Farlow, Grant Green, Johnny Smith great Jazz player not many know about. etc is kenny Burrell there?@@amafirenze-vi1uh

[@majk7215]

​@@PaulWarrenMusic What? No Shawn Lane?

[@aeynghus]

Leaving off Joe Pass, Tommy Emmanuel, and Allan Holdsworth is criminal. Eric Johnson at 205, SRV at 20, and David Gilmour at 18 is also criminal.

[@chrisi.2117]

Some great omissions already listed here, but one guy that completely gets ignored by all these list but is truly an all-time great is FRANK MARINO! What a joke of a list. A couple others not mentioned that deserve to be here are Eliot Easton, John Sykes, Warren DiMartini and George Lynch.

[@interstellardave]

Saw Frank Marino live in ‘82. First concert I ever went to. He plays rings around so many of the players on RS’s list.

[@johncarter1852]

Just looked at it, they put Jack White over Brian May? Tom Morello just makes noise and he is in the top 20????? Horse shit!!!!

[@BuddyNika]

WAS RORY EVEN NO IT? BRIAN MAY IS A GENIUS

[@jimguy9874]

@@BuddyNika Yeah, they had Rory at #175. Figure that one out.

[@filiperocha4025]

White is way more interesting than May.

[@BuddyNika]

The humble Brian May would say the same thing, even though it is not true.@@filiperocha4025

[@pauloandrebonifacio4788]

1st one I could think of that's not in that list is George Benson. It's outrageous not having him there! Absolutely ridiculous! They should be ashamed of making that list public.

[@danielcombs3207]

George Benson was left out? That is so wrong to not include him or Joe Pass. I hope Django Reinhardt is on the list. I don’t look at or read Rolling Stone anymore because it isn’t relevant anymore.

[@markslist1542]

Joe Pass isn't on the list? Unthinkable.

[@YevgenySimkin]

I think it's fascinating that they included so many obscure players. I'm not familiar with many of them so I can't judge how influential they are or to whom, but yes, the omissions are bizarre to say the least. The ones you mention for sure and also John McLaughlin, Andres Segovia (arguably the most influential classical guitarist of the 20th century), of course Allan Holdsworth. Also, there's a small army of amazing Gypsy guitarists who they left out. At least they added Django but honestly, it's just a nonsense list.

[@mccandrew52]

John Mclaughlin is on the list - #72. Not having Joe Pass or George Benson is crazy. On the bluegrass side, they had Molly Tuttle but not Tony Rice?. To have Neal Young at all is iffy (good songwriter), but he is #30, ahead of Eric Clapton, George Harrison. Pat Matheny, and Derek Trucks.

[@ckmoore101]

obscure, means not influential, by definition.

[@ckmoore101]

@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee If "every composer who became great" studied him, how can you possibly argue he was obscure? How can you study something you don't know about?

[@th5841]

@@ckmoore101Obscure means being behind the American horisozon, or obscured by the American horizon. And quite honestly there is just a void of emptyness out there. According to RS and most Americans, this KZbinr included.

[@ckmoore101]

@@Spo-Dee-O-Dee Fair enough, the great composers of that time could be the exception to that rule. But _no one_ who is obscure in last 30 years, is going to be studied by the world in 100 years. It would be fair to say, obscurity back then was irrelevent in this context. Since with only communication by horseback, almost everyone was obscure to everyone else, sans a very, very, very tiny minority of leaders, religious figures, military figures, and a few composers.

[@tc-ou2zb]

If Courtney Barnett really is a better guitarist than Gary Moore, then I'll give my Les Paul Classic to charity and take up the triangle. I didn't see people like Mike McCready, Keith Scott or Craig Ross on the list either. A very unconsidered list, verging on insulting.

[@ronaldwilson9525]

I’m guessing Rolling Stone asked their younger journalists who grew up on rap and pop to judge the talent of guitarists.

[@SuperLeica1]

Maybe the list should have mentioned the early inventor of "solo-guitar virtuoso shows", Nicolo Paganini. He turned over to a violinist career quite early, but composed some great tunes for his guitar, like fex "Capriccio 24".

[@cronejawford978]

RS created this list solely to create controversy and for clicks on their website, and most people fell for it. Mission accomplished.

[@frederickglasser5617]

I totally agree with you. I formed that impression within a day of reading about it.

[@dustylover100]

"Your horns are like one pair of lungs and your guitar player is better than me," Jimi Hendrix about Terry Kath. Hendrix loved Kath so much that he gave Chicago their first major tour.

[@leekosinski290]

No one mentions Gary Moore or Uli Jon Roth!

[@melancholyhussar]

Allan Holdsworth Michael Hedges Michael Schenker Steve Rothery Neal Schon Uli Roth ...plus all the ones you listed

[@frederickglasser5617]

Nice mention of Hedges.

[@davidfitzgerald6060]

The Edge top 20 , he's not even top 500

[@jamestomkin8784]

Your wrong . The Edge is one of the most unique guitarists. He created the futuristic sound in music 40 years ago that is still prominent today You don't have to like U2, but that's a fact!

[@meshallalkadi1233]

I believe labels influence the decision of any ranking list on magazines just for the reason of increasing listen time for the artists and songs they own.

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Bingo!

[@MikeBellMetal]

The way I see it, if a guitarist influenced thousands of people to pick up the guitar, then they deserve a spot on the list, no questions asked. John Petrucci Alexi Laiho Mark Tremonti Marty Friedman Paul Gilbert Gary Moore Yngwie Malmsteen Just off the top of my head, these guys should ALL have a spot on there.

[@gerardcote8391]

You are going to do Unlucky Morpheus, soon I am waiting, but those 2 guys should be on this list as well as Miyako and Midori of Lovebites, Teru and Hizaki from Versailles, Tomo-Zo from Doll$Boxx/Gacharic Spin, and Toki and Yoshi from Aldious, whose mega hit, in Japan, Spirit Black, blew the doors wide open to Japanese All Female Metal bands. They have 9 studio Alvums and every one is on The Billboard top 100, in the year they came out District Zero was 7, and almost all the rest have been top 30.And they inspired hundreds of Japanese women to become Metal musicians, and their current Drummer is Marina Bozzio, daughter of American Grammy Award winning Prog Rock drummer Terry Bozzio.

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Here is my comment, which includes Unlucky Morpheus guitarists. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoXOmHpoi9-mp5o&lc=Ugwx3i2FT-0N2sb8VXN4AaABAg

[@rallient1960]

I feel like a lot of people forget about Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman... IMO, I think Dave Mustaine is a much better guitar player than James Hetfield, and the stuff that Marty Friedman wrote and played back in the 80's and 90's was absolutely insane. I'm not saying that James and Kirk don't deserve to be on that list because they sure as well do, but leaving that combo off the list is absurd. Some would say Kill Em' All was Dave Mustaine's work 👀

[@thatsamazin-]

Most of his work was on FWTBT too and even some off of Master of Puppets. I think it was Joe Rogan show he talked about this.

[@HarkenRoad]

It's the "of all time" part that gets me. Not seeing Andrés Segovia's name on their list was striking, but so too the omissions of Fernando Sor and Francisco Tárrega. The latter two were dead and buried before modern recording equipment and techniques were developed (in Sor's case, long before ... born as he was with the American Revolutionary War underway), but both were virtuoso players, and their compositions still inform us today. Where is Tony Rice and Jerry Douglas? Or doesn't bluegrass guitar count in their minds? Seems Lonnie Mack ought to be in the top 250, too, and 'fer cryin' out loud! Where is Joe Pass and Johnny Smith?

[@tlodland1]

I went to see Al Di Meola on 1978 in Minneapolis. Fantastic!

[@jimmythebold589]

lucky! i saw allan holdsworth three tiems and hung out with him each time. i also met michael brecker, and saw michael hedges ONE WEEK before he died (eww, as i typed this the video audio says 'before he died', yikes) i gotta say hedges was literally glowing when i saw him and he was like a karate or martial arts master with the guitar. i also saw james blood ulmer and the minute men with d boone, both who are also amazing guitarists , the minutemen also had amazing bassist Mike Watt. i saw jean luc ponty, too, he's not a guitarist, but could be :D

[@amafirenze-vi1uh]

Is Robin Trower in the 250?

[@nunyabusiness7927]

I haven't actually seen the list yet, but everyone I've heard talk about it had a similar reaction to you.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

It had to be put together by chatGPT.

[@rod88855]

Excellent. You quoted all that came first to my mind. In fact the list is ridiculous. It makes a joke of RS magazine. Seems they forgot the 10 most outstanding players of all time: Petrucci, Govan, Gilbert, Di meola, De Lucía, Malsteen, Andrés Segovia...and left out some who shoukd be on the following 10: Mancuso, Di Batio, Morse, Niel Schon, Michael Romeo... I think given the high number of mediocres and bad players on the list, it is an honour not to be in it.

[@danielduesentriebjunior]

Hendrix was probably the greatest of his time, but he was outplayed technically and musically by many who followed later.

[@igolfjtweetler4097]

I am impressed by emotion, not technique.Nobody has surpassed Hendrix musically, no modern shredders or musos.

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Yes, Hendrix was best of his time, his generation, but he invented no techniques nor genres.

[@macarius8802]

WRONG! Hendrix is the only one they got right.

[@joeroycroft]

​@igolfjtweetler4097 there are many modern guitarists who outplay Hendrix with emotion. Govan, Satriani and Vai to name a few. Honestly I'm just sick of hearing the Hendrix worship my whole life.

[@danielduesentriebjunior]

@@joeroycroft I agree absolutely. We cannot keep on cheering forever to the first human who used the fire. BTW, that ranking does also not mention Pat Metheny, who for my taste is one of the most impressive current guitar players and composers.

[@surfwriter8461]

Maybe 2/3 of the guitarists on the RS list are worthy of being included somewhere, while at least 1/3 are a bad joke. RS provides a list of about 25 or 30 people they consulted in creating the list, and my guess is that many of these "contributors" were told they can nominate anyone they personally believe belongs on the list, without any consensus or final editorial review. The inclusion of undistinguished "shredders" and post-punk purveyors of brainless noise is nauseating in itself. It doesn't make sense to leave out worthy greats while granting honor to so many who are incompetent and derivative.

[@Magnumaniac]

Gary Moore, Joe Bonamassa, Michael Schenker, Neal Schon, Mark Tremonti to name a few. Aside from Guthrie, who IS top 5, the fact that Nuno is down at 197 or something is an insult and the absolute proof that whoever compiled this list knows nothing about music (which I guess is why they work for Rolling Stone).

[@IndigoJo]

Some big names from the folk scene didn't make it: Alan Prosser, Clive Gregson, Ken Nicol. Is Frank Reckard on there? Albert Lee is best associated with Emmylou Harris but her 80s side man was Reckard and he was a great country picking lead guitarist.

[@frederickglasser5617]

Robin Trower. Alvin Lee. Glen Campbell. Tommy Emmanuel. Martin Barre (heck chords are named after him) Jerry Reed. John Fogerty.

[@confidentlywrong3363]

You do realize that the intention of this list by Rolling Stone was not to name the best guitarists, but to name a "diverse" list of people that happened to play guitar. They had to put in some of the obvious choices, but I've watched several videos like this one and many name the same great guitarists. 99% of those who people felt should have been on the list had one thing in common - it had nothing to do with their ability, but everything to do with what they weren't.

[@roccomancini5875]

Frank marino is one of the greatest for sure... the most underatted guitarist in the universe

[@cachelesssociety5187]

A lot of the guitarists with less than agile chops made noteworthy contributions - but some were different in that they caught a wave of a new musical style. Like you say, to make such a list they should have had respected students of guitar weigh in. I was pleased that Yvette Young made the list - her playing and writing are both worthy of it. I wonder if she would feel that Plini should be on there? And it's scary, for example, that Kirk Hammett share a spot with James Hetfield - James is known as a downpicking monster. And I'm sure Hammet is no slouch at it - but he's not who people think of - do they share that position because Hammett's solos are EQUALLY important? Maybe this shows they were more concerned with "getting a list that favored popular acts" than with honest evaluation. The sad news here is that Wikipedia is based on "official sources" like Rolling Stone magazine. So now that this list is out there, I guess it's true that history has been written by the winner - but it's not a true history. Guthrie Govan, Jason Becker, Marty Friedman, Shawn Lane, Danny Gatton, Ted Greene, Uli Roth, Robin Trower, Al Di Meola, Jan Akkerman, and hundreds of other well known influencers of guitar players are still as key as ever. We must all stand for them.

[@tomlorenzen4062]

I don't pay much attention to these lists but I will never understand how Stevie guitar Miller never gets on these lists

[@dustylover100]

I know they will never get listed, but I want to give props to three guitarists who replaced Terry Kath after Kath's passing. Names if Chris Pinnick, Dawayne Bailey and Keith Howland. All three are brilliant. I've seen them.

[@BuccWylde]

Jeff Healey. Randy Bachman. Mark Kendall. Rod Price. John Sykes. Buck Dharma. Orianthi.

[@michaelhogan6770]

So Steve Morse is in the Guitar Player Mag hall of fame with Steve and Eric. But not mentioned on RS list. Great reason not to read the rag.

[@garymesser9065]

Alan Holdsworth, Pat Martino, George Benson, Roy Clark… just to name a few who were not on the list!

[@gregorylumpkin2128]

This is a perfect demonstration of the corporate mindset: 'let's put a totally stupid list out and watch people go insane on social media'. And we do. Because we've been programmed by the media to behave this way.

[@NikolajChristensen]

I guess they forgot to mention that the list is in no particular order?

[@tugginalong]

The writers at Rolling Stone know as much a IHG guitars as the mainstream media and politicians know about the climate

[@crazydiamondjr]

Don felder wasn't on the list. That's how crazy this is.

[@markslist1542]

No, it's not super subjective. We understand enough about music and guitar playing for an adequately objective criteria.

[@PickettMusic]

I look to RS for musical content in the same way I look to coloring books for great literary efforts... 😆 Right up there with the 250 Greatest Singers list... I was at that Joe Pass show too. You were there when he recorded?? Man... Not sure but I don't think I saw Roy Clark. Was Chet Atkins on there? He has to be. Shawn Lane. HOLDS-WORTH!? C'mon.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Do you remember the digital delay pedal I gave you? I think that's what it was and I believe it was you. I was given that pedal and the original Ibanez TS-808 which some performer left at the auditorium and they never found the owner. I always wondered if it was some cool cat like Joe Pass or maybe the guitarist from the Doc Severinsen band. But I doubt Joe Pass would have been using a digital delay, ha. The delay was also an Ibanez pedal I think. I don't have the tube screamer anymore.

[@PickettMusic]

@@PaulWarrenMusic I do remember it! It was an Ibanez and I've honesty had to work to replicate thar sound using everything else I've ever had. I wonder whose it was? Not Parkening. 😄

[@TheWolfganglittle]

Tommy Emmanuel, Allan Holdsworth, Guthrie Govan, Yngwie Malmsteen...

[@jabu003]

Holdsworth / Fripp / Fred Frith / Benson / Tommy Emanuel / Buchannan/ derek Bailey

[@eloyhbermudez]

what baffles me is the why on earth rolling stones is taken seriously like they are a beacon in the dark regarding musical wisdom , they are not , who cares what are their 250 top guitarrists of all time?

[@leekosinski290]

Where the hell is Jake E Lee!

[@gerardcote8391]

Do yourself a favor. Check out Versailles Masquerade live Holy Grail Lovebites Swansong live with Chopin Intro And Aldious Reincarnation live. These are 3 Japanese bands that I listen to all the time.

[@kylec1836]

Can you image them making a greatest bass player list and excluding Victor Wooten AND Jaco….because I can

[@gerardcote8391]

Rolling Stones only cares about Indie, Folk, Grunge, and Blues. They have always hated Flemenco, Jazz, Metal and Classical.

[@anonimomonferrino]

Putting Mark Knopfler 96 is scandalous. This is not a matter of personal opinion: Mark should be at least in the top 20, if not 10. His gentle but at the same time strong rock, his finger picking, his solos not only in the studio albums but above all in his live shows (Alchemy is one of the best rock performances ever!) where he could show all his art without any limits. His writing style is also exceptional: his lyrics are evocative, full of memories, dreamlike and often mysterious. A poet! Unfortunately Dire Straits are often ignored by those stupid charts, perhaps because they were less connected to the mainstream and Mark Knopfler wasn't one to pose and get too much publicity. However, Rolling Stone totally screwed up here! If we then want to mention two other great blues guitarists not mentioned here: Hubert Sumlin (who was also Howlin Wolf's guitarist) and Sammy Lawhorn (who among other things played with Junior Wells on the album On Tap), two blues chisellers who however they haven't had the fame they deserve.

[@julianchristopher147]

Nobody from Parliament/Funkadelic? Eddie Hazel, Gary Shider, Michael Hampton?

[@HoratioFitzbastard]

Eddie Hazel is on the list

[@Snowcrasher1]

Ty Tabor

[@LongLiveRockAnRoll]

They didn't put Yngwie (or most of the shred guys you mentioned) on because they said their criteria was feel over technique. Never mind the fact that Yngwie has one of the best and most distinct tone and vibrato. They probably put people like Steve Vai on with gritted teeth.

[@guyconnell2250]

I highly suspect that multiple people on the list check all the right boxes given the present culture and its "issues". RS went off the rails years ago, choosing to focus on politics and culture as opposed to music. So this list was not at all surprising to me.

[@maximuskhan2100]

Did they list Roy Buchanan?

[@geofflaidlaw7496]

Yes, one they got right.

[@andyxjo1]

Supposedly he’s 183, no way Roy is top 20 in my book

[@geofflaidlaw7496]

What? You think he’s better than Chrissie Hynde or Johnny Thunders?…

[@thelolguy007]

It was one big troll. I’m convinced of it. How else can you explain the absence of Gary Moore?

[@eschdaddy]

Brad Paisley? Alex Liefson? Dave Matthews?

[@Suplexcityme316]

Poor Buckethead.

[@jamesgingrich7954]

Allan Holdsworth! That’s the first that came to my mind

[@MrMjp58]

The list is absurd. We’ve all got our own anyway, who needs theirs? They’ll probably say it was based on surveys and reader’s opinions etc…

[@zfesilva4605]

#18 is Tom Morello. Dude, what are you on about?!

[@NikolajChristensen]

Agree. He deserves to be on the list somewhere.

[@bronwynbeistle8317]

I like Morello but that's too high.

[@andyxjo1]

@@NikolajChristensenhe hates cops and white people, so that’s enough to get him high on the list

[@NikolajChristensen]

@@andyxjo1 hi Andy. I don't believe that to be true in general. :)

[@crazyralph6386]

@@NikolajChristensenyes, it’s true. Morello is a Commie.

[@DAVID-ks9vp]

"We are normal and we dig Bert Weedon"

[@dominusblandus]

The ones not on the list could be easily in the top 25 and noone could actually have solid arguments against it... Petrucci, Malmsteen, Gilbert.... three of the biggest shredders AlDi Meola, Paco De Lucia.... you mentionend friday night in sf ... every guitarist knows them Govan... OVBIOUSLY. The maybe only guy that can play every genre from charts or improv and could be in any band from Meshugga to Metallica to Eagles to Gypsy Kings to Rhapsody of Fire... Holdsworth... no comment... and so many more ...honorably personal mention: Nick Johnston...

[@chriskarley384]

Paul Gilbert, Buckethead, John Petrucci , Gary Moore,Michael Shanker on and on and on!!???😞

[@colonelkurtz2269]

Dwayne from Scab. Dude sings shreds and is a friend to Brendon.

[@garymccoy6564]

Rolling Stone's lists ARE lunacy. So is griping about them.

[@everygamersdream72]

Never heard of any of these guitarists.

[@jaredbracci3529]

I believe lists are controversial because no one knows the exact criteria? Is it popularity? technicality? Cultural impact? All of the above and more? If so called ‘lists’ had a disclaimer of what it is the publication deems ‘Best’ - than things would be clarified. This is why I don’t take it personal, because I don’t know the criteria. What I do know is… if a list is based on technical ability, than their are many artists who could be on it that we never even heard of. Perhaps. someone could care less about ‘BEST’ or most popular. They may or simply play because they love it and are great at it. Or, someone teaches, yet can play everything under the sun, and in any style. One fine example is Saint Vincent, who I have had the pleasure of meeting and seeing. Although I believe her to be very good, and an original voice, I think she would even admit that her Uncle, Tuck Andres, is far superior from a technical standpoint, but perhaps not as popular in today’s culture do to his age and style. To move the idea of ‘Greatest’ forward, let’s come up with criteria, and also include every style as players who don’t play a popular style also don’t get left out. In other words, we need a rethink our ‘lists’ or these types of videos are going to be constantly created by musicians who are frustrated with the results.