Guitar Gods

The electric guitar has been nothing less than the voice of pop since Bill Haley and his spit curl rocked around the clock back in '55. Since then, the guitar has laughed in Chuck Berry's hands, cried in B.B. King's, sizzled in Eddie Van Halen's, and soared in Stevie Ray Vaughan's. Jimi Hendrix, the guitar king, made it do all of that and more.

The greatest guitarists were bold explorers, carving heroic paths with their axes so that others could follow. Randy Rhoads (with Ozzy Osbourne), and the Edge blazed their trails in rock 'n' roll; Buddy Guy (mentored by Muddy Waters) in the blues; and John McLaughlin, from the Mahavishnu Orchestra, in jazz/rock fusion.

Great guitar runs deep — and here we've reserved a space for some of rock's most innovative six-string maestros, including young gods like Trey Anastasio from Phish, alongside shoegazing trailblazer Kevin Shields from My Bloody Valentine and the incomparable Johnny Marr from Manchester's finest, the Smiths.

Now we know the true meaning of the phrase "happy as a sandboy". In creating this incredible playlist, we had our hands full with the dazzling work of more than five decades of great players. Indeed, having to choose only one song by so many geniuses was frustrating, but when we realized we were erecting a towering monument to the greatness of the instrument, we felt a little better. We hope you do, too, after hearing all of the sweet licks on Guitar Gods.