[Music] welcome to watch Mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 30 guitar solos of all [Music] time number 30 Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones Sympathy for the Devil the music of The Rolling Stones has never hung its hat created ly upon lead guitar flash instead this short but sweet solo by Keith Richards for the stone song Sympathy for the Devil utilizes a Colin response technique to bounce in between the woo woo backing vocals get down with it [Music] yeah the lead guitar here takes Stutter Steps in between those voices skittering
across the section with a memorable Melody that's simultaneously loose and spontaneous a yeah I tell my baby what's my name I tell my baby I there's a sensibility behind ke's performance that almost feels like it's going to become unhinged but the solo ultimately becomes one of Sympathy for the devil's most noteworthy aspects all right number 29 Ace fry from kisses love gun there there are Legions of guitar players out there that will tell you the exact same story about how they got started in the business Ace [Music] fry kiss's resident Spaceman was absolutely formative in
terms of his influence upon hard rock and heavy metal playing back in the 1970s the man's Still rocking today as a solo artist but his outro solo for kiss's love gun remains one of the men's certifiable calling cards he starts off with a slow build like a rocket blasting off into space then the guitarist utilizes a repetitive and aggressive phrasing as Paul Stanley's Coral vocals ring out behind it all finally a harmonized outro Melody is added to lend love gun that all-important push over the cliff [Applause] number 28 Tony iomi from Black Sabbath's paranoid it's
perhaps the most well-known Black Sabbath song of all time but that doesn't nullify the impact paranoid had back when it was released in 1970 Tony iomi has always been something of an underrated lead guitar player thanks to so much critical attention being placed upon the man's monolithic riffage however both paranoid and D young from 1980 show a player Adept at combining subtle melodic phrasings with immense power of course it helps that the main Rift to paranoid is so immediately catchy and iconic but iomi still manages to lay some delicious icing on this musical cake via
a solo that's brief but impactful in all the right [Music] places number 27 Kirk Hammet for Metallica's Fade to Black the influence of classic rock icons like UFO and scorpions has always been a huge influence upon the guitar playing of Metallica's Kirk Hammet this influence is highlighted brilliantly on Hammet solo on Fade to Black one that incorporates the big melodic qualities of players like Germany's Michael Shanker into the mix the slow building Harmony section serves as the perfect launching pad for Hammet to take to the skies with notes that Ascend to wonderful metallic Heights this
solo is much more than a flurry of notes but rather a journey one can almost sing along to and this is no [Music] accident instead it's the musical knowledge of Hammet coming to the Forefront and adapting his childhood musical Heroes for a new generation of fans number 26 Randy rhods for Aussie Osborne's Crazy Train it's difficult to gauge exactly what creative Heights Randy rhods could have scaled had he not died so tragically young that said what we have left from rhs's recorded Legacy remains a Bedrock for 80s heavy metal including the guitarist's work on Crazy
[Music] Train much has been said about rhs's classical influences and this inspiration is certainly here in Spades the end results aren't stuffy however and instead combine those influences with a modern and aggressive approach for a new [Music] decade rhs's solo utilizes hammer on and tapping to wondrous effect while never forgetting to be catchy as Sin to boot number 25 Jeff Becks cuz We've Ended as Lovers [Music] all the flowers need to be laid at the feet of Jeff Beck for being able to transition between so many seemingly disperate genres the guitar legend was able to
thrive within the Realms of psychedelic Rock to Blues to jazz fusion the last of which is evidenced here on cuz We've Ended as Lovers the song was actually written by Stevie Wonder and Beck's slow and emotive playing over a steady BackBeat is bolstered by feelings of measured restraint and determination it's a performance that hides its fiery hand within a velvet glove of Blues Licks before letting loose with an explosive and dizzy in [Music] Climax number 24 Eric Clapton for the beetle While My Guitar Gently [Music] Weeps the camaraderie and group atmosphere within the Beatles wasn't
the greatest when While My Guitar Gently Weeps was released back in 1968 creams Eric Clapton was brought in by the songs composer George Harrison as a result of this interband acrimony this proved to be a brilliant decision since Clapton's soloing on While My Guitar Gently Weeps would eventually gain critical accolades around the world [Music] Harrison's composition is given the heavy Rock treatment by his Beatles bandmates a decision that suits Clapton just fine ju deposing the sweet sounding vocals with a bitter melodic Counterpoint fans at the time claimed clapped in his God and with performances as
good as this one who's to say they're wrong number 23 Prince and the revolution's Purple Rain Prince it doesn't feel unfair to say that when many people listen to Purple Rain all they really want to listen to is the solo from Purple [Music] Rain that's because Prince spends over half the song basically hammering home his six string greatness indulging in a Solo that's as extravagant as the purple one himself the influences from Prince's soul and Funk past feel evid within this solo particularly Eddie Hazel's performance on The Cult Funkadelic track Maggot [Music] Brain Prince's emotional
availability as a player allows him to connect with his instrument in a manner few others were able to achieve as a result this solo from Purple Rain feels like a truly autobiographical performance from a musical icon [Music] number 22 Carlos Santana's Black Magic [Music] Woman it isn't too often that a cover song manages to so fully transcend its original version that it basically becomes the creative property of a new artist this was exactly what happened to the Fleetwood mcon Black Magic Woman an excellent Blues Rock track that was injected with fiery Latin psychedelia once it
got into the hand hands of Carlos Santana you got your spell on me baby got your spell on me bab the latter's 1970 version with his group still possesses some blues Roots but Santana solo takes its listener on an entirely different sort of musical Journey few players have been able to make their guitars cry and sing the way Carlos Santana does and this approach is draped across Black Magic Woman like some kind of occult tapestry [Music] number 21 Eddie Van Halen's [Music] [Applause] Eruption it served as ground zero for hair metal and hard rock bands
post 1978 a tide of musical magma from one Eddie Van Halen Eruption was a statement of intent that challenged all other guitarists to get on Eddie's level no one could of course and Van Halen soon led the charge for electrified Arena Rock throughout the late 70s and Beyond the tapping technique demonstrated by Eddie Van Halen on eruption felt like a lightning strike while also signifying a Changing of the Guard for Hard Rock then Halen had arrived eruption was the proof and there was no turning back number 20 Alex lion from Russia's free will on New
Year's Day 1980 Rush dropped their seventh studio album entitled permanent waves and with this track about one's right to choose between pain or pleasure in life guitarist Alex lion exhibited his free will to thoroughly Shred with the spectacular [Music] solo when you're playing with someone like this you need to keep your distance as Getty Lee can certainly attest and life himself has recognized Free Will as one of his favorite [Music] solos in fact when the band originally threw down in the studio he was only trying to keep up with the rest of the band and
well he succeeded number 19 Tom Mell from Rage Against the Machines killing in the name for the lead single off their 1992 debut album Rage Against the Machine relied on some repetitive phrasing to drive home their political message of institutional racism Killing In The Name Of oh and they also relied on the impressive guitar talents of one Tom Melo who gave us a drop D- riff that channeled the intensity of the lyrics you got to love how Melo shows complete control while still giving into the powerful sound he came up with the Riff while teaching
guitar lessons and his whammy pedal-based solo subsequently provided a masterclass to fellow artists [Music] number 18 Jack White from The White Stripes Icky Thump it only made sense for the White Stripes to kick at old school for their seventh and final [Music] album for the lead single the band played off of the British phrase echi thump which actually means oh [Music] God and when Jack White hits the solo after singing about a cryptic trip to Mexico well he made us believe in a new religion and it was called Icky Thump it's hectic it's Relentless and
it's that classic white stripe sound number 17 Richie Blackmore from Deep purpl Highway [Music] Star with Smoke on the Water The Deep Purple guitarist paved the way for classical music and blues rock and brought to light one of the best heavy metal riffs in [Music] history but when it comes to solos it's hard to overlook Highway Star Machine Head's fastest track also contains an organ solo by John Lord but it's Blackmore's classically inspired guitar piece that's the killing machine it's got everything number 16 mark knofler from dir Strait's Sultans of [Music] swing when Dire Straits
hit the music scene in the late 7s critics often compared their lyrical and vocal styling to Bob Dylan but with all due respect to Mr Dylan he never busted out any guitar solos quite like [Music] this based on a chilled out band that frontman Mark knofler saw play in South London Sultans of Swing is smooth to the core and that's how knofler approached his spr solo showcasing n's unique finger style chops this solo solidified Dire Straits as an influential sound and [Music] rock number 15 Johnny Greenwood from Radio heads Paranoid Android by 1997 many Rock
Fans saw radio head as a byword for depression and while that may be the case for some of their tracks Paranoid Android poked fun at the idea with a reference to a character from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the [Music] Galaxy recorded at Jean Seymour's ancient English mansion and influenced on a spiritual level by The Beatles Happiness is a Warm Gun queen and the Pixies this mini epic sees Johnny Greenwood torture a poor unsuspecting Telecaster into giving two solos worth of fuzzy distorted Beauty number 14 Eric Clapton From creams Crossroads as one of the greatest guitarists
of all time it's no surprise Clapton's got a number of signature solos to his [Music] name while he and Dwayne almond made history with Lela signature sound it's with cream's Crossroad solo that he really Nails it in fact this hard rock arrangement of Robert Johnson's Original Blues tune is so good we think slow hand may have signed a deal with the devil too number 13 Brian May from Queens Brighton [Music] Rock guitarists are known to have a special relationship to their instruments but none is more special than that of Brian May and the red [Music]
special built by May and his father the homemade guitar has been the fifth member of Queen since day [Music] one with a bond that tight you know Mr main company are going to find a way to show that baby off and what better way than with a 3-minute solo crying moaning and screaming out from a wall of Vox [Music] amps number 12 Alan Collins and Gary rossington from Leonard Skinner's Freebird with their remarkable solos and defiant rock and roll Swagger Leonard skinnard became fixtures of the southern rock scene it's because of this cut off- pronounced
Leonard skinnard that the band first became household names across America [Music] due in no small part to its structure half ballad half uptempo guitar solo Freebird also became their second top 40 hit keeping crowds pumped for [Music] decades number 11 Slash from Guns and Roses November Rain a Monumental monster ballad needs an equally heroic guitar solo [Music] while this song was originally released in 1992 it dates all the way back to the early 80s and even predates the band but when use your illusion hit stores in 1991 the long slow birth was proved to be
worthwhile G&R fans listened patiently through the first nine tracks before slash made it rain with his Trilogy of Soulful solos in in the 99-minute November [Music] Rain number 10 Randy rhods from Aussie Osborne's Mr [Applause] [Music] Crowley Randy rhods exploded into the heavy metal Universe after giving Aussie Osborne's music a new lease on life and while crazy train off blizzard of Oz features one of the genre's most iconic riffs it's actually that album's second single that captures rhs's guitar skills best Mr Crowley contains not one not two but three standout guitar moments but the masterpieces
climax is the outro [Applause] [Music] solo number nine David Gilmore from Pink Floyd's dogs at 17 minutes in length this isn't your typical rock song but then again Floyd isn't your typical rock [Applause] band originally titled you've got to be crazy the song took on another form within the structural framework of the 1977 album animals serving as a warning about the effects of business on personal lives David Gilmore channeled the joys and pains of humanity into a mournful saturated and harmonically textured guitar solo although sonically quite different Gilmore's playing reached a level of emotion rivaled
only by the band's earlier epic Shine On You Crazy Diamond number eight Brian May from Queen's Bohemian rap city with Freddy Mercury's theatrical vocals and Lively stage presence and May's virtuoso guitar abilities Queen scored big overseas thanks to Bohemian raps featuring elements of hard rock balladry and Opera its unconventional style initially baffled [Music] critics but today it's one of the Brit's most popular songs it's in this melodic chorus lless tune that may played one of the most incredible act solos ever and the song would not be the same without [Music] [Applause] it number seven Stevie
Ray Von's Texas Flood when folk rocker Jackson Brown caught a show at the 1982 Mantra jazz festival he discovered a Texas guitarist by the name of Stevie rayon and soon invited the guitar Slinger to record in his personal [Music] Studio from those sessions sprang Texas Flood an old blue song given the Stevie Ray Progressive Blues [Music] treatment the song and its hottest Texas guitar solos remained a Stevie Rayvon concert staple for the duration of this Legend's tragically short [Applause] career number six Eddie Van Halen from Michael Jackson's Beat It Eddie Van Halen appeared earlier on
this list with his incredible eruption but it's also hard to ignore this solo from a billboard number one [Music] song by 1983 Michael Jackson had already transcended racial barriers Within the Music Industry but with his hit beat it he grabbed attention from people of all Races and ages courtesy of a killer solo from special guest Eddie Van [Music] [Applause] while the guitarist wasn't allowed to appear in the iconic music video thanks to his label he still lent his rock and roll gifts for free thus providing the perfect grit to Michael Jackson's crossover [Music] hit number
five Don Felder and Joe Walsh from Eagles Hotel California after one of these nights set these country and folk influenced rockers on Pace to Live Life in the Fast Lane the Eagles produced another number one with Hotel [Music] California that record spawned the smooth and Soulful title track that classic rock radio stations will not let us forget aside from its surrealist lyrics Hotel California showcases some of the most memorable electric guitar chemistry ever between Felder and [Music] Walsh number four Slash from Guns and Roses Sweet Child of Mine while slash stood out on a wide
array of G&R songs from Night Train to the aforementioned November Rain just to name a few it's Sweet Child of Mine that really sets the stage for the band's later work [Music] though its brilliant intro riff was conceived as a joke the tracks chart topping success and incredible solo were anything but its parent album Appetite for Destruction also became the best-selling debut in American [Music] history number three Jimmy Hendrick from the Jimmy Hendrick experiences All Along the Watchtower [Music] though Little Wing or Voodoo Child could have easily made this list it's the Seattle rockers cover
of All Along the Watchtower that lands here the Jimmy Hendrick experience gave Bob Dylan's folk rock original a psychedelic Rock spin which included a killer guitar solo that helped Hendricks earn his only top 20 American hit [Music] even Dylan was inspired his later performances of the track were influenced by Jimmy's version number two David Gilmore from Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb though Shine On You Crazy Diamond is sometimes cited it's with the Wall's third single that Pink Floyd and sh fans were not Comfortably Numb to their [Music] music they may have been known for introspective lyrics
and affects heavy extravagant shows but their sound wouldn't be the same without [Music] Gilmore his evocative Blues inspired guitar on comfortably numbs two solos especially the final one helped solidify the band's popularity and success before we continue be sure to subscribe to our Channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number one Jimmy Page from Leed Zeppelin Stairway to Heaven yes are but
in the long it's quite fashionable to knock and hate Leed Zeppelin's radio staple Stairway to Heaven but no list of the top guitar solos would be complete without [Music] it with Robert Plant's bluesy vocals and John Bonham's thunderous bass drum you've got an unmatched sound blending Blues Hard Rock and folk however it's pages complex guitar work during the song's climax that's truly left an immeasurable and all-encompassing influence on later [Music] artists which guitar solo gives you the chills let us know in the [Music] comments did you enjoy this video check out these other clips from
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