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What is the greatest guitar solo of all time?

by YPB Team

From face-melting shred to heartbreaking bends, these are the moments that made guitarists put down their picks and weep. Legends face off against cult favorites — cast your vote.

  1. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin — ranked #11
    Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin
    Jimmy Page's climactic eight-minute ascending solo from the 1971 classic, widely considered the pinnacle of rock guitar.
  2. Hotel California – Eagles — ranked #22
    Hotel California – Eagles
    The twin-guitar harmony outro by Don Felder and Joe Walsh that closes the Eagles' 1977 masterpiece in an unforgettable melodic duel.
  3. Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd — ranked #33
    Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd
    David Gilmour's soaring, emotionally devastating two-part solo from The Wall (1979), frequently voted the greatest solo ever recorded.
  4. Eruption – Van Halen — ranked #44
    Eruption – Van Halen
    Eddie Van Halen's 1978 one-minute-and-42-second solo that redefined electric guitar technique with two-handed tapping.
  5. Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd — ranked #55
    Free Bird – Lynyrd Skynyrd
    A nine-minute triple-guitar outro from the 1973 southern rock anthem, a live concert staple demanded by fans everywhere.
  6. All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix — ranked #66
    All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
    Hendrix's revolutionary 1968 reimagining of Dylan's song features a psychedelic, feedback-laden solo that transcended the original.
  7. November Rain – Guns N' Roses — ranked #77
    November Rain – Guns N' Roses
    Slash's soaring melodic solo in Guns N' Roses' 1992 epic ballad, performed amid a cinematic music video watched by billions.
  8. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne — ranked #88
    Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
    Randy Rhoads' neo-classical shred solo from Ozzy's 1980 debut that launched a new era of virtuosic heavy metal guitar.
  9. Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits — ranked #99
    Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
    Mark Knopfler's fingerpicked, jazz-tinged closing solo from the 1978 debut single, a masterclass in taste and restraint.
  10. Purple Rain – Prince — ranked #1010
    Purple Rain – Prince
    Prince's emotionally raw, bending, gospel-infused solo that closes his 1984 film song in a torrent of wailing expression.
  11. Cliffs of Dover – Eric Johnson — ranked #1111
    Cliffs of Dover – Eric Johnson
    Eric Johnson's cascading, harmonically complex 1990 instrumental that won a Grammy and became a benchmark for technical artistry.
  12. Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry — ranked #1212
    Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry
    The 1958 riff and solo that effectively defined rock and roll guitar, influencing every guitarist who followed for decades.
  13. Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix — ranked #1313
    Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix
    A delicate, chord-laced solo from Hendrix's 1967 Axis: Bold As Love album that fuses R&B tenderness with psychedelic flair.
  14. La Grange – ZZ Top — ranked #1414
    La Grange – ZZ Top
    Billy Gibbons' raw, boogie-blues shred from ZZ Top's 1973 track, built on a John Lee Hooker riff and packed with Texas grit.

#music836#rock210#guitar6

Comments

Page's is the only entry a federal appeals court has examined bar by bar, clearing it in 2020 after six years of litigation: https://youpick.best/articles/led-zeppelin-ranked-many-ways

YP
ypb-team·2 days ago·
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