Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

The vast majority on this list are from the fifties, sixties, and early seventies. That implies there have been no guitarists in the last 40 years that are worthy of being included. Beyond that, the Rolling Stones were a rock and roll phenomenon, Rock icons! But Keith Richards is hardly the 4th best guitarist of all time. Really? Look at the musicians that come after him; Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Duane Allman, Carlos Santana? Are you kidding me! Also, love Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, but its laughable to say that Neil Young is one of the greatest guitarists of all time and ranks ahead of Chet Atkins, Les Paul, Carlos Santana. I like Neil Young, but he doesn't belong anywhere on this list.

That is Rolling Stone... David Gilmour in the top 30 and not Steve Howe and Robert Fripp.

Johnny Ramone? really rolling stone? I understand the ramones are legends, but he's not as good as the others on the list. I think Malmsteen should be on here.

rolling stone magazine is a joke. several names are left off of this list and that is a shame. johnny ramone is nowhere close to the top 30

If I remember right, this list was determined by a reader poll, which means that it isn't Rolling Stone's staff who decided this, but readers who used whatever criteria they felt like. When you see the full list of 100 it becomes very apparent that a lot of people were just voting for the guitarist of their favorite band.

There was no attempt to come up with an authoritative list based on actual criteria like technical ability or anything like that, or else more than half the list would probably be the lead guitarists of metal bands most people (including anyone who has ever worked for Rolling Stone) have never heard of.

But yeah, this list is a joke.

The exclusion of early influences like Muddy Waters and T-Bone Walker is a bit alarming to say the least.

If you want a different take, try the top 100 I put together. There's still plenty to disagree with, but I made an effort to judge based entirely on what I heard and not on popularity and reputation. Bluesdjben's 100 Best Guitarists of All Time