Best Female Guitarists of All Time

2025-03-28

Female guitarist Sophie Lloyd.

In honor of women who shred, Audio Ink Radio unveils its tally of the greatest female guitarists of all time. – Author: Cat Badra, Photo via Autumn Records

There was a time when female guitarists were few and far between, but thankfully, that hasn’t been the case for decades now. The greatest female guitarists from the early days of rock and metal have inspired a sea of other fantastic female players to take the musical world by storm with their guitars in hand. There’s something to be said for talented, skilled female guitars, and there are plenty of them. In honor of women who shred, Audio Ink Radio unveils its tally of the greatest female guitarists of all time. Of course, these ladies could also appear on a tally of the best guitarists of all time that includes guys.

Greatest Female Guitarists of All Time

Joan Jett

It would be impossible to craft a tally of the greatest female guitarists and leave off one of the originators, Joan Jett. Of course, Jett is known for her punk-influenced, three-chord guitar style and bad girl image. She found the Runaways in 1970s, one of the first all-female bands of all time.

Lita Ford

As with Joan Jett, Lita Ford is an originator. She was also in Joan Jett’s Runaways, and in the 1980s, she went on to kick off a popular solo career in hair metal, making her one of heavy metal’s first female guitarists with some of the greatest songs of the genre.

Nancy Wilson

Heart is one of the most celebrated and famous female-led bands of all time, and Nancy Wilson’s guitar playing is a big part of that. In Heart, Nancy, along with her sister Ann, won over the hearts of millions of music fans across the world. They also inspired a bevy of young women to follow in their footsteps and make their own rock music.

Orianthi

Australian guitarist Orianthi is known for both her guitar shredding and solo music. When she’s playing guitar, she’s a shredder, but Orianthi’s solo music often dabbles more in the pop area. Orianthi first made waves at the 51st annual Grammy Awards in February 2009 performing as Carrie Underwood’s lead guitarist. From there, she was tapped to be Michael Jackson’s guitarist on his This Is It tour, but sadly, he passed away before the tour took off. She also rose to fame touring as Alice Cooper’s lead guitarist.

Nita Strauss

Alice Cooper often has female guitarists in his lineup, and one of his most famous is Nita Strauss. The skilled guitarist became known in the all-female Iron Maiden tribute band The Iron Maidens, and since then, she’s done everything from tour the world with Cooper to release her own successful solo albums. Strauss is an incredible force live, and she’s certainly one of the greatest female guitarists of all time.

Sophie Lloyd

Hailing from Britain, Sophie Lloyd gained steam on YouTube with her jaw-dropping guitar videos. She even caught the attention of pop star Machine Gun Kelly, who tapped her to tour with him. Lloyd has also released her own solo music, and she’s one of the most promising young guitarists out there right now.

For more guitar fun, check out Audio Ink Radio’s feature on the best classic rock guitarists of all time.

Cat Badra
Latest posts by Cat Badra (see all)
Posted by Cat Badra | Features, Music, Rock