Who’s the Greatest Classic Rock Guitarist Ever?
Audio Ink Radio names its pick for the greatest classic rock guitarist of all time, which is difficult given the talented names in this genre. – Author: Anne Erickson, Photo via Ken Settle
Classic rock is one of those genres that’s known for its incredible guitars. Metal music is also famous for its fiery guitar players and solos, but when it comes to the genesis of the electric guitar, it’s really the classic rock greats who take the cake. There are some many fantastic guitar players from the early days of rock that are among the best classic rock guitarists of all time, but who’s the best?
The best, of course, is subjective in music. This isn’t a math test where there is a 100% right or wrong answer. One person could say Keith Richards is the greatest classic guitarist ever, and another could say it’s Jimmy Page, and neither would be wrong.
Audio Ink Radio recently ran a feature on the best classic rock guitarists of all time, and Richards, Page, Jimi Hendrix, Brian May and Slash all made the cut. There’s no denying the impact these players had on the classic rock genre and on rock music, as a whole.
The Greatest Guitar Player in Classic Rock
But, when it comes to the greatest, we’re going with the talented and historic Brian May.
Sure, it’s difficult to put any one guitarist over the next when you’re looking at guys such as Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. But, the reason we picked May as the best is because of how he brought the rock guitar to the mainstream, even pop crowd.
May rose to fame in Queen, a band he co-founded with singer Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor in the early 1970s. Queen was one of the most innovative bands of their era. Who else was doing a rock opera at that time?
While bands such as Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stone became hugely popular and earned mainstream fanfare, when it comes to classic rock, Queen is one of the rare bands that also had a pop appeal. Because of that pop appeal, Queen is also one of the first rock bands that topped the Top 40 charts and became a favorite among fans of all musical genres.
May’s guitar playing was so important to the sound and style of Queen. While Mercury’s vocals are often praised as the heart and soul of the band, without May’s guitar player and songwriting abilities, Queen really never would have been the band it became.
The History of Brian May
Brian May was born on July 19, 1947, in a nursing home at Hampton Hill, Twickenham. May was the only child of Ruth Irving (née Fletcher) and Harold May.
While May quickly became fond of the guitar, he was also a scholar and graduated with a degree in math and physics from one of Britain’s best universities, Imperial College London. His life has blended science and music. In 2024, May revealed that he suffered a minor stroke, but thankfully, he seems all better.
When it comes to Queen, songs such as “We Will Rock You,” “Another One Bites the Dust,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Killer Queen” featured May’s incredibly guitar player but also his knack for writing guitar riffs that had strong melodies and hooks.
May’s guitar chops really took classic rock to the next level and created songs and pieces of music that generations of music fans, not just rock fans, continue to love. For that reason and simply because of his rare talent, Audio Ink Radio picks May as our greatest guitarist in classic rock of all time.
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