If you have a look at ranking lists found in music magazines for the top guitarists of all time, it is very rare that you will see any contemporary guitar players. In fact, as you might expect, the lists are dominated by guitarists predominantly from bands formed in the 1960s and 1970s, with a handful from the 1980s. Names like Hendrix, Page, Van Halen, Clapton, May, Beck, Slash, Gilmour, and Young dominate every list, and it’s very difficult to find anyone “active” in the music industry. Indeed, look at list sites like Ranker and search for the top guitar bands of 2022, and you will find names like the Foo Fighters, Green Day, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers – bands formed more than 30 years ago.
It begs the question: where have all the guitar heroes gone? To give an answer that guitar music, specifically rock music, isn’t popular anymore is a little bit simplistic. Consider the soundtracks to say, the Marvel movies, which had artists like AC/DC and Led Zepplin featuring several times. And numerous video games have featured guitar heroes in their OSTs. You can even find official slot games online like Jimi Hendrix slot and Guns N’ Roses Videoslots from NetEnt. The point is that guitar rock permeates every stratum of popular culture, yet it is difficult to find examples of it in the charts. It’s an interesting paradox.
Metal is still going strong, but it’s becoming niche
Of course, we can find great guitarists in contemporary rock bands. Heavy metal is still going strong in 2023, and the likes of Metallica and Iron Maiden can still fill stadiums with fans. More recently, you can cite bands like Avenged Sevenfold and Night Demon, who have seen relatively huge success. But broadly speaking, the concept of the guitar hero is on the wane. It’s impossible to find any guitarist in the same league as a Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page: not just in terms of talent, but in appeal and recognition.
Is it fair, then, to say that we are simply out of the era of the rock legend? Are we now in a time where rock has been supplanted by rap, hip-hop, electronica, and standard pop? As we mentioned earlier, it feels like something of a contradiction when you see so much rock guitar music in movies and video games. But when was the last time that you heard an extended guitar rift or solo in a contemporary track? Certainly, very few spring to mind.
Great guitarists go unrecongised
Great guitar music exists today, of course, but you just have to know where to find it. Tristan Thomas, Abigail Zackho, Ayron Jones, Luke Mark, and Isaac Wood have all been cited among the best current guitar players; at least in terms of contemporary music charts. But they are hardly household names. In a sense, it feels like rock guitar stardom is reserved for other media, like movie and game soundtracks, whereas the celebrity element is reserved for more contemporary music forms.
Perhaps the pertinent thing to ask is whether we are missing out on something. Rock bands fill stadiums, so there is clearly an appetite for the music. But it’s probably more apt to say that rock bands who were established in the 20th century fill stadiums. The guitar heroes that we see today are the same men and women that we celebrated in the past. It feels like a shame.
