Rolling Stone criticised for omitting Gary Moore from 250 Greatest Guitarists countdown

12 years on from its last best guitarists countdown, Rolling Stone magazine has published its new and expanded list of The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.

Picked by the US publication’s editors and writers, the musically diverse countdown features artists from the world of blues, rock, metal, punk, folk, country, reggae, jazz, flamenco and more.

Clarifying how they ranked the musicians, Rolling Stone said that the countdown favours ‘heaviness over tastiness, feel over polish, invention over refinement, risk-takers and originators more than technicians.’

They continued: ‘We also tended to give an edge to artists who channelled whatever gifts god gave them into great songs and game-changing albums, not just impressive playing.’

Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix tops the countdown with writer Angie Martoccio rightfully remarking that he “was a showman who played with his teeth or behind his back. But underneath all the theatrics is the true master of the instrument.”

The rock world dominates the Top 5 with Chuck Berry, Jimmy Page, Eddie Van Halen and Jeff Beck in second, third, fourth and fifth spot respectively.

Other guitar greats that feature further down the list include Duane Allman (10), Tony Iommi (13), Stevie Ray Vaughn (20), Randy Rhoads (21), David Gilmour (28), Brian May (33), Eric Clapton (35), Alex Lifeson (58), Muddy Waters (84), Joe Satriani (94), Mark Knopfler (96) Slash (105) and the surprisingly low-ranked Rory Gallagher (175) and Nuno Bettencourt (197).

Refreshingly, there are some relatively newer artists on the list including Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram (200), Nita Strauss (129) and Lzzy Hale (218).

Rolling Stone also decided to rank certain band members together. Among the artists paired in the list are Judas Priest’s Glenn Tipton and K.K. Downing (219), Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith and Dave Murray (83), AC/DC’s Angus Young and Malcolm Young (38) and Metallica’s James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett (23).

As always with such lists, however, Rolling Stone’s countdown has faced somewhat of a backlash in the online world.

In particular, many people have chastised Rolling Stone for missing the late-great Gary Moore off the countdown altogether – a man Glenn Hughes recently named as the greatest guitarist he’s ever played with.

One person wrote on Facebook: “Gary Moore? What an absolute joke this list is. Seriously.”

Another equally disgruntled person wrote on X: “You can’t have a list of great guitar players without Gary Moore. If he isn’t on the list, the list is flawed. Rolling stone does this just to get people worked up. I haven’t seen a list they did that isn’t controversial.”

Singling out Rory Gallagher’s low ranking, another wrote: “This is truly awful list Rory Gallagher 175th is a crime.”

There were some more complimentary comments, however, such as: “This is a nice list covering a great range of styles, but the whole affair is essentially invalidated by the exclusion of ALLAN HOLDSWORTH.”

Other rock guitarists who don’t feature in Rolling Stone’s Top 250 include Zakk Wylde, Joe Bonamassa and Michael Schenker.

You can check out Rolling Stone’s full countdown RIGHT HERE

The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time, as voted by Planet Rock listeners:

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