25 Iconic Guitar Solos

In this post, we’d like to introduce you to 25 iconic guitar solos that you should know and maybe even learn to play. This list is neither a ranking nor is it complete, because there are of course so many more incredibly good guitar solos. 🎸

During a guitar solo, the singer steps out of the limelight for a moment and the guitar takes centre stage. And even though those moments are usually pretty brief (there are exceptions of course!), the history of rock is full of magical solos that are the true highlight of the song.

1. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin

Let’s begin with this masterpiece that’s often ranked number 1 on lists of the best guitar solos. In the studio, Jimmy Page recorded his solo on a Telecaster. On stage, he used his iconic Gibson Double Neck.

2. Blackbird – Alter Bridge

In this song, the first part of the solo is played by Myles Kennedy, and for the slightly more extroverted second part, Mark Tremonti steps in with a rich tone and heavy use of the wah pedal.

3. Kissing The Shadows – Children Of Bodom

A keyboard and guitar battle in metal – absolutely worth a listen! Keyboardist Janne Wirman and guitarist Alexi Laiho unleash an incredible number of notes per second into orbit. And everything is played with extreme precision.

4. The Spirit Carries On – Dream Theater

Another specialist in virtuosic guitar playing is John Petrucci. Here, he delivers a 6/8 ballad featuring a mix of highly emotional licks combined with some faster passages.

5. Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chili Peppers

John Frusciante has his very own tone and unique style, always adding something truly special to a song. This is also the case with Scar Tissue, where the two solo parts feature highly emotional slide playing. Less is more!

6. The Weight Of Dreams – Greta Van Fleet

In Weight Of The Dreams from the album The Battle at Garden’s Gate, Jake Kiszka delivers an extended solo in top-notch 70s rock style, featuring a straightforward sound with a Gibson SG and a Marshall amp.

7. Impassion – Polyphia

Tim Henson and Scott LePage belong to the younger generation of virtuoso guitarists in the prog-rock/metal genre, and they showcase this impressively in the song Impassion. Once again, the entire track stands out as an impressive guitar performance.

8. Hotel California – The Eagles

The two Eagles guitarists Don Felder and Steve Walsh trade lead parts at the end of the song. Both solos are absolutely on point and the whole thing culminates in a double lead outro part.

9. Sultans Of Swing – Dire Straits

This was Dire Straits’ first single – and what a hit it was. It wouldn’t remain Mark Knopfler’s only milestone – just think of Money for Nothing or Brothers in Arms. But Sultans Of Swing has that typical Mark Knopfler sound and the distinctive licks.

10.Comfortably Numb – Pink Floyd

This masterpiece features not one, but two outstanding solos and the distinctive Big Muff / Hiwatt combination. In the studio version, the second part of the bluesy solo starts at 4:30 and ends in a fade out. Amazingly, recording this once-in-a-lifetime solo only took one take. Sometimes it just fits!

11. All Along The Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

This song also has several solo parts – some with a slide, others with a wah-wah. But  always with the wonderful phrasing and licks of Jimi Hendrix.

12. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple

While the iconic riff is the most recognizable part of Smoke On The Water, it is the solo where Ritchie Blackmore shows his full class with perfect phrasing, bendings and the classic rock tone of the Strat / Marshall combo.

13. Jump – Van Halen

Hendrix took guitar playing to a new level at the end of the 1960s; Eddie Van Halen raised the bar even higher in the late 1970s. He popularized the tapping technique in rock and the 1980s megahit Jump is a prime example of this.

14. Killer Queen – Queen

Queen’s work is rich in magical moments – especially when Brian May brings out his “guitar orchestra” in his solos. Killer Queen is a prime example of this. The Red Special Guitar and the Deacy amp are the cornerstones of his sound.

15.Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns N’ Roses

Slash also has several solos on Sweet Child O’ Mine. At first, he takes a somewhat leisurely approach with beautiful melodies and phrasing on his Les Paul, until he brings out the wah pedal and rocks out in the last part.

16.Killing In The Name – Rage Against The Machine

Tom Morello’s masterful use of the Digitech Whammy Pedal is an essential element of this solo (and of many others of his). The pedal-controlled pitch shifter was still fairly new on the market at the time this song was recorded.

17.Nothing Else Matters – Metallica

Speaking of Kirk Hammett: While he of course also played on Nothing Else Matters and is usually responsible for the guitar solos in Metallica, James Hetfield didn’t miss the chance to play the solo on this iconic track himself. He can do it too!

18. Samba Pa Ti – Santana

An instrumental song by Carlos Santana that starts as a ballad and then culminates in a Latin-style outro vamp – with a solo that has Santana written all over it.

19. Hail To The King – Avenged Sevenfold

Avenged Sevenfold guitarist Synyster Gates delivers a prime example of a modern rock solo here – with fast alternate picking and some blazing hot sweeping licks. Played on his Schecter signature model.

20.Satch Boogie – Joe Satriani

On Satch Boogie, the guitar solo is the song. This extended and brilliant guitar performance by master Satriani showcases the full extent of his technical wizardry, including heavy whammy bar use on his Ibanez signature guitar.

21. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne

Randy Rhoads shows all his class in this solo – both technically and musically. A fireworks display of licks that many heavy rock guitarists were quick to adopt.

22. Beat It – Michael Jackson

Here’s Eddie Van Halen once again with another guitar solo on a major hit. He gets 16 bars to exhibit his astonishing tapping skills, but guitarists’ jaws were already on the floor after eight back then (and even today).

23.LA Grange – ZZ Top

Billy Gibbons shows his mastery of the blues pentatonic scale in this solo. Curiously, he didn’t record the solo on his ’59 Les Paul named Pearly Gates, but used a Stratocaster for a change.

24. Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry

A classic from the 1950s, peppered with the typical bendings and rock’n’roll licks that many of the other guitarists featured in this article took as inspiration to develop their own style.

25.Another Brick In The Wall – Pink Floyd

Let’s finish with another classic David Gilmour solo – this time from Pink Floyd’s album The Wall. The combination of minor scales with bends, hammer-ons and pull-offs makes this solo a phrasing masterclass.

Simon's passion for music generated a long time ago, and led him to become a guitarist and self-produce his music with the band Onyria.

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