What is rock and roll without energy-pulsating electric guitar solos? Throughout rock and roll history, guitar solos have sent the guitarist and the audience into spirit-like trances and unmatched frenzy. From soaring melodies to blistering riffs, these solos are more than just musical interludes—they are moments of pure sonic magic.
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There are many fantastic rock and roll classics to choose from, but this list helps you narrow your choice to some of the ones we consider the most iconic. Any ardent fan of classic rock would know them, while newer fans might have heard them being sampled in newer rock and roll songs, or songs from other genres.
Here are the top 5 on our list:
1. “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin (Jimmy Page) (1971)
English rock band Led Zeppelin released “Stairway to Heaven” in late 1971; it was composed by Jimmy Page the lead guitarist, and Robert Plant the lead vocalist. The song was released for their untitled fourth studio album. It’s considered a song with a unique progression: from a slow tempo created by acoustic instruments, to a milder pace with electric instruments, to the final section with an uptempo hard rock format. This section is headlined by a guitar solo by Jimmy Page.
On how he composed and played the solo, Jimmy Page told Classic Rock—“I basically got my Telecaster out to do that solo. Even though I’d been playing Les Pauls, I wanted to get that bite of the Telecaster on it. It was the same Telecaster that I’d played on the first album, the one Jeff Beck had given me that I’d used in The Yardbirds. A bit of a magical guitar, really.”
In 2016, readers of Classic Rock magazine voted the solo on “Stairway to Heaven” as the greatest guitar solo ever played.
2. “Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd (David Gilmour) (1979)
For their 11th album, The Wall, English rock band Pink Floyd released “Comfortably Numb” in 1979, with “Hey You” on the B-side. The song was composed by David Gilmour, the lead guitarist, while the lyrics were penned by the bassist and lead vocalist, Roger Waters.
The song is one of the most popular songs by Pink Floyd and is distinguished by its use of two guitar solos. David Gilmour’s extraordinary pair of guitar solos, ranked as the third-best of all time by Guitar World readers, showcases his talent with an electric guitar. These solos feature a cascade of bluesy licks reminiscent of Hendrix, impactful double stops, and flawlessly executed whammy bar vibrato—all underscored by a timeless tone.
The solo commencing at around 4:30 was captured on Gilmour’s very first take. Their album producer, Bob Ezrin, hinted to Guitar World that he was overcome with emotion when he heard Gilmour play the solos for the first time.
3. “Hotel California” by Eagles (Don Felder and Joe Walsh) (1977)
American rock band Eagles released “Hotel California” as a single in 1977; it’s the titular track of the album of the same name. Don Henley took the lead vocals on the song; but for guitar aficionados, the highlight of the song was the two minutes and 12 seconds of guitar solo played by duo Don Felder and Joe Walsh. They took turns playing their respective parts before coming together to harmonize beautifully toward the end of the song.
The readers of Guitarist, an English rock magazine, voted the solo as the best guitar solo of all time in 1988. In 1978, the song won a Grammy Award for Record of the Year, and it has become the third-most-performed Eagles song.
Joe Walsh told Guitar World the solos were actually unplanned and spontaneous. About their duet, he said, “We agreed on who was gonna play when at the end at the big solo, and we tried to complement each other and build it up to the very last part.”
4. “November Rain” by Guns N’ Roses (Slash) (1991)
American hard rock band Gun N’ Roses released the mammoth “November Rain” as the third single from their Use Your Illusion I album. It’s a power ballad accompanied by heavy rock instruments that, at 8:57, became the longest song to make it to the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 until November 2021.
[RELATED: Book About Slash’s Guitar Collection Coming in 2023]
Slash’s solo in “November Rain” is a tour de force of rock guitar in all its glory. Its raw emotion and technical brilliance elevate the song to epic proportions, and does not fail to take the listener to the emotional heights the song talks about. Slash said he developed the solo directly from improvisation and was surprised it came out so well.
5. “Crossroads” by Cream (Eric Clapton) (1968)
The original version of this song is called “Cross Road Blues” and was initially sung by mythical blues master Robert Johnson. March 10, 1968, in San Francisco was the day Cream played their live version of “Crossroads,” giving us a breathtaking four minutes of rock. In the performance, Eric Clapton‘s guitar solo was spread over five verses using a Gibson guitar.
He began the solo in a low register and he began to climb over subsequent verses, building up the tempo and tension with an excellent use of phrasing and timing. He rounds off the solo after another verse by picking up where he left off on the first solo, using a succession of wild, soaring blues licks and double-stop bends. As a live performance, the solo was an improv, surprising Clapton when it became one of the most celebrated guitar solos of all time.
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