Ranking The Best Guitarists The World Has Ever Seen

Published on 07/30/2022
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Pete Townshend

Townshend was one of the founding members of The Who, one of the most well-known rock bands of all time. In his memoir, he talked about growing up in London shortly after WWII, saying, “I wasn’t trying to play beautiful music. I was confronting my audience with the awful, visceral sound of what we all knew was the single absolute of our frail existence—one day an airplane would carry the bomb that would destroy us all in a flash. It could happen at any time.”

Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend

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Kirk Hammett

When he was 16 years old, Kirk Hammett, a member of Metallica, was hired as a replacement for Dave Mustaine, Metallica’s former guitarist. Hammett’s parents flew him to New York to meet with the band when leader James Hetfield reached him. The band was not thrilled when the boy went into the room, but after he nailed the solo for the smash “Seek and Destroy,” they recruited him on the spot.

Kirk Hammett

Kirk Hammett

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