Famous Guitarists of the World

(February 21, 1893 – June 2, 1987) was a virtuoso Spanish classical guitarist from Linares, Jaén, Andalucia, Spain. He

is widely considered to be one of the best known and most influential classical guitar personalities of the 20th century,

having a considerable influence on later guitarists, particularly because of important guitar works that were dedicated to him by composers such as Federico Moreno

Torroba.

Andrés Segovia

(born 8 November 1980 in Karlovac, Croatia) is a classical guitarist. A child prodigy, she started playing guitar at the

age of five, inspired by her brother Viktor. By the age of 11 she was performing internationally, and at 13 became the

youngest student to attend the prestigious National Musical Academy in Zagreb where she studied with

Professor Istvan Romer. Vidović's reputation in Europe led to an invitation to study at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, U.S., with Manuel Barrueco, from where she

graduated in May 2003.

Ana Vidović

was born into a musical family in Kolkata, it became apparent that Bhattacharya was skilled at a young age. His parents, both traditional Indian vocalists, gave him a basic

understanding of music and he first began strumming a guitar at age three, when his father gave him a full-size

Hawaiian lap steel guitar. He made his debut at the age of four on All India Radio, in Calcutta.

He was nominated for a 2009 Grammy Award in the category of Best Traditional World Music Album for his

album Calcutta Chronicles.

Debashish Battacharya

also known as V. M. Bhatt (born July 12, 1950) is an Indian slide guitar player. Bhatt is the creator of the Mohan Veena.[1] He

performs Hindustani classical music and won a Grammy Award in 1994. It is for his Grammy winning album A Meeting by the River with Ry Cooder and other fusion and pan-cultural collaborations with Western artists like Taj Mahal, Béla Fleck and Jerry Douglas,

that Bhatt is best known, although exposure such as an appearance on the 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival, which was

organized by Eric Clapton, does allow for this side of his playing to reach a larger audience

Vishwa Mohan Bhatt

(born Al Laurence Dimeola, July 22, 1954, in Jersey City, New Jersey) is an acclaimed American jazz fusion and Latin guitarist, composer, and record producer of Italian origin. With a musical

career that has spanned more than three decades, he has become respected as one of the most influential guitarists in jazz

to date. Albums such as Friday Night in San Francisco have earned him both artistic and commercial success with a solid fan base

throughout the world.

Al Di Meola

(23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz

guitar technique (sometimes called 'hot' jazz guitar) that has since become a living musical tradition within Belgian gypsy culture. With

violinist Stéphane Grappelli, he co-founded the Quintette du Hot Club de France, described by critic Thom Jurek as "one of the most

original bands in the history of recorded jazz." Reinhardt's most popular compositions have become jazz standards, including "Minor

Swing", "Daphne", "Belleville", "Djangology", "Swing '42", and "Nuages".

Django Reinhardt

, CBE, (born 30 March 1945) is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a

member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and influential guitarists of all time. Clapton ranked second in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and fourth in Gibson's

Top 50 Guitarists of All Time.

Eric Clapton

(born March 22, 1943)[3] is a ten Grammy Award winning American musician, whose production career began at the age of

twenty-one as a jazz guitarist.Benson first came to prominence in the 1960s playing soul jazz with

the likes of Jack McDuff. Benson then launched a successful solo career, alternating between jazz, pop, R&B singing, and scat

singing. This one-time child prodigy topped the Billboard 200 in 1976 with the triple-platinum album, Breezin', He was also a major live attraction in the UK during the 1980s and continues to attract a

large following today. Benson uses a rest-stroke picking technique similar to that of gypsy jazz players such as Django Reinhardt

George Benson

James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942 – September 18, 1970) was an American

guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is widely considered to be the greatest guitarist in musical history, and one of the most influential

musicians of his era across a range of genres.

"Jimi" Hendrix

(born 4 January 1942, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England), also known as Mahavishnu John McLaughlin, is an English guitarist,

bandleader and composer. His music includes many genres of jazz, and rock, which he coupled with an interest in Indian classical

music to become one of the pioneering figures in fusion

John McLaughlin

Born Francisco Sánchez Gómez (in Algeciras, Cádiz on December 21, 1947), is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the

world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre.

Paco de Lucia

(born July 20, 1947) is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana,

which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion. The band's sound featured his melodic, blues-based guitar lines set against Latin and African rhythms featuring percussion instruments such as timbales

and congas not generally heard in rock music.

Carlos Santana

William Thomas "Tommy" Emmanuel AM (born 31 May 1955) is an Australian guitarist, best known for his complex fingerpicking style,

energetic performances and the use of percussive effects on the guitar. In the May 2008 and 2010 issues of Guitar Player Magazine, he was named as "Best Acoustic Guitarist" in their readers' poll. In

June 2010 Emmanuel was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia

"Tommy" Emmanuel

Anthony Frank "Tony" Iommi (born 19 February 1948, Heathfield Road Hospital, Handsworth, Birmingham, England) is an English guitarist and songwriter best known as the founding member of

pioneering heavy metal band Black Sabbath, and its sole continual member through multiple personnel changes.

"Tony" Iommi

(March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely

considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as

Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily Remler, Kenny Burrell, Pat Metheny,

and Jimi Hendrix. DigitalDreamDoor named Montgomery the greatest jazz guitarist of

all time.

(March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. He is widely considered one of the major jazz guitarists, emerging after such seminal figures as Django Reinhardt and Charlie Christian and

influencing countless others, including Pat Martino, George Benson, Russell Malone, Emily Remler, Kenny Burrell, Pat Metheny,

and Jimi Hendrix. DigitalDreamDoor named Montgomery the greatest jazz guitarist of all time.

Wes Montgomery

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen (born June 30, 1963) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader.

Malmsteen became known for his neo-classical playing approach in heavy metal which became a growing musical style in the early

1980s.

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen