In yesterday’s edition of the DAILY EGYPTIAN, I began a countdown of the best guitarists of all time. These musicians have influenced so many over the years; their work reveled by millions.

These artists are the best of the best. Picking them is a near impossible task, let alone putting them in an ordered list. No list will be the same and no list is perfect. This list is subjective and is meant to point out some of the most influential guitarists of all time.

Today, I list No. 10 through No. 1.

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10. Pete Townshend 

Pete Townshend was not flashy. He did not have long, drawn out face-melting solos. He is a man just as well known for smashing his guitars on stage as he is playing them. In his time with The Who, Townshend embodied what it meant to be a rock star. He excelled as a guitarist and served as the band’s primary songwriter. His charisma on stage and his ferocious power-chords make him one of the best of all time.

9. Joe Satriani 

Joe Satriani is a force within music. He is a master of the electric guitar. Influenced by the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, Satriani created his own unique style that flows and innovates. He is a master of the whammy bar. Satriani played in several bands through his career—Deep Purple, Greg Kihn Band, G3 and Chickenfoot—some of his most famous work coming from his solo album “Surfing with the Alien.”

8. David Gilmour 

What would Pink Floyd have been without David Gilmour? That is a difficult question to answer, but they would not have had the same impact. Pink Floyd is one of the best selling bands of all time. Albums like “The Wall” and “The Dark Side of the Moon” showed Gilmour’s true talent as a guitarist. He took the guitar’s sound to places it had never been before; his signature note bends, based in blues, took the sound to another universe, in true Pink Floyd fashion.

7. B.B. King 

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I heard B.B. King for the first time at a young age, introduced to his music through my brother. His work continues to influence many after him. He doesn’t just play the guitar. He makes it sing. The way he bends the strings and his signature vibrato have him etched into the blues legacy for all of eternity.

6. Eddie Van Halen 

No one in the hard rock history books did it like Eddie Van Halen. He redefined what rock and roll guitar sounded like. Lighting fast and complex, Eddie Van Halen made playing guitar look easy, riding on the back of his endless book of riffs. Listen to “Eruption” and you will know exactly what I mean.

5. Jimmy Page 

Jimmy Page can do it all. He can write. He can produce. But most importantly, he can play the heck out of the guitar. Page was largely responsible for shaping Led Zeppelin into what it became. In a 1993 interview with Guitar World, Page said, “Ultimately, I wanted Zeppelin to be a marriage of blues, hard rock and acoustic music topped off with heavy choruses – a combination that had never been done before.”

4. Stevie Ray Vaughn 

In the world of blues-rock, the late Stevie Ray Vaughn, is considered a god. One of the music industry’s most terrible tragedies came in 1990 when he died in a helicopter crash on his way to Chicago after he played Alpine Valley Music Theatre in East Troy, Wis. He was only 35 years old. Thinking of Stevie on stage with his beat up Fender Stratocaster, I can only ask “what if?”

3. Duane Allman 

Duane Allman was another super talented musician who left the world too soon, at the age of 24. Before his death in 1971, Duane and the rest of The Allman Brother’s Band had already made their mark in history. A phenomenal musician, and a southern rock legend, Duane was a one of a kind guitarist. “Whipping Post” live at the Fillmore East in 1970 still gives me chills.

2. Eric Clapton 

Clapton is one of those guitarists who everyone and their mother want to play with. Everything he has accomplished in his more than 50 years of playing is amazing. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times, with The Yardbirds (1992), Cream (1993) and as a solo artist (2000). His resume is speaks for itself.

1. Jimi Hendrix 

We have finally reached the No. 1 spot. When making this list, I battled myself internally over who would get what spot, who would make the list and who would be left out. However, if there was one thing I knew from the beginning, Jimi Hendrix was undoubtedly number one. The way Hendrix played was like none other. He was rooted in the blues. He was a master of the psychedelic. Anything thought technically impossible, Hendrix could do it. To him, the guitar was a voice and he made it speak. When Hendrix died in 1970 at the age of 27, we lost an innovator, a creative genius, a poet and a legend. To me, he will always be the greatest guitar player of all time.

Kyle Sutton can be reached at [email protected], on Twitter @KyleSutton_DE or at 536-3311 ext. 273. Kyle Sutton’s Top 20 Guitarists