The 10 Best Guitar Solos of All Time

David Gilmour's closing solo is the gold standard: slow-burning bends, a soaring tone, and pure emotional release over Pink Floyd's finest chord changes. Every engine put it at #1, every time. No contest.

Jimmy Page's solo builds the song's slow climb into a full-blown rock explosion, flowing from folk-tinged hush to a roaring, melodic peak. It's composed like a song within the song, and it never lets go.

Under two minutes of tapping, harmonics and dive-bombing that rewired what a guitar could do. Eddie Van Halen made a solo piece into a landmark, and generations of players still chase it.

Hendrix took Dylan's folk tune and turned it into a storm. His solos here are wild, vocal and endlessly inventive, proof that a cover can outshine the original and rewrite the song's identity.

Don Felder and Joe Walsh trade harmonized lines in one of rock's great twin-guitar finales. It's elegant, melodic and instantly recognizable, the sound of a long fade-out you never want to end.

The slow ballad turns into a runaway train for the final stretch. Collins and Rossington's blistering twin-guitar jam is Southern rock's defining blowout, and a live-show staple for good reason.

Slash's desert-sky solo, played atop a sweeping piano epic, is all melody and swagger. It's a big-screen moment, and ChatGPT and Gemini each backed it in most of their lists.

Mark Knopfler's fingerpicked, fluid lines sound effortless and cool, with a clean Stratocaster tone that stands apart from the shredders. It's a masterclass in feel over flash, and ChatGPT loved it.

Brian May's solo is tightly composed, harmonized and singable, built with his homemade Red Special guitar. It sits at the heart of Queen's operatic epic. Claude was its biggest fan; ChatGPT never named it.

That looping intro riff gets the fame, but Slash's soaring outro solo seals the deal: bluesy, bold and made for stadiums. It's the other Guns N' Roses entry, and Claude kept coming back to it.