27/11/09– Musicians have named the Jimi Hendrix Experience anthem, Voodoo Child (Slight Return) their greatest guitar riff of all-time, in a new poll for the MusicRadar.com website.
With almost 5,000 MusicRadar users having their say, votes came in from an online poll, email, Facebook and Twitter feeds, with the iconic 1968 track coming ahead of Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses.
Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love came third, followed by Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water. Across the top 20 only two entries came from the last decade, courtesy of Muse’s Plug In Baby at 12 and The White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army at 15.
A surprise entry into the guitar riffs poll was the late Michael Jackson’s Beat It – sneaking past many iconic classic rock performances at number 20.
MusicRadar.com’s Top 20 Guitar Riffs Of All Time
- The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
- Guns N’ Roses – Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love
- Deep Purple – Smoke On The Water
- Derek and the Dominos – Layla
- AC/DC – Back In Black
- Metallica – Enter Sandman
- The Beatles – Day Tripper
- Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit
- The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction
- Black Sabbath – Paranoid
- Muse – Plug In Baby
- Eddie Van Halen – Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love
- The Kinks – You Really Got Me
- The White Stripes – Seven Nation Army
- AC/DC – Highway to Hell
- Led Zeppelin – Heartbreaker
- Black Sabbath – Iron Man
- Led Zeppelin – Black Dog
- Michael Jackson – Beat It
MusicRadar.com’s Editor-in-Chief, Mike Goldsmith said:
“Nearly 40 years after his untimely death, Jimi Hendrix is still the undisputed heavyweight champion of rock guitar.
“Of the current generation of six-string stars, only Jack White of The White Stripes and Muse frontman Matt Bellamy feature in the higher echelons of our Top 50. No surprise given both Bellamy and White share – or have inherited – Hendrix’s unique blend of experimental instincts and white-knuckle showmanship.
“Above all though, our poll seems to indicate one thing – in 2009, classic rock still rules!”
ENDS
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