The Best Pop Guitarists Of All Time Ranked

Pop music is more conservative than other music genres such as folk, blues, country, and tradition. Many pop songs do not contain themes of resistance, opposition, or political themes, rather focusing more on love and relationships. Therefore, pop music does not challenge its audiences socially, and does not cause political activism. Frith also said the main purpose of pop music is to create revenue. It is not a medium of free articulation of the people. Instead, pop music seeks to supply the nature of personal desire and achieve the instant empathy with cliche personalities, stereotypes, and melodrama that appeals to listeners. It is mostly about how much revenue pop music makes for record companies. Music scholar Timothy Warner said pop music typically has an emphasis on recording, production, and technology, rather than live performance; a tendency to reflect existing trends rather than progressive developments; and seeks to encourage dancing or uses dance-oriented rhythms. Here are all of the Best Pop Guitarists of all time ranked.

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10. Evan Taubenfeld

“Evan David Taubenfeld is an American singer and musician, best known for being Avril Lavigne’s lead guitarist, music director and frequent collaborator. Taubenfeld presently runs Crush Music Publishing, a music publishing joint venture between Songs Publishing and Crush Management.”

9. Yola

“If an artist can capture the 80s vibe and perform a song with passion like Yola, then they’re already a success. She hits all the right notes and it’s a guaranteed repeat song. She makes me cry. It’s so hard to listen without her voice and lyrics killing my insides. She is pure gold.”

8. Tom Misch

“You know that feeling you get when you like a song cover better than the original? Yeah, that just happened. I just heard him for the first time. It is utterly brilliant. This man has soul in his veins. He is one gifted musician. I love his sounds!!

7. Steve Cropper

“The Stax Records icon gave us his first solo album in 10 years in the form of the Grammy-nominated Fire It Up. Cropper argues its his first ‘proper’ solo effort since 1969, but regardless, it is a rare outing in the spotlight for the legendary guitarist and writer. There’s no self-indulgent solo spots on it, though – just soulful turns and a supremely melodic ear. A masterclass in, well, class.”

6. St. Vincent

“She’s definitely bringing back the 70s and I think a lot of other artists are about to follow suit. The reason why is because the 60s were euphoric but then the 70s came and people disillusioned and turned to substances and glam as a means to escape.”

5. Carlos Santana

“Santana returned in 2021 with Blessings And Miracles. The spiritual bedfellow to 1999’s mega-hit Supernatural, it features a star-studded line-up of collaborators (including Smooth vocalist Rob Thomas, Chick Corea and Chris Stapleton) but most of them were recorded remotely, making it a very 2021-flavoured sequel.”

4. Nile Rodgers

“The legendary hitmaker dedicated much of 2021 to collaborations, working with The Ramona Flowers, Jack Savoretti, Steven Wilson and UK saxophonist Alex Bone. He even recorded a six-track ‘bedtime’ tale on Apple Music, A Story For Sleep, presented in spatial audio. He remains, as ever, at the forefront of everything.”

3. Cory Wong

“I think the fact that Cory is able to attract so many incredible musicians to play with him, do podcasts with him, make shows with him, etc really speaks to what a wonderful person he is. He seems genuinely fun to be around on top of being an incredible collaborator”

2. John Mayer

“What I love about John is that everyday and every year, he just keeps moving forward like a train. He’s been producing music for years and never seems like he wants to stop. He learns from mistakes and keeps going forward a more improved musician.”

1. Chris Buck

“Chris’ guitar skills are inspiring, vocals are warm and inviting, songwriting is heartfelt, keys player was killing it too. Chris showing how to be a talented guitarist who serves the song. Gorgeous and inspiring. He has tremendous control and feel of his dynamics on the fretboard.”