50 Fun Facts About Famous Guitarists

Which Queen guitarist earned a PhD in astrophysics in 2007 for research he had begun back in 1971?

Brian May studied the light reflected by dust in the Solar System at Imperial College London. His guitar, the Red Special, was built with wood from an 18th-century fireplace.

Which Black Sabbath guitarist lost two fingertips in a sheet metal factory and played on with homemade thimbles?

Tony Iommi was 17 and on his last day at the factory when the accident happened. He melted down a washing-up liquid bottle to shape the plastic tips.

Which guitarist, a Woodstock headliner in 1969, had trained as a paratrooper in the US Army's 101st Airborne?

Jimi Hendrix enlisted in 1961 when given the choice between the Army and prison, and was discharged the following year.

Which guitarist played the solo on Michael Jackson's Beat It as an unpaid favor?

Eddie Van Halen recorded the solo for the Thriller album in 1982 and never expected payment. Thriller went on to become the biggest-selling album of all time.

Which Rolling Stones guitarist says the fuzz-drenched riff of Satisfaction came to him in his sleep?

Keith Richards woke just long enough to record it on a cassette player by his bed. The 1965 single became the band's first international number one.

Which member of the Grateful Dead had a Vermont ice cream maker dedicate a flavor to him in 1987?

Jerry Garcia inspired Cherry Garcia, the first ice cream flavor dedicated to a musician. The lead guitarist had lost most of a finger at age four in a wood-splitting accident.

Which Guns N' Roses guitarist, known for his top hat, was born Saul Hudson in London?

Slash was raised in Stoke-on-Trent until he was six, then moved to Los Angeles. He shoplifted a black felt top hat from a Melrose Avenue store before a 1985 show.

Which British guitarist, the frontman of Dire Straits, has a Madagascan dinosaur named after him?

Mark Knopfler gave his name to Masiakasaurus knopfleri because his music inspired the expedition crew. Before fame he spent three years as a college lecturer.

Which rock and roll pioneer's Johnny B. Goode is the only rock song aboard the Voyager Golden Record?

Chuck Berry's song left Earth in 1977 on both Voyager spacecraft, sharing the disc with Bach, Mozart and Beethoven.

Which guitarist from Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band played mobster Silvio Dante on The Sopranos?

Steven Van Zandt had never acted before and first auditioned to play Tony Soprano. He later starred in Lilyhammer.

Which guitarist entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: with the Yardbirds, with Cream and as a solo act?

Eric Clapton got his nickname, Slowhand, as a pun on the slow handclapping that broke out whenever he stopped a show to replace a string.

Which hard rock guitarist wears a schoolboy uniform on stage, an idea suggested by his sister Margaret?

Angus Young of AC/DC tried dressing as Spider-Man, Zorro and a gorilla before settling on the look. When the first outfit fell apart, he wore his real one from a Sydney high school.

Which Led Zeppelin guitarist played his guitar with a cello bow and once owned Aleister Crowley's old house?

Jimmy Page developed the bow technique in his days as a London session guitarist. He owned Boleskine House, the occultist's former home, from the early 1970s to the early 1990s.

Which guitarist's Latin rock band played Woodstock in 1969 before its debut album had even been released?

Carlos Santana was born in Autlán de Navarro, Mexico, and grew up in Tijuana. Promoter Bill Graham, a fan from the start, arranged the festival slot.

Which former Beatle organised the 1971 Concert for Bangladesh with sitar player Ravi Shankar?

George Harrison staged the pair of benefit shows at Madison Square Garden after Shankar told him of the crisis in his homeland.

Which blues guitarist ran back into a burning Arkansas dance hall to rescue his guitar, then named it Lucille?

B.B. King chose the name after learning that the two men whose brawl started the fire were fighting over a woman called Lucille. He presented one of his Lucilles to the Pope in 1997.

Which member of U2, born David Evans in Essex, built his chiming guitar sound on rhythmic delay?

The Edge was given his name by members of Lypton Village, a surrealist street gang that his bandmate Bono belonged to.

Which guitarist played through a downpour on a stage shaped like his own symbol at Super Bowl XLI?

Prince is said to have asked whether the show-runners could make it rain harder. It was the first time rain had fallen on a Super Bowl halftime show.

Guitarist Joe Perry and singer Steven Tyler were nicknamed the Toxic Twins in which American rock band?

Aerosmith's songwriting pair earned the name for their drug use on and off the stage. The group itself is sometimes called the Bad Boys from Boston.

Which guitarist co-founded the Runaways as a teenager and later topped the US chart with I Love Rock 'n Roll?

Joan Jett and her band the Blackhearts scored the hit with a cover of a song by the group Arrows. Her version entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2016.

Which Pink Floyd guitarist paid for a teenage Kate Bush's early recordings and helped her find a record contract?

David Gilmour was handed her demo tape by a friend of both families in the 1970s. In 1987 he played guitar on stage for her performance of Running Up That Hill.

Which guitar pioneer had a shattered arm set at an angle after a 1948 car crash in order to keep playing?

Les Paul was told by doctors that his elbow could not be rebuilt, so the arm was fixed at just over 90 degrees to cradle a guitar. He had crashed on an icy Route 66 in Oklahoma.

Which Detroit guitarist, once an upholstery apprentice, plays the riff of the sporting anthem Seven Nation Army?

Jack White began a three-year apprenticeship at 15 and even made a record with his teacher as the Upholsterers. The single won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Rock Song.

Which Rage Against the Machine guitarist holds a social studies degree from Harvard University?

Tom Morello enrolled in 1982 and later said that when he graduated and moved to Hollywood he was unemployable.

Which guitarist of the Who began smashing guitars after accidentally cracking one on a low pub ceiling in 1964?

Pete Townshend broke the head off his guitar at the Railway Hotel in Wealdstone, and the crowd's excitement made destruction part of the act. His windmill arm swing became another trademark.

Which blues guitarist played on David Bowie's Let's Dance album and died in a 1990 helicopter crash?

Stevie Ray Vaughan was killed with four others after a show with his band Double Trouble at Alpine Valley, Wisconsin. Bowie had met him after a performance at Montreux.

Which Delta blues guitarist, according to legend, sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads?

Robert Johnson made only two recording sessions, in 1936 and 1937, which produced the 29 songs of his entire catalogue. He died at 27 of unknown causes.

Which country guitarist and singer was born in Whangārei, New Zealand, and raised in Australia?

Keith Urban moved to Queensland, Australia, at the age of two. He later settled in Nashville, where But for the Grace of God became his first US country number one.

Which Oasis guitarist and songwriter worked as a roadie for Inspiral Carpets before joining his brother's band?

Noel Gallagher took up the guitar at twelve and joined the Inspiral Carpets crew at 21, after meeting their guitarist at a Stone Roses show.

Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers became the three-guitar line-up of which British heavy metal band in 1999?

Iron Maiden gained a third guitarist in 1999, when Smith rejoined and his replacement Gers stayed on. The trio is nicknamed the Three Amigos.

Which jazz guitarist relearned to play with only two working fingers after a 1928 caravan fire?

Django Reinhardt suffered burns over half his body, and the ring and little fingers of his left hand were badly damaged. He kept those two for chord work only.

Which guitarist was put on a Greyhound bus home by Metallica in 1983 and went on to found Megadeth?

Dave Mustaine was ejected just after the band had driven to New York to record its debut album, Kill 'Em All. His drinking and clashes with the founders were blamed.

Which James Gang guitarist joined the Eagles in 1975 and shared the closing guitar duel of Hotel California?

Joe Walsh made Hotel California his first album with the group. In 1998, readers of Guitarist magazine voted the solos he traded with Don Felder on its title track the best ever.

Which guitarist joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and persuaded the band to hire his partner Stevie Nicks too?

Lindsey Buckingham arrived as the replacement for Bob Welch and is known for his fingerpicking style. He and Nicks had earlier played together in a band called Fritz.

Which bearded ZZ Top guitarist named his favourite guitar Pearly Gates after the car whose sale paid for it?

Billy Gibbons took the name from the car itself, a rolling wreck that was dangerous to drive. He and bassist Dusty Hill adopted matching chest-length beards in 1979.

Which English guitarist made the talk box famous on his 1976 live album, that year's bestseller in the US?

Peter Frampton was introduced to the effect by Pete Drake during a 1970 session at Abbey Road Studios. The album, Frampton Comes Alive!, has been certified eight times platinum.

Which session guitarist filled in for Brian Wilson on Beach Boys tours before finding fame as a country star?

Glen Campbell played bass and sang falsetto harmonies on those tours from December 1964 to May 1965. As a studio player he also recorded with Frank Sinatra and the Monkees.

Guitarists Gary Rossington and Allen Collins helped found which Southern rock band, famous for Free Bird?

Lynyrd Skynyrd took its name partly as a mocking tribute to Leonard Skinner, a P.E. teacher at the members' high school.

Which Ozzy Osbourne guitarist, formerly of Quiet Riot, died in a 1982 plane crash while on tour in Florida?

Randy Rhoads helped popularize two-handed tapping and dive bombs in heavy metal. At Quiet Riot shows, fans turned up in polka dots to copy the vests and bow ties he wore on stage.

Which British guitarist was promised the song Superstition by Stevie Wonder in return for playing on Talking Book?

Jeff Beck came up with the opening drum beat between sessions, and Wonder told him to keep playing while he improvised over the top of it.

Which surf guitar pioneer saw his career revived when Quentin Tarantino used his Misirlou in Pulp Fiction?

Dick Dale, known as the King of the Surf Guitar, won a new audience through the film and toured the world in the 1990s. His father was of Lebanese descent.

Which fingerpicking guitarist, nicknamed Mister Guitar, helped create the Nashville sound as a record producer?

Chet Atkins, also called the Country Gentleman, shaped a pop-friendly style that Rolling Stone said rescued country music from a commercial slump.

Which one-time Frank Zappa transcriber played the devil's guitarist in the 1986 film Crossroads?

Steve Vai began working for Zappa while still a student at Berklee, then moved to California to record and tour with him.

Which Chic co-founder plays guitar on Daft Punk's Get Lucky and produced David Bowie's album Let's Dance?

Nile Rodgers also produced Madonna's Like a Virgin and Duran Duran's The Reflex. In his youth he was a subsection leader in the New York Black Panther Party.

Which Spanish classical guitarist, largely self-taught, was ennobled as the first Marquis of Salobreña?

Andrés Segovia said he had no taste for flamenco and chose classical composers instead. Many professional classical guitarists were his students, or students of his students.

Which electric guitarist and singer, a recording star of the 1930s and 1940s, is called the Godmother of Rock and Roll?

Sister Rosetta Tharpe mixed spiritual lyrics with electric guitar, and became the first great recording star of gospel music.

Which member of the Kinks slit his amplifier's speaker cone with a razor blade to distort You Really Got Me?

Dave Davies ran the damaged Elpico amplifier through a larger Vox to get the sound. He and his brother had worked out the hit's two-chord riff on the piano in the front room.

Which slide guitarist formed a Southern rock band with his brother Gregg and died in a 1971 motorcycle crash?

Duane Allman was only 24, and is best remembered for his expressive slide playing. He also played on Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, the only studio album by Derek and the Dominos.

Which left-handed folk guitarist played a right-handed guitar upside down and wrote Freight Train as a child?

Elizabeth Cotten was discovered by the folk-singing Seeger family while working as their housekeeper. She won a Grammy for a live album in her nineties.

Which guitarist formed the Blue Moon Boys in 1954 and backed Elvis Presley on stage and in the studio until 1968?

Scotty Moore played on That's All Right, the 1954 Sun session that became the first Presley hit. He had served in the US Navy in China and Korea from 1948 to 1952.