Here Are The Guitar Riffs Voted Greatest Of All Time

Here Are The Guitar Riffs Voted Greatest Of All Time
Original Photo Credits: Slash - Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/people/69880995@N04) | Jimmy Page - Dina Regine, CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/divadivadina/463871581/in/faves-24788065@N02/) | Angus Young - Weatherman90 at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 | via Wikimedia Commons

According to a nationwide study in the United Kingdom of 1,500 people by music content and software provider Muse Group, Guns N’ Roses’ 1989 hit “Sweet Child O’ Mine” has been voted as the song containing the greatest guitar riff of all time. The riff originated from a warm-up exercise by guitarist Slash before it developed into the full song. Muse Group’s Jonathan Kehl explained the survey in a statement. “As owners of Ultimate Guitar, we wanted to find out with this research what the nation’s favourite guitar riffs of all time are, and it’s great to see the variety and timelessness of many of the pieces selected. It’s clear that people are genuinely interested in how they can learn these riffs, and why it’s worthwhile picking up an instrument whether it’s for the first time or the 70th time.”

Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger” came in at No. 2. Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust,” which is a bass riff, came in at No. 3. There were some notable omissions including The Beatles and The Clash and some surprises, namely “Sex On Fire” by Kings of Leon, which came it at No. 4 just ahead of Led Zeppelin’s 1971 classic “Stairway To Heaven” and “Beat It” by Michael Jackson from 1982. 

The rest of the top 10 included Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” “Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd,” Eric Clapton’s “Layla” – released under the name Derek and The Dominos – and “Money For Nothing” by Dire Straits. Arctic Monkeys was another surprise in the top 30 with “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor.” And the main hook for Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” a legendary song no doubt, is played on horns, not the guitar. The poll hit on other riff-related topics as well. 96% of people said they can appreciate a good guitar riff even if they aren’t die-hard rock fans. 76% said they wish they could play the guitar whenever they hear a favorite anthem.

Here is the complete list: 
1. Sweet Child O’Mine – Guns N’ Roses
2. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
3. Another One Bites the Dust – Queen
4. Sex on Fire – Kings of Leon
5. Stairway To Heaven – Led Zeppelin
6. Beat It – Michael Jackson
7. Smells like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
8. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
9. Layla – Eric Clapton
10. Money for Nothing – Dire Straits
11. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
12. The Chain – Fleetwood Mac
13. Back In Black – AC/DC
14. Ace of Spades – Motorhead
15. Walk the Way – Aerosmith
16. Smoke On The Water – Deep Purple
17. You Really Got Me – The Kinks
18. The Wall – Pink Floyd
19. Ring of Fire – Johnny Cash
20. I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll – Joan Jett
21. Voodoo Child – Jimi Hendrix
22. Born To Be Wild – Steppenwolf
23. Seven Nation Army – the White Stripes
24. Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No) – the Rolling Stones
25. Come as You Are – Nirvana
26. Whole Lotta Love – Led Zeppelin
27. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor – Arctic Monkeys
28. Message In A Bottle – The Police
29. All Right Now – Free
30. Brown Sugar – the Rolling Stones

B.J. LISKO
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