Marked by factors of:
Originality; skill; influentiality; genius;
excellence; contribution; output, etc.
Top Guitarists
- Steve Howe
- Alex Lifeson
- Jimi Hendrix RIP
- John McLaughlin
- Robert Fripp
- Jimmy Page
- Frank Zappa RIP
- Steve Hillage
- David Gilmour
- Michael Hedges RIP
- Pat Metheny
- Gary Moore RIP
- Stevie Ray Vaughan RIP
- Robert Smith
- Kaki King
- Huw Lloyd-Langton RIP
- Gordon Giltrap
- Mark Knopfler
- Geordie Walker RIP
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Alan Holdsworth, Vini Reilly, Jan Akkerman, Steve Vai, Tony Iommi,
Steve Hackett, Andy Latimer, Davy Graham, Guthrie Govan, Mick Turner,
Emma Ruth Rundle, James Blackshaw, John McGeoch, John Martyn,
Joe Satriani, Yngwie Malmsteen, Randy Rhoads, Trevor Rabin, Andy Summers,
Al Di Meola, Bert Jansch, Robbie Basho, Martin Barre, Eddie Vedder,
Mike McCready, Keith Levene, Phil Manzanera, Robby Krieger, Duane Allman,
Paco de Lucía, George Harrison, Segovia, Mike Oldfield, Andy Partridge,
Jeff Beck, Erik Mongrain, Ed Wynne, Erik Wøllo, Mick Box, Neil Young,
Glenn Jones, BB King, Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy, Albert King, LeadBelly,
Eddie Van Halen, Richie Blackmore, Alvin Lee, Robert Johnson,
Prince, Pete Townsend, Steven Wilson, Buckethead, Dave Brock, John Williams...
Top Bassists
- Jaco Pastorius RIP
- Stanley Clarke
- Chris Squire RIP
- Geddy Lee
- Tony Levin
- Jean-Jacques Burnell
- Mick Karn RIP
- Mark King
- Flea
- John Giblin RIP
- Les Claypool
- Victor Bailey
- Julie Slick
- Bill Laswell
- Youth (Martyn Glover)
- Bernard Edwards
- Doug Wimbish
- Robbie Shakespeare RIP
- Lemmy RIP
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Percy Jones, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten, Paul McCartney, Pino Palladino,
Gail Ann Dorsey, John Paul Jones, Charles Mingus, Danny Thompson, Alan Davey,
John Entwistle, John McVie, Roger Waters, Tom Griesgraber, Tal Wilkenfeld, Sting,
Bootsy Collins, Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Noel Redding, Jah Wobble, Michael Wadada RIP,
Reginald Arvizu, Dave Pegg, Jez Kerr (ACR), Paul Simenon, Bruce Foxton, Billy Sheehan,
Herbie Flowers RIP, Anna Butterss, Esperanza Spalding, Henry J Osborne, Louis Johnson,
Geezer Butler, Jack Bruce, Billy Cox, John Myung, Peter Hook, Bryan Beller, Guy Pratt.
Top Drummers
- Billy Cobham
- Buddy Rich RIP
- Neil Peart RIP
- Steve Gadd
- Bill Bruford
- John Bonham RIP
- Keith Moon RIP
- Art Blakey RIP
- Cozy Powell RIP
- Michael Shrieve
- Carl Palmer
- Pierre Moerlen RIP
- Ginger Baker RIP
- Sly Dunbar
- Budgie
- Nick Mason
- Paul Ferguson
- Mitch Mitchell RIP
- Phil Collins
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Alan White RIP, Jon Hiseman, Bill Ward, Tristan Fry, Ian Paice, Style Scott RIP,
Stewart Copeland, Pierre van der Linden, Mike Portnoy, Terry Bozzio,
Chris Frantz, Vinnie Colaiuta, Dave Grohl, Bev Bevan, Karen Carpenter RIP,
Danny Carey, Marco Minnemann, Gavin Harrison, Clem Burke, Greg Fox (Liturgy)
Sheila E., Mickey Hart, Roy Haynes, Lars Ulrich, Simon Phillips, Gene Krupa RIP.
Top Keyboard Players
- Richard Wright RIP
- Rick Wakeman
- Keith Emerson RIP
- Tony Banks
- Pete Namlook RIP
- Edgar Froese RIP
- Dave Greenfield RIP
- Claude Debussy RIP
- Sergei Rachmaninov RIP
- Frédéric Chopin RIP
- Klaus Schulze RIP
- Joe Zawinul RIP
- Brian Eno
- Don Airey
- Ray Manzarek RIP
- Miquette Giraudy
- Richard Barbieri
- Gert Emmens
- Jim Kirkwood
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Tony Kaye, Patrick Moraz, Mike Oldfield, Jon Lord, Ken Hensley,
Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Thijs Van Leer, Jan Hammer, Barry Andrews,
Gary Numan, Paul Humphreys, Martyn Ware, Bernd Scholl, Ron Boots, Jordan Rudess,
Evan Bartholomew, Toby Marks, Steve Roach, Robert Fox, Harvey Bainbridge,
Hugh Banton, Tony Gerber, Paul Lawler, Brendan Pollard, Ruud Heij,
Mario Schönwälder, Thomas Fanger, Peter Mergener, Bernd Kistenmacher,
Frank Klare, Paul Nagle, Ian Boddy, Mixmaster Morris, James Lavelle,
Greg Hunter, Daniel Pemberton, Francis Monkman, Eguana (Sergey Severin),
Yann Tiersen, Vladimir Horowitz, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim,
Harold Budd, Tim Story, George Gershwin, Oscar Peterson, Thelonious Monk,
Richard Tandy, Chick Corea, George Duke, Lyle Mays, Art Tatum, Keith Jarrett,
Dieter Moebius, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Ludovico Einaudi, Max Richter,
Constance Demby, Alfred Brendel, Glenn Gould, Claudio Arrau, Lang Lang,
Delia Derbyshire, Pauline Anna Strom, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Mozart, Beethoven, Liszt...
Top Violinists
- Niccolò Paganini RIP
- Yehudi Menuhin RIP
- Jascha Heifetz RIP
- Simon House
- Jean-Luc Ponty
- Fritz Kreidler RIP
- Stéphane Grappelli RIP
- Max Bruch RIP
- Nicola Benedetti
- Itzhak Perlman
- Vanessa-Mae
- Isaac Stern RIP
- L. Shankar
- Mik Kaminski
- Hoshiko Yamane
- Jerry Goodman
- Ida Haendel RIP
- Katie Jacoby
- Sonja Larson (A Whisper In The Noise)
- Nigel Kennedy
- All of the below...
Honorable mentions:
Anne-Sophie Mutter, Hilary Hahn, David Oistrakh, George Enescu, John Cale
(viola),
Nash The Slash, David Rivera, Martie Maguire (Dixie Chicks), Alex DePue,
Jessica Moss, Warren Ellis, Joe Deninzon, Ed Alleyne-Johnson, Mark Wood (Rock Orch.),
Caitlin Papier, Chuck Bontrager, Steve Unruh, Lydia Gentry, Lindsey Stirling,
Mio Okamura, Haylie Ecker & Elspeth Hanson (Bond), Rohan Roy, Eddie Jobson.
Top Cellists
- Jacqueline du Pré RIP
- Yo-Yo Ma
- Mstislav Rostropovich RIP
- Pablo Casals RIP
- Paul Tortelier RIP
- Heinrich Schiff RIP
- Julian Lloyd Webber
- Pierre Fournier RIP
- Sol Gabetta
- David Darling RIP
- Julia Kent
- János Starker RIP
- David Popper RIP
- Zoë Keating
- Steven Isserlis
- Natalia Gutman
- Maya Beiser
- Arthur Russell RIP
- Martin McCarrick
- Alisa Weilerstein
- Henrik Meierkord
- Luka Šulić & Stjepan Hauser (2Cellos)
More to follow...