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July 2026

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56 articles

July 16
- “I took John’s advice — which is very stupid of me.” Mick Jagger says John Lennon talked him out of meeting Elvis Presley — and he still regrets it
- “You have an army behind you,” Green Day, Pearl Jam, Garbage and others rally around L7 bassist Jennifer Finch as fund to support her brain cancer fight tops $350,000
- “She plays like Gary Moore. She’s got the vibrato of a 55-year-old man.” How one FaceTime call helped 19-year-old Anna Cara land her Alice Cooper gig
July 15
- “Can we try one without the conga player?” Phil Collins heard one sentence on an old George Harrison tape — and thought he’d solved a 30-year mystery
- “Haven’t you heard? He’s gone.” Jeff Beck on the day he replaced Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds
- “He was buying his grass from him. He said, ‘I know a band that needs a manager!’” Famous shock rocker says one unexpected visitor changed his band’s fortunes overnight
- “I’ve heard it’s responsible for a whole generation being conceived.” Paul Rodgers on Bad Company’s rock anthem that took years — and an entirely new band — to complete
July 14
- “More good days behind her than ahead.” Joan Jett and Garbage rally around L7 bassist Jennifer Finch after she receives brain cancer diagnosis
- “I wasn’t enjoying it anymore.” Peter Frampton on why he quit Humble Pie just as the band was becoming famous — and the band member who helped push him out the door and into his solo career
- “We did our best work with Dave.” Alex Van Halen explains why David Lee Roth was Van Halen’s secret ingredient
- “It was a spiritual download that just flowed through me.” John Lennon played it on repeat. Frank Sinatra called it the best song of the 1970s. How a simple C9 chord inspired a timeless top-10 hit
July 13
- “He was singing like Bob Dylan. And his two guitar players were horrible.” Don Felder on helping out Tom Petty, recording with Joni Mitchell and writing the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ solo with Joe Walsh
- “It just took me back to high school.” Nita Strauss reveals why Smashing Pumpkins’ “1979” made her burst into tears — and how she reinvented it on guitar for the group’s upcoming tribute album
- “I’d join a band with him any day.” George Harrison had no interest in a Beatles reunion — but there was one former bandmate he said he’d happily start a new group with
- “It’s rather unfair for Stevie.” Mick Jagger recalls the onstage pie fight that ended the Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour with Stevie Wonder
July 12
- “When Bob sensed I might refuse to appear, he took the gloves off." For Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and Bob Dylan, Live Aid was a case of bad vibes for a good cause
July 11
- “I went, ‘Jack Nicholson? You know who I am?’ He says, ‘Yeah, Georgie, I always follow the rough boys.’” George Thorogood on his Live Aid performances with Bo Diddley and Albert Collins — and the two actors who made his day
July 10
- “Get that guy who looks like Cleopatra backstage!” When Ron Wood first met Eric Clapton
- Danny Cedrone recorded possibly “the best rock and roll solo of all time” – twice! – but a cruel tragedy meant that he never got to perform it
- “I immediately picked up the guitar and went, ‘Why didn’t I write that?’” Noel Gallagher on the Coldplay song he wishes he’d written
- “Don’t waste hours, weeks, and years trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome. No one’s ever going to want to see you do that!” Joe Satriani on the “small realities” every player needs to hear
- “These are the notes that comprise that marvelous chord.” How one man used math to solve the Beatles’ greatest guitar mystery
- “The time to stop is when you can't do it anymore. There's no passing of the goddamn torch…" Keith Richards: The Guitar Player Interview, 1983
- $99 for full access to Guitar Tricks online lessons is an absolute steal with this Summer Black Friday deal – especially if you’re a beginner
July 9
- “We had to set some boundaries…” Mastodon addresses Brent Hinds’ departure and untimely passing in emotional short film
- “We used to be in the studio all night, trying to make up songs that weren’t written”: The Rolling Stones says they used to labor in the studio, but now they take a “bulldozer approach”
- Guitar Center just slashed up to 25% off high-velocity shred machines, iconic guitar amps, and legendary guitar pedals in this epic sale
- David Bowie's timeless advice for musicians: Step out of your comfort zone
- "Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen are genius guitar players. But I can't relate to it." Neil Young on why guitar virtuosos and music schools doomed the future of rock — and why one note is enough
July 8
- “He’s guitar batman!” Johnny Marr just helped a session ace track down her lost vintage Gretsch
- “Don't expect too much, too fast”: John Mayer's guitar teacher, Tomo Fujita, thinks that always looking to level up your guitar skills is a dangerous game
- “Part of the deal was we couldn’t disturb the penguins.” From Metallica playing in the Antarctic to Van Halen performing in a blizzard — here are the wild stories behind three of rock’s coldest concerts
- "If you want one tube amp that can genuinely do it all, then the Mesa/Boogie Mark VII 1x12 Combo is an investment you won’t regret." We review the Mesa/Boogie Mark VII 1x12 Combo tube amp
- “Duane was sitting on the floor playing slide with this Coricidin bottle. I said, ‘How do you do that?’” Don Felder on the moment Duane Allman showed him how to play slide guitar
- “Maybe I didn't like the strippers enough for his taste…” What happened when Desmond Child was asked to write a song with Van Halen
July 7
- “All the people around him said, ‘Whatever you do, don't ask him to play guitar’!” How Paul Rodgers made Jimmy Page play guitar again after John Bonham’s death
- “Loser gatekeepers want you to believe that you need 20-plus chords in a song. In reality, you need two”: Wet Leg's Rhian Teasdale on why you only need two chords to write a “banging” song
- “I was nervous for about a minute. And then I said, ‘Forget it’” Steve Vai on replacing Eddie Van Halen as David Lee Roth’s guitar foil for ‘Eat ‘Em and Smile’
- The Beatles debuted All You Need Is Love live to an audience of 400 million. Is it any wonder George fluffed his solo?
July 6
- “I don’t want to rage bait, but…” Did the Beatles cause guitar quality to nosedive in the 1970s? This session player thinks so
- “We had to rent these pedals. They turned up and the band realised – they were THEIR pedals…” How Rush were unexpectedly reunited with their old effects pedals for their final albums
- Paul McCartney dusted off a classic Beatles hit for Taylor Swift’s wedding
- "I hit it with a hammer…" How J.J. Cale created one of the craziest guitars you'll ever see
- “We realized we were a better live band than studio outfit. A light bulb finally went off: We need to make a live album.” Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman reveal the complete story behind rock’s definitive live album
July 5
- "I'm known as a chord guy, I guess…" Tim Lerch's chord masterclass: Boost your blues and juice your jazz with his favorite chords
July 4
- “I cried for two years. I blamed myself.” Don McLean on the “unspeakable” death that haunts his iconic hit “American Pie”
July 3
- “I credit Taylor Swift for letting me sing that song with her at Madison Square Garden many years ago.” John Rzeznik says Taylor Swift helped turn Goo Goo Dolls’ ‘Iris’ into a song for a whole new generation
- 10 mega sales in this weekend's massive 4th of July guitar blowout with discounts hitting up to 60% off
- “Why didn’t we put that on a Van Halen record?” Sammy Hagar on the song Eddie Van Halen loved, Alex Van Halen rejected — and later regretted he passed up
July 2
- “The guitar solo was an embarrassing thing to do. Jack White brought it back.” Matt Bellamy on White’s contributions to rock — and their pinch-me moment backstage at Coachella
- “Who’s gonna know if I play on this kid’s record?” Eddie Van Halen explains how he broke a band policy to shred on Michael Jackson’s ”Beat It” — and why he didn’t earn a penny for his iconic guitar solo
- A jaw-dropping $899 off a Gibson Les Paul Modern has just kicked off a wave of 4th of July guitar savings - here are 9 deals on guitars from a genuine Gibson and Epiphone addict
July 1
- “This finger canceled three shows on this tour.” As Rush are forced to reschedule dates on their reunion tour, we recall how Alex Lifeson’s broken finger once stopped the band at a crucial moment in their rise
- He changed electric guitar forever — and did it all in just two-and-a-half years before his death at 25
- “Freddie said, 'No, no, no, no — it's a piano song!’” Freddie Mercury didn’t want a guitar solo. Brian May fought for it — and created one of Queen’s most celebrated moments on record
- “I think of it as maybe the first really heavy guitar riff.” Sean Lennon says his dad deserves more credit for shaping heavy music