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July 2025

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60 articles

July 31
- “I figured we’d see him later on — the next day or whatever.” Zakk Wylde reveals his final message from Ozzy as Pantera cancel tour dates to grieve
- “That's my go-to instrument as far as guitars are concerned.” Jeff “Skunk” Baxter on the hidden charms of modern guitars — and how a Squier Tele beat out a bazillion-dollar model from 1958
- “All through our career, every time we would play that song, I would feel that rush of adrenaline, as if it was the first time I heard it.” Mike Campbell on the Tom Petty song that stunned him at every performance
July 30
- “He would play the part with all these nuances and squeals. On its own, it was perfect.” Why didn't Eddie Van Halen double-track his guitars? Recording engineer Ross Hogarth explains how he worked with the virtuoso
- “He’s pushing up the guitar more and more, and I’m going, ‘Freddie, are you not overdoing it?’” Brian May on why one of Queen’s most triumphant tracks didn’t need a guitar solo
July 29
- “Take them all together and they're not exactly a cheery bunch of songs.” How Elvis Costello helped Paul McCartney find his inner darkness in a decade of mediocrity
- “I have none of the high technical skill of a Steve Vai or a Joe Satriani.” Brian May says he can’t compete with the world’s best shredders, but his alternative approach means he doesn’t have to
July 28
- “Should anybody be interested…” Noel Gallagher shares photo of his pedalboard for the Oasis reunion tour. These are the rare ones
- “We think he held out to do that show. After he said goodbye to the fans, that was the end of it.” Tony Iommi says Ozzy knew Back to the Beginning would be the last thing he ever did
July 25
- “Page must be mental giving away such a terrific guitar as this!” Jimmy Page gave away a guitar in 1974. Now it may fetch thousands at auction
July 24
- “My hand would stay numb until soundcheck. It was scary.” Playing King Crimson's strenuous guitar parts left Adrian Belew in need of surgery. Steve Vai came to his rescue
- “When I first met Paul McCartney, it was like meeting Jesus Christ.” Ozzy Osbourne had three words to say about John Lennon and Paul McCartney's life-saving impact on him
- “This was a text I got from him as I was sitting in an airport headed back home two weeks ago.” Jake E. Lee shares Ozzy’s final words to him and reflects on his difficult road to recovery after being shot
- “I played 'Mama I'm Coming Home' while he sat about 10 feet away from a very loud amp.” Slash guitarist shares the letter Ozzy Osbourne sent him after his failed guitar audition
- “A solo is to highlight the song, not to show off.” Eddie Van Halen's comments against shredding come to light in a previously unheard interview
July 23
- "We say goodbye to a great musician and composer whose work extended beyond Golden Earring.” George Kooymans, guitarist behind the hit "Radar Love," has died
- “If you're into heavy metal, that's your father!” Zakk Wylde and Gus G. on Ozzy Osbourne, the fatherly band leader who turned unknown guitar players into world-class shredders
- Win tickets to see Buddy Guy, with Taj Farrant, at Guitar Player Presents in Saratoga, California
July 22
- Ozzy Osbourne RIP: The heavy-metal legend dies weeks after Black Sabbath performs its final show
- “I always felt there was something a little hollow about it.” Keith Richards on Jimmy Page and the one thing the Rolling Stones guitarist said kept Led Zeppelin from taking flight
- “I'm either wishing I had this back in the White Stripes, or I am glad I didn’t.” Jack White introduces his weirdest guitar yet, created by Eddie Van Halen's luthier
July 18
- “I really enjoyed playing ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps.’ But our styles were so different.” Robben Ford on what went wrong with George Harrison's first tour after the Beatles’ breakup
- “I realized I had something very exciting on my hands. I wasn’t expecting it at all.” Dad unknowingly buys John Lennon’s “White Album” combo for about $4,000
July 17
- “Here was the strategy: Keep Ozzy moving. Do not cancel the tour.” Rudy Sarzo says Ozzy Osbourne would have died if they didn’t carry on after Randy Rhoads' death
- “There was silence. Jack said, ‘How much do you know?’” Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker wanted to keep Cream a secret. A record project nearly blew their cover
July 16
- “Respect was a huge thing. If you disrespected him, he held onto that for a very long time.” Eddie Van Halen was "a pretty complex person" says his longtime friend and biographer
- “Working in a vintage guitar shop, you get disillusioned about the price of these things and what they sound like.” Joe Satriani doesn’t buy the vintage guitar hype. He reveals the moment he knew classic axes aren’t what they're cracked up to be
- “I can't find any reason to be too serious about anything.” Robert Plant covers classic blues and modern indie on his upcoming album with his new band. Hear a preview from ‘Saving Grace’
July 15
- “I said, ‘I can’t take this, Tony.’ And he said, ‘Hell, take it; I don’t want the damn thing.’” Mark Knopfler on the guitar he is “never without” — and the rock legend who gave it to him
- “Keep doing what you’re doing and divide by two.” Joe Bonamassa on the playing advice he got from Leslie West 30 years ago — and how it's elevated his live performances
July 14
- "He caught a ball and some guy gave him a touch right into a curb.” Richie Sambora is recovering from a “gruesome” injury that required surgery to the former Bon Jovi guitarist's hand
- “Getting excited about the possibility of a new album is somewhat premature.” Robert Fripp and King Crimson are in the studio, but who knows what they're doing — and if we'll ever hear it
July 13
- “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 12
- “Josh is very critical of guitar things.” Greta Van Fleet’s Jake Kiszka says some of the riffs his brother rejected are getting a new life with his band Mirador
July 11
- "I was angry. All the work we'd put in and he just stepped out the back door?” Scott Gorham on Gary Moore's third and final run that left Thin Lizzy rudderless in the middle of a tour
- “He is mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met’s collection.” Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page played this stolen 1959 Les Paul. Now it’s turned up in the collection of a famous museum
July 10
- “I don't think Jimi Hendrix was a guitarist. Eric Clapton is excessively tedious.” Robert Fripp on his 1960s contemporaries — and the one guitarist he thought was fun
- “I had this reverence for Duane Allman’s playing — but I wanted to make it my own as well.” Warren Haynes on the advice Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman gave him when he joined the Allman Brothers Band
- Swore you'll never shop guitar gear on Amazon? With hundreds of dollars slashed off Fender, Gretsch, and Epiphone in Guitar Center's anti-Prime Day sale, you don't need to
July 9
- “We want to be recognized as guitar heroes.” Wet Leg are post-punk's hottest ticket right now. Here's why
- “As we speak, we're doing a King Crimson studio album.” Jakko Jakszyk confirms he's working on a new King Crimson album with Robert Fripp
- You only have until the end of the day to save big on Boss gear at Amazon this Prime Day – plus 4 famous guitarists who would advise you to snap up the Boss DS-1 distortion pedal right away
- “You can play these riffs on one string, that's how iconic they are.” Zakk Wylde on Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Jimmy Page and the five greatest riffs in rock history
July 8
- “We were doing ‘War Pigs’ and Ozzy forgot the words. He started singing ‘Old MacDonald Had a Farm.’” Jake E. Lee shares his craziest Ozzy Osbourne story and reflects on the guitar genius of Tony Iommi
- “If you’re the one who wrote the songs, you’re kind of allowed to be crap.” Mark Knopfler says it's “awkward” to be called a guitar god and tells who deserves the title
- One of my favorite sub-$500 guitars just dropped to an even sweeter price with $136 off – here’s why I think it's the ultimate affordable workhorse
- Don't miss out! Amazon has slashed Squier Debut Strats and Teles, starting at only $110 for Prime Day - but the deal is ending tonight
- “I was five years old and I was obsessed with Slash.” 10-year-old shredder Bay Melnick Virgolino blows away America’s Got Talent judges and audience with spot-on cover of Lenny Kravitz's “Are You Gonna Go My Way”
July 7
- "He was full of Glen already. And that’s his normal, everyday dress — glam." The reunited Alice Cooper group needed a guitarist as unique as the late Glen Buxton. They found him in Gyasi
July 5
- "He was rock and roll to the roots." Dave Davies names the guitarist who defined rock in the 1970s, and picks the song that proves it
- “Was it worth the 40,000 pounds you paid for the ticket?” Liam and Noel Gallagher bring Oasis back with a blast of their greatest hits — and not a punch thrown between them
July 4
- “If it sounds amazing, and the only difference is Ozzy is sitting down, why not?” Zakk Wylde has an idea for how Black Sabbath can carry on after Back to the Beginning
July 3
- “I feel a bit exposed talking about it now. That song brought me to tears.” Pete Townshend on the Oasis song that made him weep
July 2
- “It was under a staircase for 50 years.” The owners didn't know what they had, but this 1960 Les Paul is now one of Joe Bonamassa's favorites
- “You can tell by the way we played songs like ‘Roxanne’” Andy Summers on why Eric Clapton bored him and how his love of jazz fueled the Police
- “Her dress tail hit the G string, and it just stayed there with distortion for about 20 minutes.” Buddy Guy reveals the happy accident that taught him about guitar feedback
- Liam Gallagher responds to Green Day fan being kicked offstage for playing the Oasis hit "Wonderwall" — and it’s wonderful
July 1
- “I said, 'If you don’t like what we do, I’ll just destroy it in front of you.'" Eddie Van Halen shot down a film soundtrack near the end of his life, saying he hadn't been playing much
- “I know there's gotta be at least another Aerosmith gig.” Joe Perry says the Boston rockers aren’t finished yet
- I've covered every major guitar sale this year, and Sweetwater’s 4th of July event just blew them all out of the water with $800 off a Gibson, $900 off a Martin, and $1,200 off a crazy synth guitar