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February 2025

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27 articles

February 28
- “He was a loose cannon and played too fast. And I didn’t realize how short he was!” Ace Frehley tells us what he thinks of his Kiss replacements Bruce Kulick, Vinnie Vincent and Tommy Thayer
February 22
- "It was very strange for Eric Clapton and me. We went and watched Jimi at about 10 London shows together.” Pete Townshend recalled how Jimi Hendrix led him to write ‘Tommy,’ the Who's 1969 breakthrough
February 21
- “I said, If I don't buy this guitar now, I'll never buy it.” Ana Popovic got her favorite guitar with a box of $20 bills. Years later, it helped her find the strength to survive the worst
February 20
- "It was like the ‘I've seen the light’ church scene in the 'Blues Brothers' movie.” Ronnie Baker Brooks dedicated his life to the blues on behalf of his father, Lonnie Brooks. The connection runs deep on 'Blues in My DNA'
February 19
- "George Lynch, Van Halen and a couple of different people saw me doing it." Harvey Mandel says he wants credit for introducing Eddie Van Halen to two-handed tapping
February 18
- "I picked fire because I liked the Stones song ‘Play with Fire.’ ” Here's everything guitarist Robby Krieger didn't tell Rick Beato about how he wrote the Doors' "Light My Fire"
February 17
- “I said, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this, but that’s a note-for-note guitar solo from the Doors.'” Gene Simmons says Ace Frehley copied a Robby Krieger guitar solo for a classic Kiss song
February 16
- "They launched a revolution that continues to this day." Meet 30 players who tapped, twanged, sweep-picked and shredded the 1980s to its greatest glory
February 15
- "This exceptional new guitarist in John Mayall's band persuaded me to give up playing electric guitar." Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson says Eric Clapton convinced him he had no future as a guitarist
February 14
- "We thought his music was very similar to ours, and we latched on to him amazingly quickly.” Paul McCartney explained how a youthful error led him to write one of his greatest guitar tracks for the Beatles
February 11
- "You bury the pick with your thumb and you have all the room you need." Leslie West revealed the picking techniques that made him a singularly great guitar hero to Eddie Van Halen, Randy Rhoads and Pete Townshend
February 10
- “Think you’ve heard the most jaw-dropping hardcore blues solos of all time? We don’t think so.” Guitar Player presents 50 badass blues guitar solos you must hear
- "He was everything I hoped he would be. I'll never ever forget that.” Alex Lifeson recalls the thrill of meeting his guitar hero, Jimmy Page
February 9
- "This went on for 45 minutes. Not even the bartender was watching us.” Joe Bonamassa says he's played over 3,500 shows. This was his worst
- “The guys had big smiles on their faces, like, ‘What did you do?’“ Elliot Easton talks us through his guitar solos on “My Best Friend’s Girl,” “Just What I Needed” and three other classic cuts
February 8
- “I felt like this band was created for me and for everything I was looking for.” Nels Cline on the Allman Brothers Band, the Byrds, John Coltrane and the 10 albums that changed his life
- "Tommy Bolin's Les Paul had to go. The first black Stratocaster ever made had to go." Joe Bonamassa gives an update on the Nerdville guitars following the L.A. fires and lays out his plans for handling future catastrophes
February 7
- “Stevie had this superstition about numbers.” Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar and amp secrets are revealed in this deep dive into his gear and tone
- “When I saw this 'Let It Be' footage, I noticed how easy it looked to play.” Paul McCartney on why he pulled his Höfner bass out of mothballs after ignoring it for nearly two decades
February 5
- “In my head, I could hear it as a monster.” Tony Iommi on the moment he instantly composed “Iron Man,” calling it one of two Black Sabbath songs he relates to
- “George said, ‘No, I’m playing rhythm. You’re playing lead.’” Peter Frampton recalled the shocking recording session that led him to perform on George Harrison's 'All Things Must Pass'
February 4
- “It started with the lick — just fooling around on the guitar. And I thought, ‘That could turn into a song!’” He kickstarted 1970s power-pop with a Gibson SG, a rented acoustic and a gem of a song that remains a classic
February 3
- "When it comes to playing, if you do it well and keep at it, somebody is going to appreciate it.” B.B. King on the night in 1967 when he jammed with Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix in New York City
- “They said if I told anyone, they would deny it.” Ritchie Blackmore got the loudest amp Marshall ever made. All he had to do was keep two secrets
February 2
- “I can play so funky it bring teardrops to your eyes.” John Lee Hooker told us how the blues is supposed to be played — with each foot tapping to a different beat
February 1
- “John learned upside down too, because of me.” Paul McCartney said necessity made him and John Lennon learn to be ambidextrous guitar players
- “I was trying to figure out what my sound was going to be. I didn’t have an answer until I heard 'Maggot Brain.'” Grace Bowers on Funkadelic, Leslie West and the 10 records that changed her life