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The Latest Breaking News from Guitar Player

“Adam was like, ‘Well, Zakk, for the solo, you should get the Grail and play it on this thing, man”: Why Zakk Wylde brought his “Grail” Les Paul Custom out of retirement for Ozzy Osbourne tribute song

The iconic cream Les Paul Custom with the bulls-eye graphic completed a full circle moment as Wylde salutes his old boss on new Black Label Society album

MusicRadar

“Ace reminded us all that rock should never apologize for being fun and that a little chaos can sound downright heavenly”: The guitar world pays tribute to the late Ace Frehley – the Spaceman who took Kiss into orbit

Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons lead tributes to the Kiss co-founder and larger-than-life former lead guitarist, who has died, aged 74

Guitar World

“Even today, that instrument is fascinating. I’ve passed it around and players of all sorts have all come to the same conclusion – there is something magic in that instrument”: Billy Gibbons on why Pearly Gates is one of the greatest Les Pauls of all time

All Gibson Les Paul Standards from 1959 are special but what is it about the ZZ Top frontman's Pearly Gates that makes it so unique? As Gibbons says, it might be something entirely supernatural

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“I said, ‘That’s my music.’ His manager said, ‘You’re a girl. You don’t have the money to fight this’”: Rita Coolidge alleges she helped write Eric Clapton’s Layla – but never got credit for it

In a resurfaced interview, Coolidge recalls the time she sought a songwriting credit for composing the song’s piano coda – but was rebuffed

Guitar World

“I said to myself, ‘Well, Buddy, you better hang on a little longer. My health ain’t doing too bad, so… I just try to play the best I can”: Buddy Guy says he’s not retiring until the blues gets a higher profile

The 88-year-old blues star says the lack of mainstream platforms for blues concerns him – but his Sinners cameo gives him cause for hope

Guitar World

“I first heard him play via a tear-out flexi-disc that was included in Guitar Player magazine back in 1986. I had never heard anything like that in my life!”: Joe Bonamassa on the influence of the great Eric Johnson

What’s so special about Eric Johnson? “The tone, the technique, everything!” says Joe Bonamassa, and in this video lesson he shows us what he’s taken from the Texan virtuoso

Guitar World

“The importance of one clear voice playing the melodies and solos are things we take seriously”: Joe Satriani reveals how Satch/Vai’s onstage chemistry works – and why sometimes some songs are best left to Steve Vai

Satch says playing with Steve Vai is an opportunity to expand each other's material, but says maintaining one clear voice for melodies and solos is key

Guitar World

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“Derringer's legacy extends beyond his music, entertaining fans with his signature energy and talent”: All American guitar legend Rick Derringer dies, aged 77

He scored a number one hit when he was still a teenager, played with Johnny and Edgar Winter, Steely Dan, KISS, and more. He wrote Hulk Hogan's anthem. Derringer's life was extraordinary

MusicRadar

“This song depicts all of the things Joe and I loved about pounding rock ‘n’ roll and the glorious guitar”: The SatchVai Band's second single is an ode to the instrument that made them famous – and it features Glenn Hughes on vocals

Guitar World and Guitar Player have an exclusive premiere of the '70s-flavored track, which arrives a month and change ahead of the band's first tour

Guitar World

"There had to be some sort of telepathy going on because I've never seen spontaneous inspiration happen at that level”: The genius of Eric Clapton's controversial masterpiece, Layla

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“I heard the Money solo and thought, ‘This is amazing!’ So I sent David a telegram saying, ‘Remember me? I'm in a band now called Roxy Music’”: Phil Manzanera on his friendship with David Gilmour, and the key to the Pink Floyd man's unmistakable tone

The two guitarists have worked on several records together, giving Manzanera the inside baseball of the tricks behind Gilmour's iconic guitar tone

Guitar World

“I met Joe when he was 12. He picked up a vintage guitar in one store and they told him to leave. But someone said, ‘This guy called Norm will let you play his stuff’”: The unlikely rise of Norman’s Rare Guitars and the birth of the vintage guitar market

Just in time for a new Netflix doc, GW sits down with Norman Harris – owner of Tarzana, California’s iconic Norman’s Rare Guitars – to discuss 50 years of sales, his kinship with Joe Bonamassa, and what the future holds for the guitar institution

Guitar World

Celebrated jazz guitarist George Freeman, best known for his work with Charlie Parker and Gene Ammons, has died aged 97

Freeman was a staple of Chicago's jazz music scene – and played with contemporaries including Gene Ammons and Groove Holmes

Guitar World

Was this teenage prodigy the world’s first electric guitar player?

The instrument that defined rock had to start somewhere - and all evidence points towards George Barnes

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Guitar World

“A lot of old-school guitar players can play amazing. But sometimes they’re not so innovative with the actual sound”: Steven Wilson on why guitarists need to switch up their tones to prevent their solos sounding stale

Alongside guitarist Randy McStine, the musical polymath took a tone-first approach to composing – and playing – solos on his new album, The Overview

MusicRadar

“The big lesson... don't be afraid to be simple and awesome... Who cares if it has four or 40,000 notes in it?”: Tom Morello pays his respects to Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads and more in advance of this summer’s big Black Sabbath supergig

And as the event’s musical director and a Sabbath superfan, Morello proves perfectly placed to tease a few behind-the-scenes secrets…

Guitar World

“I take the job of curating this very seriously. Not just to honor the living members of Black Sabbath but also Randy Rhoads”: Tom Morello is honoring one of Ozzy Osbourne’s greatest collaborators at the Sabbath legend’s final show

Osbourne’s last show will take place later this year, and Morello – the event’s musical director – will take the opportunity to pay tribute to one of the finest guitar players of all time

Guitar World

“I turned up at George Martin’s office with a diabolically bad demo – but he could see there was something there”: How Jeff Beck’s Blow by Blow triumphed against the odds to change instrumental guitar forever

50 years on, Blow by Blow remains an inspirational force – a turning point for Beck and guitar-led music in general

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Guitar World

“The solo he takes on that is one of the most perfectly crafted guitar solos ever. He's one of those players you can recognize right away. It's that distinct”: Grace Bowers names her favorite guitar player of all time

Bowers praises this icon's smooth phrasing and tone, which have captured the imagination of many of his successors

Guitar World

“Guitar World was putting together this CD... I thought, ‘Guitar players are gonna try to play the most mind-blowing shredding’… So I did an acoustic piece in DADGAD”: The Cars' Elliot Easton considers this lost gem to be one of his best performances

Walk On Walden stood out in comparison to Easton's previous work with the Cars, and especially in the context of the compilation in question. Not that this was an accident

Guitar World

“It was very simplistic compared to my later compositions”: It may have been inspired by the Kinks, but Al Di Meola's Race with Devil on Spanish Highway is one of the great virtuoso displays in guitar history. Watch the maestro play it with Steve Vai

This intimate rehearsal clip shows the fretwork of both guitar legends up-close

Guitar World

“When we were little kids our dad would say, ‘Get your guitars and play for our guests.’ Someone would always say, ‘Maybe someday you can make a record together’”: Jimmie Vaughan on the only album he and Stevie Ray Vaughan ever made together

In 1990, the Vaughan brothers linked up in the studio to record Family Style, which was released weeks after SRV died

Guitar World

“It was just the best amp that I’d ever had in my collection. And it was so roadworthy. It did all those Led Zeppelin tours, and all the recordings”: Jimmy Page reveals his favorite amp, which did “flippin’ everything” throughout his career

Page’s affinity for his modded Marshall head stood the test of time – so much so that his boutique Sundragon amps are inspired by its unique tone

Guitar World

“When Guitar Player made its debut in 1967, it marked a new era for guitar”: Guitar Player magazine to cease print publication

The world's oldest continuously published magazine devoted to guitarists, guitar gear, and instruction, Guitar Player was instrumental to the careers of Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, and Yngwie Malmsteen, to name just a few examples

Louder

“Grunge? I don’t know too many things where people are praised for having less skill”: The blazing story of Shrapnel Records, the 80s label that gave shred to the world

How guitar shredders Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X, Cacophony and Richie Kotzen turned Shrapnel Records into the fastest label of the 80s

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