Why is Jimi Hendrix the best guitar player (according to Rolling Stone)?

Before I begin I understand that this list is not seriously reliable, seeing as Eddie is #70 and it was made to sell magazines. That said, I don't understand why Jimi Hendrix is regarded as THE best guitarist of all time. Of course he played with soul and feeling, but so did many others on and off that list. I'm new to guitar technique and whatnot, but whenever I listen to his music it doesn't seem incredible, but I realize that shredding isn't the only way to make a song difficult. Is there something I'm missing? Was it his ability to play when out of his mind on acid? Someone please explain.

Jimi Hendrix revolutionized the playing of the electric guitar. Before Hendrix, guitarists just strummed the guitar, played the chords, maybe picked out a solo melody. Hendrix got sounds out of the guitar that nobody had ever heard. He was THE innovator. He didn't just accept the guitar method book approach to playing the guitar and approached the instrument as more than just chords and twangy solos. He used the guitar and amplifier together to create even more unique sounds. He was the first to use feedback as a part of his playing. He brought, fuzz and distortion and feedback and reverb into the mainstream of guitar. You want to talk about shredding...Hendrix did it with his teeth.

The entire concept of the killer rock guitar solo started with Jimi Hendrix. True, it would have happened sooner of later, but Hendrix one man that changed the playing of every guitarist that came after him.

I guarantee if you ask Eddie who is the best guitarist of all time, he would say Hendrix and then probably Santana or Eric Clapton and then some old blues players you've never heard of.

Edit= I agree with the other answerer, there is more to music than how many notes you can play in a short time or how loud or "impressive" you can sound. The major part of it is how you and your audience feels about it. I've been to concerts that have been technically perfect...and it was okay. I've also been to concerts that inspired me and took me to a new place. It's those musicians that become legend.

He is no Ingvy Malmstein.

because he is the best guitarist around..

I think that what Jimi Hendrix was doing at the time was considered Revolutinary, when compared to other music of the same era.

Because he's black.

Eddie was #70? OMG

Do you have a link to the list?

I think Hendrix was labeled the greatest because despite the fact that many have surpassed his skill, just the way he played, his stage presence and attitude towards music and life which defied a whole generation was brilliant. Music isn't all about skill on the instrument, it's also about how that music makes the listeners feel.

For the classic rock era, I'd say Hendrix was absolutely the best guitarist. Some of the things he could do were out of this world, and not because he was on an acid trip. For songcrafting on a guitar in that era, I'd have to go with Jimmy Page.

And re the first post, Malmsteen is a great technician imho, which doesn't really make him a great guitarist.

He revolutionized his era. Without him, some of these other newer guitarists may not have been inspired.

Think about guitar playing before him, and then after him. Did it change a bit?

eddie van halen is definitely one of the greatest of all time.and george lynch is a legend,as well.jimi hendrix?sorry.he dont measure up to george or eddie.how about jeff beck?hes one of the best,too,i think.if hendrix was considered talented because he played better while stoned,then,to me,he didnt have real talent.it was the drugs that made him play so well.

It is all about PIONEERING. See my name, I am a huge Hendrix fan, but even I admit looking at talent he is not as good as everyone else. He was a pioneer however. You know how Henry Ford invented the 1st car. Now think about how many people these days can put together a car from scratch, and probably better than Henry Ford could do it. Does this mean Henry Ford is overrated? NO! The fact is he had no blueprint like people have these days. He did it purely on his own without using any info from other people, because there was no info. Same with the Wright brothers, were. How many people can fly a plane better than them these days. However, they were the first to do it. It is the same discussion here. Hendrix is not the best at playing guitar, however who did he have to learn from. People these days have blueprints, things that have already been done that they can copy off of. Hendrix did not.

Well first off Jimi played the guitar backwards without changing the strings to work in conjunction with a left handed person. Second, he couldn't read music, Jimi played the guitar as an autistic person would play an instrument, like a genius. Third, the techniques he used were unconventional in his day, the use of speakers, foot peddles, and the rearranging of electronic all contributed to basically making him a pioneer. Last but not least, did you see the hair? He was a Pimp.........in a good way!

He had fantastic technique, he could do stuff that no other guitarist before or since has been able to imitate. He was a great live performer, improvising endlessly. He had the ability to produce a huge variety of sounds from his guitar. He wrote a lot of original material which is rediscovered by every new generation.

All the great guitarists like Clapton have paid tribute to Hendrix as the greatest of them all.

To quote John B. Sebastian:

"It's like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll."

I have seen many musicians perform live but when I saw Jimi Hendricks play live in front of me only 5 feet away for the first time I was really blown away. In my personal opinion, I would say he was one of the best if not the best guitarist ever to perform in front of a live audience. Jimi, besides being the master technican of the guitar like other people have commented regarding his techniques, he went way beyond the bounds of extreme playing of the guitar. It has nothing to do with the fact he was on drugs performing as that only made playing that more difficult. Jimi was born to play! The chemistry of his music, the style, his showmanship, the speed, the overall sound, the difficulty of his arrangement, all came together in a cohesive package that stands today as a testimony to his greatness as the BEST. The last time I saw him in a live performance I watched him play very close up and was totally amazed at his fantastic abilities to play the guitar. I was in a trance and stunned for hours as his abilities frankly took my breath away. It's too bad you were not there in person to appreciate what this man had to offer the music world. Three weeks later, he passed away from a drug overdose and the music industry had lost another GREAT!

You've probably only been exposed to the mainstream Jimi that was made at the hands of corp. producers, you know every song that came from the band with the two white dudes and Jimi.
Check out Band of Gypsys. Its only a six song cut, but it was the type of music that Jimi Hendrix wanted to play. Listen to it and you will know why Jimi Hendrix is the best of all time.

Because he was amazing.