50 Best Rock Songs About Guitars
Guitar Anthems That Still Sting and Shine
There’s something wild about how a guitar can take over a song. One second it’s background noise, the next it’s the whole reason the room changes. The hum, the bite, the squeal that cuts right through everything—it’s chaos with a heartbeat. These tracks capture that pull. The kind of songs that make you reach for air guitar before you even realize it. Some might not mention guitars outright, but the energy hits like six strings plugged straight into a wall socket. They remind you why so many pop, rock, country, and R&B songs keep circling back to the same instrument that built half of music’s mythology.
You can almost picture it. A dim stage, bad lighting, someone hunched over an amp twisting knobs until the sound hits right. Then that first riff lands and the crowd locks in. It’s swagger without saying a word. A guitar solo can sound like a confession or a dare depending on how the player holds the note. Sometimes it’s messy, feedback bleeding into the mic, but that’s the charm—it’s human. It’s the noise you make when you’ve got something to prove and no clean way to say it.
These songs live where that tension breathes loud. Some sound like open-road freedom, others feel like a room closing in. But they all chase that same spark that made every kid want to pick up a beat-up Strat and figure out three chords. The sweat, the distortion, the way a riff can carry an entire story without a single lyric. These are the best rock songs that worship at the altar of the guitar.
Top 10 Guitar Rock Songs
1. 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' by The Beatles
2. 'Perfectly Good Guitar' by John Hiatt
3. 'Sultans of Swing' by Dire Straits
4. 'Johnny B. Goode' by Chuck Berry
5. 'My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama' by The Mothers of Invention
6. 'Electric Guitar' by Talking Heads
7. 'Words and Guitar' by Sleater-Kinney
8. 'Juke Box Hero' by Foreigner
9. 'Guitar Town' by Steve Earle
10. 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple
Rock Guitar Masterpiece Songs #11 to 20
11. 'Little Guitars' by Van Halen
12. 'The Guitar Man' by Bread
13. 'Guitar Heroes' by Richard Thompson
14. 'Tennessee Flat Top Box' by Johnny Cash
15. 'This Guitar (Can't Keep From Crying)' by George Harrison
16. 'Six Strings That Drew Blood' by The Birthday Party
17. 'Voodoo Child (Slight Return)' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
18. 'Free Bird' by Lynyrd Skynyrd
19. 'Layla' by Derek and the Dominos
20. 'Anyone Can Play Guitar' by Radiohead
Essential Rock Songs for Guitarists #21 to 30
21. 'Blackbird' by The Beatles
22. 'Cult of Personality' by Living Colour
23. 'Whole Lotta Love' by Led Zeppelin
24. 'Iron Man' by Black Sabbath
25. 'Sweet Child O' Mine' by Guns N' Roses
26. 'You Really Got Me' by The Kinks
27. 'Purple Haze' by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
28. '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones
29. 'Sunshine of Your Love' by Cream
30. 'Hotel California' by Eagles
Best Rock Songs Showcasing Guitar Work #31 to 40
31. 'Comfortably Numb' by Pink Floyd
32. 'Back in Black' by AC/DC
33. 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' by Nirvana
34. 'The Boys Are Back in Town' by Thin Lizzy
35. 'Runnin' Down A Dream' by Tom Petty
36. 'Pride and Joy' by Stevie Ray Vaughan
37. 'Walk Don't Run' by The Ventures
38. 'Highway Star' by Deep Purple
39. 'Chunky Chunky Air Guitar' by Skyhooks
40. 'School Days' by Chuck Berry
High Impact Rock Guitar Songs #41 to 50
41. 'Detroit Rock City' by Kiss
42. 'Communication Breakdown' by Led Zeppelin
43. 'Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love' by Van Halen
44. 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC
45. 'Crazy On You' by Heart
46. 'Dream On' by Aerosmith
47. 'The Trooper' by Iron Maiden
48. 'Nothing Else Matters' by Metallica
49. 'This Old Guitar' by John Denver
50. 'United Breaks Guitars' by Sons of Maxwell
© 2025 Carson McQueen
