Jeff Beck was only months away from releasing Flash when he made his second cover appearance on Guitar World. Flash would eventually go on to win Beck a Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental performance, but not before our January issue gave readers a peak into the iconic guitarist's recording process.

Being a true rock 'n' roll journeyman, by 1985 Ron Wood had seen it all. He'd hung around with Hendrix, taken on bass in the Jeff Beck Group and was made an official member of the Rolling Stones nine years earlier. In our March issue, Wood talked about stealing his first bass and how the Jeff Beck Group came to its abrupt end.

Well before "Jump, Jive and Wail" landed him at the forefront of the late '90s swing revival, Brian Setzer's work with the Stray Cats made him an established master of rockabilly guitar. By 1985, however, the Stray Cats were no more, and Setzer was preparing to record his first solo album, The Knife Feels Like Justice.

By 1985, Eddie Van Halen had become a regular staple on the covers of Guitar World. In this, his fourth appearance, Van Halen remarked on his marriage to Valerie Bertinelli, and how he would feel if he had a son or daughter who would one day want to follow in his footsteps.

Guitar World's fifth anniversary issue, and our first posthumous cover artist. It was only a matter of time before Jimi Hendrix would be featured on the cover. That it coincided with the magazine's fifth birthday was apt; a celebratory cover ought to feature the most celebrated guitarist of all time.

In his first cover story with Guitar World, Stevie Ray Vaughan opened up about his tumultuous battle with drugs and alcohol. Vaughan was still fighting an uphill battle at the time, but would be clean and sober by his next cover appearance almost three years later.