An Independence Day parade of eight solo-guitar versions of the National Anthem by Slash, Steve Vai, Dave Mustaine, Zakk Wylde, Stevie Ray Vaughan and more.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

In honor of today's holiday, I originally -- and simply -- wanted to share a video of Ted Nugent performing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in May at the Iridium Jazz Club in New York City.

After all, I was at that show, and I figured it would be a clever way of letting you know that there's a Ted Nugent/Iridium feature coming up in the September issue of Guitar World magazine.

But then I noticed Steve Vai's particularly awesome version of the song ... and Zakk Wylde's great version ... and Eric Johnson's version -- and then I found versions by Slash and Dave Mustaine ... and I felt compelled to see if Stevie Ray Vaughan ever had a crack at it (He did, and he used a slide!) -- and of course, there's the granddaddy of them all, Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock.

So I figured the more, the merrier! I could've kept on going (There's always Cliff Burton's version, and a commenter just mentioned Neal Schon), but I think eight versions of the same song pretty much gets the point across, and this represents a nice mix of styles.

Feel free to compare and contrast!

Happy holiday!

TED NUGENT

STEVE VAI

ZAKK WYLDE

SLASH

DAVE MUSTAINE

ERIC JOHNSON

STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN NOTE: This one needs to be edited!

JIMI HENDRIX

Surf/rockabilly/blues/rock guitarist Damian Fanelli is the online managing editor at Guitar World. He's in two bands that have performed around the country and in England, Mister Neutron and The Blue Meanies. He's a former member of the Brooklyn-based Gas House Gorillas, he's played on sessions and soundtracks in New York and Los Angeles, and he's tired of eating apples.

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