Who's the greatest guitar hero to emerge in the 21st century so far?

It's hard to believe, but we've just about wrapped up the first quarter of the 21st century.

When the clock strikes midnight, we won't be afraid of technical armageddon, but it is a good time to reflect on the last 25 years of music, and of guitar.

Turning back the clock to 2000, YouTube – and the ever-complex guitar culture contained within – didn't exist yet; ditto with social media. Some of the players dominating conversations today weren't even born yet!

In the 25 years since, innumerable sub-genres have come and gone – playing styles went far out of fashion, and became stylish again; sometimes, they went back out of fashion not too far after. Emerging players have tackled all of them and infinitely more between them.

So, that's why we want to ask you, dear readers, who you see as the greatest guitar hero to emerge in the 21st century.

Now, there are no categories for this – whether you selected your candidate based on their speed, sheer technical ability, melodicism, songwriting skills, or even just their showmanship, we want to know!

Show your biases! If you're entirely in the acoustic realm, and have someone who works unplugged miracles in mind, tell us! If you're strictly a metalhead, tell us the biggest game-changer in the land of skulls and crossbones.

So, scroll down to our comments section below and tell us why! We'll be keeping an eye on your responses here at GW.com HQ, and will soon analyze the people's choices, in tandem with our own.