Latest articles by Jackson Maxwell
June 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
There's been plenty of heat this month, and not just the temperature outside. Check out some of that six-string (and seven-string... and eight-string) fire from Muse, Rafiq Bhatia, Eric Gales & Buddy Guy, Wunderhorse, Haim, and many, many more
Can't Get Enough was Bad Company's breakout smash, and its harmonized leads were perfect for the era
Keyed in by their mentors-of-sorts, Led Zeppelin, Mick Ralphs and co recorded their enormously successful debut album at the legendary Headley Grange house, which certainly provided a certain vibe to the proceedings...
Nile Rodgers on overseeing Stevie Ray Vaughan's final recording session
Having first met the Lone Star State guitar king during the sessions for David Bowie's 1983 blockbuster Let's Dance, Rodgers later produced Family Style, Stevie Ray's posthumously released collaboration with his brother, Jimmie
Mick Ralphs, guitarist and co-founder of Mott The Hoople and Bad Company, has died at 81
Ralphs' bandmate, Bad Company frontman Paul Rodgers, led tributes to the guitar great
Brian Wilson, creative leader of the Beach Boys and transformative figure in pop music, dies at 82
Having gone from writing surf-rock to remarkably complex and intricate masterpieces in just a few years as the Beach Boys' principal songwriter and musical director, Wilson in many ways defined the development of popular music in the 1960s
Sly Stone, restlessly creative giant of funk who led Sly and the Family Stone, dies at 82
The visionary multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter had been battling COPD, according to his family
May 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
It's been another incredible month for new guitar-driven music – our favorites include a 12-minute funk/soul/country blowout from U.S. Girls, twisty greatness from Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, and Tony Iommi's collaboration with... Robbie Williams?
The SatchVai Band's new single is an ode to the instrument that made them famous – and it features Glenn Hughes on vocals
Guitar World and Guitar Player have an exclusive premiere of the '70s-flavored track, which arrives a month and change ahead of the band's first tour
April 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
From Turnstile’s transformation from hardcore caterpillar to psychedelic New Wave butterfly, to a show-stopping Joanne Shaw Taylor solo, an emo slam dunk from Slow Joy, and a slice of acoustic wizardry from Salif Keita, this month had a bounty of guitar brilliance
“He said, ‘I've never heard it played that good’”: When Roy Clark met his guitar hero
Speaking to Guitar World in 1984, Clark painted a picture of a master musician who nonetheless remained incredibly humble despite his success, and the massive shadow he cast over country (not to mention folk and bluegrass) guitar playing
Leonard Chess asked Muddy Waters to bring him an old acoustic bluesman. He brought him Buddy Guy
Knowing his Mississippi roots, Chess essentially wanted Waters to find for him his own Robert Johnson. Waters had other ideas
Assembled on 24 hours' notice, this John Lennon-led supergroup marked the beginning of the end of the Beatles
Though the band's set at the 1969 Toronto Rock and Roll Revival was ragged, it confirmed in stone a hugely consequential decision Lennon had made just before the festival
One of Davey Johnstone's favorite guitars was once a piece of upscale decor for his superstar bandmate
Johnstone did end up with the '50s-era beauty in the end, though not for a happy reason
How Dick Dale made the Stratocaster the ultimate surf-rock weapon
The surf guitar king was not only a Fender man to his bones – he had a close working relationship with Leo Fender himself
“Clapton is God” graffiti made him a guitar legend when he was barely 20; he says he felt he deserved it at the time
Speaking to Guitar World in 1994, Eric Clapton said that at the time – though he would grow more humble over the decades – he was “unbearably arrogant”
After being pulled from the wreckage of a car crash, John Sykes ran back to his burning vehicle to save his beloved '76 Les Paul
What would ~you~ do for your favorite guitar?
Michael Hurley, guitarist and singer/songwriter known as the ‘Godfather of freak folk,’ dies at 83
Influential to a number of alt-rock luminaries, Hurley's songs were covered by the likes of Cat Power
When Bob Dylan played with an LA punk band to promote the album he made with Mark Knopfler
1983's Infidels, Dylan's first secular album in half a decade, was graced with a bounty of sweetly tasteful leads from the Dire Straits man. To recreate two of its songs on Late Night with David Letterman, Dylan hired LA punks the Plugz
Amadou Bagayoko, singer and Malian guitar great, dies at 70
Half of the enormously successful duo Amadou & Mariam, Bagayoko developed a powerful guitar style that blended classic rock influences with more traditional West African sounds, jammed with David Gilmour, and collaborated with Damon Albarn
He started playing at the age of three, at 13, he came across something that would help define his unique sound
One of the most distinctive (and underrated) blues guitar players of his era, Jeff Healey adopted his radically unconventional approach to the instrument at a very young age
Once Allan Holdsworth picked up a headless Steinberger, there was no turning back
Though he'd also later work with Carvin, Holdsworth remained a headless guitar devotee for the rest of his life, telling Guitar World in an interview just days before his death, “Once you play a headless guitar, you’ll never want to play a regular guitar again”
The April Fools Day guitar gags are out in full force this year – and we've rounded up the best
Andertons, Orange, Positive Grid, and more have all taken the festivities seriously this year, with a range of silly stompboxes and wacky gadgets that will tickle your funny bone
March 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
A round-up of March's best and most exciting guitar-led cuts from the likes of YUNGBLUD, Sleep Token, Samantha Fish, Great Grandpa, Rachel Chinouriri, Joe Bonamassa, Mickey Callisto, and many, many more
