Latest articles by Jackson Maxwell
John Lodge, Moody Blues bassist and singer, dies at 82
The beloved British band's bassist for over 50 years, Lodge also penned some of their biggest hits, among them I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)
Spare 5 minutes to tell us about your guitar habits and collection – and you could win a $200 Amazon gift card
We want to hear from you! Tell us about yourself, and your relationship with the guitar, in Guitar World's 2025 Readers' Survey
Mick Taylor's Rolling Stones baptism by fire came just two days after Brian Jones' death – in front of 250,000 people
Jones’ decline into drug addiction in the two years prior to his tragic death at the age of 27 prevented the Stones from touring, leaving them quite rusty – not that that lessened their drawing power
25 years ago, Radiohead were the world's most talked-about guitar band. Then they burned the rulebook
Released 25 years ago, Kid A subverted all of the lofty expectations that had been placed on the band, and cemented their status as one of popular music's leading creative lights
September 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
With amazing guitar work from the likes of Seera, SPRINTS, Mammoth, Mei Semones, Jay Som, Walter Trout, Jacob Collier, and many more, we were spoiled for choice this month
Mick Taylor says this obscure album cut is his best guitar performance with the Rolling Stones
“Because of the structure of the song, it pushed my guitar playing in a slightly different direction,” the ex-Stone said of his unlikely pick
Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt teams up with Martin for a new signature model that blends tradition with a key, ultra-modern twist
Mixing the old and the new, the front porch and campfire with devil's horns, the limited-edition model is luxurious from top to bottom
Danny Thompson, innovative bassist who played with Kate Bush, Nick Drake, Pentangle, and countless others, dies at 86
Though he grew up with a love of jazz, it wasn't long before Thompson branched out stylistically, and embarked on a career of extraordinary musical breadth
At 80, John Fogerty says his guitar practice regimen is as rigorous as ever
The legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist is currently on the road promoting Legacy: The Creedence Clearwater Revival Years, a new album of Creedence re-recordings he undertook after finally gaining back the rights to the band's music
The origins of Pete Townshend's guitar-smashing ritual
The destructive antics began as an unwelcome byproduct of something else the Who guitarist helped add to the guitar lexicon: wild feedback odysseys
August 2025 Guitar World Editors' Picks
With killer cuts from Deftones, Lorna Shore, Big Thief, Young Dervish, Paco Peña, and many more, there was plenty of guitar greatness to pick from this month
Gibson has relaunched its first ever signature pickup – the Tony Iommi humbucker
The resurrected 'bucker is designed to help guitarists emulate the mighty, distorted rumble of the metal godfather's tone, without descending into overcooked, blown-out mush
Adrian Younge’s new semi-fretless signature Fender is perhaps the craziest Jazz Bass the company's ever released
Based on Younge's personal Custom Shop build, the limited-edition Masterbuilt model nods to the past while departing radically from convention
How Tom Waits' offhand joke began a decades-long creative partnership with Keith Richards
Though their string of collaborations sprung from an offhand joke made to record executives, the singer/songwriter best known for his singular, gravelly, time-weathered vocals clicked immediately with the wizened rhythm guitar master who's lived a thousand lives
Co-leader of Mastodon for a quarter century, Brent Hinds was a one-of-a-kind guitarist who took metal guitar into uncharted territory
Hinds was killed in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday, August 20
The colorful backstory of Neil Young's iconic Old Black Les Paul
Much like Young's discography and creative arc, the story of how Old Black became the rugged, howling sonic beast that it is is a twisty one of fits, starts, and strange left turns
Spinal Tap once surprised Nigel Tufnel with an all-star guitar solo tribute – but he wasn't thrilled about it
Explaining (well, bickering about, really) the star-studded Break Like the Wind, David St. Hubbins maintained that the collaboration was merely intended as a friendly gesture from admirers, and that Tufnel misunderstood it
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
