43Hubert Sumlin

Andrew Lepley/Redferns"I love Hubert Sumlin,"Jimmy Pagehas said. "He always played the right thing at the right time." During more than two decades playing alongsideHowlin' Wolf, Sumlin always seemed to have an almost telepathic connection to the legendary blues singer, augmenting Wolf's ferocious cries with angular, slashing guitar lines and perfectly placed riffs on such immortal songs as "Wang Dang Doodle," "Back Door Man" and "Killing Floor." Sumlin made such an impact, in fact, that Wolf's greatest rival,Muddy Waters, even hired him away for a stint in 1956. Sumlin, who passed away in 2011 at age 80, played until the end, sometimes turning up onstage in the company of such acolytes as theRolling Stones,Elvis Costello,Eric Claptonandthe Allman Brothers. "You try to tell a story, tell it right, you live the story," Sumlin once said of his hugely influential guitar style. "It may be a little faster or a little classier, but it comes down to you playin' the blues or you ain't."Key Tracks:"Smokestack Lightning," "Spoonful," "Killing Floor"

44Mark Knopfler

Peter Still/RedfernsMark Knopfler's first big guitar-hero moment the fleet, gloriously melodic solo onDire Straits' 1978 hit "Sultans of Swing" came at a time when punk seemed to be rendering the idea of a guitar hero obsolete. And yet Knopfler built a reputation as an intensely creative virtuoso (not to mention an ace songwriter), showing remarkable command over a range of tones and textures from the gnarly distortion on hit single "Money for Nothing" to the stinging precision of "Tunnel of Love." One key to Knopfler's signature style: playing without a pick. "Playing with your fingers," he has said, "has something to do with immediacy and soul." Knopfler's versatility made him much in demand for projects with artists includingTina Turner,Eric ClaptonandBob Dylan, who first called on Knopfler for 1979'sSlow Train Coming. "He's one of the great players around," said Knopfler's hero-turned-collaborator, the late country legend Chet Atkins. "He doesn't think that, but he is."Key Tracks:"Sultans of Swing," "Romeo and Juliet"

45Link Wray

David Warner Ellis/RedfernsWhen Link Wray released the thrilling, ominous "Rumble" in 1958, it became one of the only instrumentals ever to be banned from radio play for fear that it might incite gang violence. By stabbing his amplifier's speaker cone with a pencil, Wray created the distorted, overdriven sound that would reverberate through metal, punk and grunge. Wray, who proudly claimed Shawnee Indian ancestry and lost a lung to tuberculosis, was the archetypal leather-clad badass, and his song titles alone "Slinky," "The Black Widow" convey the force and menace of his playing. "He was fucking insane," said the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach. "I would listen to 'Some Kinda Nut,' over and over. It sounded like he was strangling the guitar like it was screaming for help." When Wray died in 2005,Bob DylanandBruce Springsteenboth performed "Rumble" onstage in tribute. "If it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,'" saidPete Townshend, "I would have never picked up a guitar."Key Tracks:"Rumble," "Jack the Ripper," "Raw-Hide"