10 Greatest Rhythm Guitarists In Rock History

10. Johnny Marr - The Smiths

No guitarist looks at the six string the same way. While you do have some who are willing to just go to town playing as many scales as possible, it's always best to serve what's right for the song whenever you're presented with one. And while there are many people who have tried to capture a certain tone in a song, Johnny Marr is one of the few who sees the guitar as a texture more than anything.

Ever since rising to prominence as a member of the Smiths, Marr always felt like an odd throwback to the glory days of '60s rock and roll, complete with the Brian Jones style haircut to boot. When you listen to what he's doing in some of these songs though, there's a lot more under the hood than your traditional rock and roll rhythm playing.

Across albums like the Queen is Dead and Meat is Murder, a lot of the parts that Johnny plays seems to be more catered to guitar breaks than anything else, blending into a weird middle zone between rhythm and lead playing that made for everything sounding a lot more full that just your average post punk outfit. Though Morrissey can try to deliver the same magic from the Smiths' early days in his solo shows, Johnny Marr may be the one rhythm guitarist that you'd need 2 people to replace.