10 Best Rhythm Guitarists You Need To Know

Over the Rolling Stone's half a century performing together, Keith Richards seems to have been designated to rhythm guitar for eternity. No matter how many great guitarists like Brian Jones or Mick Taylor come and go from the lineup, Richards always remains the man in the front pumping out the riffs. But if it ain't broke, why fix it?

From the early 60's onward, Richards' guitar playing invented the guitar riff as we know it. With the Stone's hit "Satisfaction," Keith's fuzzed out guitar became the epicenter of the entire production. Across the Stones' subsequent masterpieces, Richards became an unstoppable riff machine as he wrote the soundtrack to hellraising with songs like "Paint it Black" and "Jumpin Jack Flash."

When his typical setup wasn't enough, Richards also shattered boundaries by employing alternate tunings that brought a certain richness to the Stones' material with thick chords on songs like "Brown Sugar" and "Start Me Up."

Ever since the 60's, Richards has continued to fill his rap sheet with vicious guitar stabs while keeping up his Iron Man status of cheating death at every corner. If you are even remotely curious about learning rock guitar, the fiery riffs of Keith Richards are what you must start with first.