10 Rock Music Guitarists Who Outshone Frontmen
6. Rick Nielsen - Cheap Trick
If your genre is anywhere near pop, you're going to have to do more than just play on stools to make an impression.
Especially coming out of the disco boom in the '70s, bands were looking for something more outside of the dance music that they were hearing left and right. Though Cheap Trick definitely got the girls screaming in the early days with Robin Zander, Rick Nielsen is the kind of guitar player that you couldn't ignore if you tried.
Being as much of a fan of the Beatles as punk rock, a lot of Nielsen's personality comes out every time he plays, looking like he's a little kid about to go off the rails when he takes a solo. Just seeing him live can be a trip in and of itself, with a schtick that has more in common with what a circus clown might do than the guitar heroes of the world.
Even if you manage to dodge his stage presence, his taste in guitars will certainly get you to take notice. As one of the more eccentric guitar owners in the business, Nielsen has run the gamut of strange six strings, from one guitar that has six different necks to having a guitar that's exactly shaped like himself.
That's the kind of charisma that every rock band wishes they had in their lead singer, but Rick seems to have enough personality from behind his instrument.