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MYSTERIOUS: Total guitar | Mind Blowing Facts

“This track is very much John Deacon world. I don’t think I was on it at all to start off with! He was much more into funk than we were. So it’s his rhythm guitar playing – not mine”: Brian May on the No 1 hit that made Queen the biggest band in the world

“Freddie absolutely adored it – he sang it until he bled!”

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“In terms of the guitar solo, he just keeps going! You think, ‘OK, surely it’s time to wrap it up?’ But no, he keeps going and it’s great”: The genius of David Gilmour in Pink Floyd’s greatest songs – by Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Stu Mackenzie and more

Plus! Comfortably Numb or comfortably dumb? Find out with our Pink Floyd quiz challenge

MusicRadar

“Words fail me in describing his impact. He was on the session when history was made. He came up with the parts we all studied. He produced the records we all worshipped”: Why Steve Cropper was one of guitar’s most humble heroes

The departed soul man was the Stax band’s MVP, writing and driving the R&B classics that ruled the ’60s

Guitar World

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“One night, I decided to be the DJ in Rage Against the Machine - but I was going to do it all on the guitar”: How Tom Morello used his guitar to drill into the off-limits domain of the turntablist

The Rage Against the Machine axe-man’s most memorable moment saw him emulate a DJ scratch breakdown using a trick that few have fully mastered

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“My mom said, ‘I’ll lend you a quarter if you become a guitar player.’ I think I did!”: Legendary guitarist Steve Cropper dies aged 84

A key figure in shaping the sound of soul music in the ’60s

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“Every time I picked up a guitar I got the horrors”: Radiohead were the world's most talked-about guitar band. Then they burned the rulebook, and made the instrument sound like no-one else had before

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

Guitar World

"It was only £45 or something, and all the other guitars were getting into the hundreds": Jimmy Page's 5 most iconic guitars, in his own words

Jimmy Page tells all, sharing the stories behind his most significant guitars – plus we tell you how to nail his iconic tone at home at various price points

Guitar World

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“Freddie rose to the occasion. When we did Radio Ga Ga and the whole audience did the double handclap thing, I remember getting chills in that moment”: Brian May recalls the power and the glory of Queen at Live Aid

"When you watch it now, it's not without its tense moments"

MusicRadar

The Last Editor: The musical life of Chris Bird, the final Editor of Total Guitar

The musical life of Chris Bird, the final Editor of Total Guitar

Guitar World

“Everyone who met him will carry Chris’ enthusiasm and love for music of all kinds. It was impossible not to be affected by it”: Chris Bird, Guitar World Lessons Editor and former Total Guitar Editor, has died aged 48

Our friend and colleague first joined Total Guitar in 2007 and spent nearly two decades sharing his passion and knowledge for the craft with readers

Guitar World

“Whole Lotta Love was clearly the track that everybody would go to. That riff was so fresh — and it still is”: A classic interview with Jimmy Page

The Zeppelin legend spoke to Total Guitar's Chris Bird in 2020

MusicRadar

Chris Bird, MusicRadar Lessons Editor and former Total Guitar Editor has died, aged 48

Gifted guitar tutor rose through the editorial ranks

MusicRadar

“He went into this trance state as he played. I’d be sitting there at the console and he would lean on me while he was playing. And it was kind of weird – it was like it was coming through me”: A close encounter with the genius of Eddie Van Halen

The insider's view of how EVH reinvented himself on the 5150 album

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"It's a little over-heroic. But it's fun. It's colourful. And there is also a little undercurrent of something deeper in the lyrics”: Brian May reveals the inspiration for one of Queen’s greatest hits

It was the movie theme that almost got rejected

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“It was that fusion of funk and rock. It gave birth to Michael Jackson doing his incredible stuff!”: Brian May on a killer Queen song that blew away the King of Pop - and Kirk Hammett!

“It was designed to be uniquely a dance track"

Guitar World

“I irresponsibly generalized that the reason people don’t learn theory is because they are lazy. There is another, better reason to not learn it”: That time John Frusciante wrote in to Total Guitar magazine to share his thoughts on music theory

It was 2006, one hot summer, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar hero had some things he needed to get off his chest about theory, and why he had learned “immensely” from reading Total Guitar

Guitar World

“When you start with a crappy guitar it gives you a level of appreciation because you started with humble beginnings”: Kenny Wayne Shepherd on why starting out with a budget guitar is the best way to go

Shepherd now plays some of the most desirable boutique gear money can buy, but his own personal guitar journey started with a cheap Yamaha

Guitar World

“Shredding is an amazing thing to be able to do, but when you can really write a feeling with a melody, like Johnny Marr did so well, that’s the goal”: Conor Curley of Fontaines D.C. on his love of Deftones and why he’s writing riffs like a beginner

Romance is the sound of self-confessed “guitar culture nerd” Curley expanding the Fontaine D.C. sound with elemental reasoning, pure instinct, and occasional Mellotron – and if he ever gets stuck for inspiration, he has a pile of Total Guitar back issues to reference…

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“If you’re faint of heart and can’t stand some blue exclamations from time to time, it’s probably not very peaceful to be with me in a studio”: Jerry Cantrell admits he can't help cursing when he’s recording solos

The Alice In Chains man says his explosively expletive approach is a necessary weapon in the “battle” of tracking his lead lines

Guitar World

“The Metallica guys were the first ones I heard about using those live. I was like, ‘Man, what are you playing through?!’” Jerry Cantrell shares his thoughts on digital modelers – and why he’s “not there yet”

The Alice in Chains icon uses a Kemper while tracking demos, but he’s not ready to take them into the studio – and onto the stage – just yet

MusicRadar

“I wanted Alice In Chains to be a guitar duo band - because of Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Aerosmith”: Jerry Cantrell on his love of classic guitar harmonies

His new solo album is inspired by the heroes of his youth

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“As far as guitar playing goes, go to the old school - Randy Rhoads, Tony Iommi, Eddie Van Halen”: The wisdom of Dimebag in the final issue of Total Guitar

The famous guitar mag closes after 30 noisy years

Guitar World

“Probably the broadest, most accessible guitar mag in the world... It has been an absolute privilege”: Total Guitar to close after 30 years in print

It was once the biggest-selling guitar magazine in Europe. Now Total Guitar is set to close after its latest issue. Here’s what its first and last editors have to say...

Guitar World

“I handed him the guitar at the end saying, ‘You can keep that!’ And the next day it had millions of views”: Yungblud explains why he’s been giving away his new Epiphone signature models at shows

The punk-rock superstar says the idea to hand out guitars to fans came about by accident, after a clip of a fan playing his guitar on stage went viral

Guitar World

“You put a Flying V next to a Les Paul, next to a Strat, on the floor, it won’t do anything. It becomes something with the person who picks up the guitar”: Michael Schenker reveals the story behind his longstanding love affair with Flying Vs

The UFO guitarist recently signed with Gibson and revealed that a Michael Schenker signature guitar is in the works

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