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BIZARRE: 4 - What They Never Told You

Game-changers, taste-makers and trend-setters: here are 2023's guitarists of the year

We tip our hats to the players that made 2023 such a defining year in guitar history – and whose achievements we'll be talking about in years to come

Guitar World

News of the (guitar) world: the biggest, baddest, weirdest and saddest guitar news of 2023

We track the year’s biggest six-string stories – from landmark gear developments to devastating departures and 2023’s most headline-grabbing players

Guitar World

Inside the new issue of Total Guitar: The best of 2023!

Also in issue 379! Interviews: Kirk Hammett, Nuno Bettencourt, Cory Wong, Yvette Young, Nita Strauss and more. Reviews: New gear from Epiphone, Fender, Guild, Jackson and more. Learn songs by Led Zeppelin, Phoebe Bridgers and Blink-182

Guitar World

From analysis to the latest developments in health,
read the most diverse news in one place.

“At its best, the solo can tell a story, give us a sense of spectacle, and even offer a window into a player’s soul”: These are the best guitar solos of 2023

Guitar World staff and readers choose the outstanding lead efforts of the year – including “this decades's Eruption”

Guitar World

“I hate to say it, but non-musicians – who are the majority of the listening world – are not going to remember guitar solos”: Kirk Hammett says it doesn’t matter how good or flashy a solo is – most people are going to forget them anyway

According to the Metallica maestro, the average music listener doesn't share a guitar player's enthusiasm for a ripping solo

Guitar World

“I’m going for blood. I want to bring guitar back in a joyful, exciting way”: Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt on the guitar solo that caused the internet to lose its mind in 2023

Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt delivered on the monumental solo from his band’s comeback single Rise

Louder

Wolfgang Van Halen, the year's best gear and 2023's guitarists of the year – only in the new Guitar World

Plus! The year's biggest and wildest guitar news, a transcription of Jeff Beck's final masterpiece, Dethklok, Buzzcocks, Paul Stanley's son and more!

Guitar World

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“The whole idea of being a great guitar player is nobody can do you like you… Mean Street is the perfect storm of why people don't f**k with Edward Van Halen”: Nuno Bettencourt explains why you’ve gotta give Joe Satriani “a pass”

The Extreme guitarist explains the key to nailing EVH’s tricky intro and says its time to cut Satch some slack

Guitar World

“Steve Vai tried to school me on string bending, but you just don't do that on bass!” Pete Griffin reflects on his time with Steve Vai, and his latest solo EP

The seasoned sideman compares notes on Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde and Dweezil Zappa

Guitar World

10 diehard rock and blues guitarists who boarded the pop train

The megastar crossovers where guitar met box office pop and made magic happen

Guitar World

Governor of Nevada wants AC/DC for Super Bowl LVIII halftime show

Could AC/DC bring some much-needed rock to the Super Bowl in 2024? They have a political heavyweight in their corner.

Metal Hammer

“It felt like I had been training my whole life for that gig”: How Nuno Bettencourt ended up playing with Rihanna

Rihanna x Nuno is one of the great pop/rock collaborations of our time, and it pushed the Extreme guitarist to his limits. Here’s how it all went down – and why the duo never did perform More Than Words…

Guitar World

“I think it's fairly impossible to be a guitarist without loving Steve Vai”: Nili Brosh names 10 guitarists who shaped her sound

The Ibanez-toting instrumental virtuoso shares her thoughts on “one of the best improvisers in the history of the instrument”, why Eddie Van Halen's rhythm playing is underrated and the shredder who “brought a new sound to the Shrapnel era”

Guitar World

10 underrated Nuno Bettencourt solos you probably haven't heard – but will still blow your mind

These guitar solos went under the radar, but all of them highlight Bettencourt's supreme sense of virtuosity and melody, both in and out of Extreme

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“I need to keep my f**king mouth shut”: Nuno Bettencourt issues apology to Richard Fortus following Rihanna gig disagreement

The Extreme guitarist's apology comes after he fired back at Fortus, who defended Slash in the wake of Bettencourt's suggestion he would struggle playing with Rihanna

Metal Hammer

Extreme’s Nuno Bettencourt and Richard Fortus from Guns N’ Roses are having an online bust-up over Slash and Rihanna

“As if I’d ever think Slash isn’t capable of playing any Rihanna song in his sleep,” seethes Nuno Bettencourt in one-sided online spat with Richard Fortus

Guitar World

Nuno Bettencourt fires back at Richard Fortus after he defends Slash over Rihanna gig comments

After Bettencourt suggested “most of the guitar players” he admires would struggle playing with Rihanna, Fortus said he “respectfully disagreed” – and it's prompted a heated reply

MusicRadar

Richard Fortus defends Slash following Nuno Bettencourt's Rihanna gig comments – and the Extreme guitarist fires back to clarify his views

"I'm sure you're a decent player, but did you really need to repost a headline that made me look like I am badmouthing a fellow player, Slash"

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Guitar World

“He’s the funkiest dude in the shredder family tree”: The world’s greatest guitarists explain why Nuno Bettencourt isn’t your typical guitar hero

Brian May, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai and Tom Morello join an all-star cast to explain what makes the Extreme virtuoso one of the guitar world’s most valuable players

Guitar World

Nuno Bettencourt on playing with Rihanna: "I’m sorry, most of the guitar players who I admire could not in their lifetime play that gig"

"Slash is one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time but I guarantee – and he’d be the first to tell you – that if he jumps up and he’s got to play a clean intro to Rude Boy by Rihanna, it ain’t happening,” the Extreme virtuoso says

MusicRadar

“I’m sorry, most of the guitar players who I admire could not in their lifetime play that gig”: Nuno Bettencourt explains why the Rihanna gig is way tougher than rock

The Extreme guitarist says even Slash would struggle in a set that requires different styles, song after song

Metal Hammer

"If Slash jumps up and he’s got to play a clean intro to Rude Boy, it ain’t happening.” Nuno Bettencourt explains why playing guitar for Rihanna is way harder than you might imagine

Extreme guitar hero Nuno Bettencourt points out why people who think playing guitar for pop stars is an easy gig have it way wrong

Guitar World

3 ways to shred like Nuno Bettencourt

Ever wonder how you'll ever set the fingerboard alight like the Extreme maverick? Well, keep these three approaches at the forefront of your mind, and one day...

Louder

“All the excesses of rock’n’roll stardom – the sex, the drugs, the parties – were open to us”: Extreme’s Gary Cherone and Nuno Bettencourt on the highs, the lows and the hedonism

Extreme’s career has taken in one huge hit, millions of album sales, a split, a reunion and a big dollop of over-indulgent rock star living. Frontman Gary Cherone and guitarist Nuno Bettencourt look back on where it all went right, and where it all went wrong.

Guitar World

Nuno Bettencourt shares his top tips for playing better guitar solos: “I always see the solo as its own song”

Having masterminded some of the greatest guitar solos in rock, the Extreme guitarist wants to pass on a little wisdom to help you when the spotlight is on

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