Zakk Wylde Names the Greatest Acoustic Guitar Players of All Time

Zakk Wylde named who he thinks are the greatest acoustic guitar players of all time.

Speaking with Guitar World, the rocker explained his love for acoustic rock songs, referring to acoustics as “this whole other world of guitar” and expressing his desire to “start doing acoustics for a while now” as a way to progress his sound.

Wylde has already dabbled extensively in acoustic guitar himself on his two solo albums — Book of Shadows (1995) and Book of Shadows II (2016).

Who Does Zakk Wylde Consider the Greatest Acoustic Guitar Players?

The guitarist was asked to name the “true masters” of the acoustic guitar, to which he replied, “I think between the legendary trio Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco De Lucia, it’s ‘lights out’ right there. You can play Friday Night in San Francisco to anybody and it will blow their mind. It’s an unbelievably amazing record. That one will stand the test of time for sure.”

Di Meola is a notable force in the jazz fusion world, while McLaughlin made waves in jazz fusion as well with Mahavishnu Orchestra. De Lucia, meanwhile, blazed new paths as a virtuosic flamenco guitar player.

Wylde also named Tony Iommi, citing Black Sabbath‘s “Laguna Sunrise” and “Fluff” as two prominent examples that were “perfect setups for the next songs” on the records, as well as Randy Rhoads on Ozzy Osbourne‘s “Dee.”

Black Sabbath, ‘Laguna Sunrise’

“Acoustic tracks can act like a prelude into the next heavy song. My favorite acoustic tones on record would be [The Rolling Stones‘] ‘Angie’ and [Neil Young‘s] ‘Heart of Gold’,” he stated.

The interviewer mentioned a sonic similarity between Wylde’s music and that of Alice in Chains because of their combination of electronic and acoustic guitars. Wylde agreed and added Jerry Cantrell to his list of acoustic masters and described the song “Heaven Beside You” as “phenomenal.”

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“Jerry knows how to crush it. He’s all about layering things and it’s something he does very well. You record the acoustics first and then add all the heavy bits on top of it. If the acoustic wasn’t in those layers, you’d really miss it,” the rocker elaborated.

“As far as I’m concerned, Jerry is the complete package. He’s great at everything to do with songwriting – he’s an incredible lyricist and singer, then there’s all the melodies and harmonies. He does it all. He’ll probably do your laundry and taxes while cooking up a mean chicken piccata. He’s an all-round great musician, not just a guitar player.”

See our picks for the greatest hard rock and metal guitarists of all time below.