Top 10 Blues Slide Guitarists of All-Time
For many blues fans, there’s no better way for a new song to introduce itself as part of the genre than to incorporate slide guitar. The sound of slide with its bending notes and vibrating twang is quintessentially blues. Most blues artists incorporate this style in their work at some point, though there are clear standouts.
The slide guitar’s origin story is disputed, though many credit its beginnings to Joseph Kekuku, who is said to have developed the playing style with a railway spike he found while living in Hawaii in the late 1800s. The use of slide guitar picked up in the mid-1900s as blues, rock and country recording artists alike deployed the style it in recording studios and before live audiences. Today, any guitar player can stop by their local music store and pick up a slide made of glass or metal. Some even carry the names of artists included on the list below.
So which blues artists play slide guitar best? We have identified our top 10 and encourage readers to chime in with who they would pick.
10. Son House
Known by blues fans as Son House, Edward James House Jr. was born in Mississippi in 1902 and began recording in the early 1930s, though his work was relatively unknown until the 1960s. Decades later, House is remembered as one of the Delta blues’ leading figures whose playing style is said to have been an early source of influence for Robert Johnson and Muddy Waters. In old video footage of House performing one of his most popular songs, “Death Letter Blues,” his playing style seems to involve most of his upper body as he strums forcefully and speeds his slide along the guitar neck. It’s a style some aspiring guitarists continue trying to replicate by noodling on their own or by turning to the many instructional videos available online.
9. Ry Cooder
In addition to working as a solo blues artist and frequent blues collaborator, Ry Cooder’s slide guitar mastery became sought after in the film industry during the 1980s and 1990s. Cooder, who was born in California in 1947, contributed pivotal tracks for the 1986 movie Crossroads inspired by the life and legacy of Robert Johnson. Cooder also crafted scores for several other films, including Paris, Texas and Primary Colors. As studio footage captured for the recording of his 2018 album The Prodigal Son demonstrates, the confidence Cooder brings to his playing is also fun to watch as he zips his slide down his guitar neck.
8. Johnny Winter
Blues legend and occasional Muddy Waters collaborator Johnny Winter shone whenever he was gliding a slide along a guitar. Born in Texas in 1944, Winter began releasing albums as a blues artist from the late 1960s through 2014, the year of his death. Winter’s energetic playing style, which was often speedy, showed how deftly he handled the slide, as seen in his live 2012 performance of Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom” on The Late Show with David Letterman and as heard in his cover of Bob Dylan’s “Highway 61 Revisited.”
7. Robert Randolph
There can be no list of slide guitar players without mention of Robert Randolph, who first became aware of his instrument of choice—the pedal steel guitar—while attending church as a kid growing up in New Jersey. It’s a complicated instrument that Randolph has championed, bringing it into his best performances with Robert Randolph & The Family Band. As seen in music videos for songs like “Amped Up,” Randolph has full control over his pedal steel and uses it to seamlessly weave in the slide sound. As Randolph told Blues Rock Review back in 2019, he aspires to keep both his pedal steel ancestors and future performers in mind while playing in the hope that his music can inspire others to carry the tradition forward.
6. Bonnie Raitt
Born in California in 1949, Bonnie Raitt started gaining attention for her skill playing slide guitar when she began releasing records more than 50 years ago. From her early 1971 cover of Robert Johnson’s “Walking Blues”—which made Blues Rock Review’s list of the Top 10 Bonnie Raitt Songs—to her Grammy Award-winning 1989 album Nick of Time, Raitt is one of the genre’s clear slide masters. She uses the slide expertly to revive blues classics and creatively transform songs like her cover of the John Hiatt-penned “Thing Called Love,” which softens under her treatment of the material without losing its power. To watch a live performance of Raitt playing slide guitar is to watch one of the blues genre’s very best at work.
5. Sonny Landreth
Known as the “King of Slydeco” for his blending of slide-heavy blues and zydeco, Sonny Landreth is another artist who demonstrates with each new album release his continued mastery of the slide guitar. Born in Mississippi in 1951, Landreth has essentially made the slide part of his onstage uniform, as his live video for “Blues Attack” shows. As Landreth told Blues Rock Review during a 2015 interview, playing slide guitar helped him figure out what style of music he most wanted to explore. “Growing up, I did feel very comfortable playing a lot of different styles of music,” Landreth said at the time. “But then I realized, when I got into slide guitar and the finger style approach, that gave me a way to take all that in and crystallize it into a unified sound.”
4. Muddy Waters
Born McKinley Morganfield in Mississippi in 1913, Muddy Waters established himself as a memorable slide guitar player on his way to becoming the “Father of Chicago Blues.” Four decades after his death, nearly every Waters song could be considered a blues classic. Even so, there are a few popular standouts when it comes to his use of slide guitar. On “Honey Bee,” Waters’ slide kicks into gear during the song’s guitar solo, sending the notes wailing as Waters plays in tandem with accompanying piano. On “I Can’t Be Satisfied,” Waters deploys this genre indicator right away, with his slide coming into the mix as soon as the song begins.
3. Derek Trucks
Born in Florida in 1979, Derek Trucks is viewed by many as today’s slide guitar hero. He’s left several top blues and rock performers stunned by the skill and tone of his playing, which he gives the appearance of doing with ease. These days, Trucks most often performs alongside his wife, fellow blues guitarist and singer Susan Tedeschi, for their Tedeschi Trucks Band. He previously played as part of the Allman Brothers Band and has cited the group’s late founding member, Duane Allman, as a key influence. But one of Trucks’ best-known slide guitar songs is a track he performed with his own Derek Trucks Band for their 2006 album Songlines: “Sahib Teri Bandi.”
2. Duane Allman
Few guitarists have been as prolific with the slide style as Duane Allman, who was born in 1946 in Tennessee. Before a fatal motorcycle crash cut his time leading the Allman Brothers Band short in 1971, Allman became known for his instinctive playing style and seamless use of the slide. The twang feels natural in his live performances of “Statesboro Blues” and “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’,” both of which can be heard on the Allman Brothers Band’s 1971 live album at the Fillmore East. And let’s not forget Allman’s vital slide guitar contribution to “Layla” by Eric Clapton’s Derek and the Dominos. More than 50 years after his death, Allman remains one of blues’ top slide players.
1. Elmore James
When Elmore James was posthumously inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, it was said that every player who uses a slide “owes a debt to Elmore James.” Born in Mississippi in 1918, James released most of his recorded material with his backing band, the Broomdusters, in the 1950s. Slide-filled songs like “Dust My Broom” and “The Sky Is Crying” have since James’ death in 1963 become blues classics, with many artists later releasing their own recorded versions. From his mastery of the slide guitar to the enduring nature of his songs, it makes sense that James is known as the “King of the Slide Guitar.”
You left the best one off the list! Dave Hole!
Jesse Ed Davis taught Duane Allman andRy Cooder how to play slide guitar.
Not true. But Jesse Ed was a great player.
YOU ARE 100% RIGHT!!!
Absolutely agree. Dave Hole should definitely be in top 10. And he’s still kicking butt at his gigs.
David Gilmour should have made the list for Me arooned
You left out Jeff Beck who does things with the slide that no one else does.
Do not forget Warren Haynes and Jack Pearson
Rory Gallagher!
A list of slide players without Roy Gallagher is an insult. Rory’s slide playing was brilliant.
Rory, johnny winter, and Duane were the holy trinity of blues slide guitarists
Johnny Winter,was the BEST slide guitarist,having seen most on this list except for the original older cats.I can attest to that.Rory was a damn good one too as was Jeremy Spenser
My thoughts exactly!!!
Damm straight he was better then all these .
The greatest.its a Damm shame
Absolutely
I would agree and also add Lowell George from Little Feat.
Yes. Lowell George should always be on the list of greatest slide guitarists. Mick Taylor was good too.
Lowell George and Delany Bramlett were both monster slide players who shared their love of slide to others.
Have to agree,you can not leave out Lowell George
Thank you Joe I 100% agree Rory Gallagher
Fantastic list but 10 names is so….restrictive!
Warren Haynes, Joanna Connor, Lowell george, Mick taylor, Jeff Beck….
So true,everyone has their faves.I read these top 100 rock guitar players lists to get a chuckle. They hit the nail on the head by including Johnny & Dee wayne.
Jesse Ed Davis too
Preach! Jesse Ed Davis never gets his due. And he introduced slide guitar to some of the people in this list.
When it comes to accoustic slide and Dobro,you can’t leave out Dickey Betts!
I totally support the criticism of not including modern day living legend Warren Haynes. What a huge miss that was
Johnny Winter is #1
Duane Allman 2
Derek Trucks 3
Elmore James 4
Jeremy Spencer should be on the list!
Excuse me. You. Ever. See. Roy. Rogers. HE. Is one. Of. The. Best
As well as rick Vito
Listen to slide on like a rock
For years I thought that was David Lindley, but I was wrong. Lindley was a great lap-steel player, but I can’t think of a “Blues” song that he’s featured on. Same for Robbie Kreiger of The Doors.
No slide guitar legends is complete without JB Hutto a very underrated legend
Bonnie Raitt – Come on, same old stuff E Blues , she is not even in contention, IMO
Correct lover her but no way
My thoughts exactly. I love her voice and songwriting skills, her music and dedication. But a top tier slide guitarist she’s not.
Got to agree guys …
Love Bonnie for all the reasons but def not as top ten slide guitarist. If she were, there’d be no need for Duke Levine in her band. The Duke is from Boston and a pretty good guitar guy – been around for years.
Derek Trucks’ Songlines is my favorite guitar album of all time.
Thorogood over Ry Cooder.
Dave Hole, definitely. Also the Foghat guitarist, forget his name
R.I.p.
Rod price was foghats original lead guitarest
Rod Price…..he was a great one
Leaving out Rory Gallagher, compared to a couple of these players. Tells me you really don’t know what your talking about. He blistered electric and acoustic blues.
Agree. Rory was fantastic.
Can’t believe Rod Price doesn’t make the list!! Absolutely Phenomenal!!!
Cannot believe that Lowell George is not top of the list.
Just listen to Rod Price on any Foghat album! Absoulutely smoking good slide work was a trademark of Foghat!
Mick Taylor, David Lindley and Rod Price (Foghat) need to be here
No Lowell George??
Not much research went into this article.
Pitiful!
Ed davis
You all beat me to it!
Rory Gallagher was unquestionably one of the “Best-Of-The Best”.
His slide work was every bit as gritty and raw as his rapid fire fret-work, as well as his finger-picking techniques.
I have seen all of the performers on this list in concert(s) over the years, some several times (except obviously for the earlier pioneers; James, Son House, Waters – and Skydog – due to his death).
And without a doubt, the grand slam (for me) is Rory Gallagher, Johnny Winter, Duane Allman, and Derek Trucks (not to forget Warren Hayes).
In my personal music catalog, they are all still very much in play rotation.
Lest we not forget Rod Price of the original Foghat, whom I also had the pleasure to see perform, in 1974, and he owned it, and he smoked it – hell of a slide player.
Support Live Music.
Roy Buchanan?
I love slide blues and this is my ultimate moment of Zen… For my money, it doesn’t get any better than this…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qiaksN_9HY
Ry is the man!!!
How could you leave out Mississippi Fred McDowell. Give yourself a treat and listen to
“Good Morning Little Schoolgirl “
And don’t forget Robert Nighthawk.????
Steve Howe – “Going For The One”
Jimmy Page – “In My Time of Dying”
Come to mind
Good list.
Scratch Bonnie and Randolph (a pedal steel guitar has a distinct advantage over a shoulder strapped guitar to create the sounds we are discussing. If it ain’t attached to your shoulder, it’s not a guitar). Add the Blind Owl (Al Wilson) at #10, and move everyone else on the list 1 rank better.
Dave Tronzo
Only came to know Dereck Trucks by chance a while ago on YouTube. Great slide guitarist! Yes ofcourse Rory is forgotten in the list, he was a top bluesman. But sometimes during my travels in Asia, usually in small back streets, I come across an unexpectedly good guitar player and sometimes there are very good slide guitarists among them. Sometimes great talents are never known to the general public, they spend their lives playing in small bars to survive… which is of course a shame.
As as I know it was Jesse Ed Davis that Duane All man heard playing with Taj Mahal when he got a revelation to play slide in Jesses style .I love Duane all man but Jesse should be there with the greats
Modern guy, Justin Johnson. Among many other songs, his cover of “Seven Nation Army” is solid work. I return to it often when I need the calm.
The usual hornets nest stirred up when anyone puts out this sort of list. It’s all very subjective anyway.
It’s criminal to leave John Littlejohn off this list. He was directly quoted as an influence on Bonnie Raitt. Robert Knighthawk as well. Elmore should be number one, but you have to ask many of the individuals you name who inspired them; then you have a less subjective listing acknowledging the historical aspect of slide guitar mastery.
Impossible for a best of with only ten on it. But Rory should have been on it.
Rory never got the recognition he rightfully deserves. Also put him in THE Rock n Roll HOF
U forgot.
Mississippi fred McDowell
Arthur bigboy crudup
And Rory Gallagher.
Dickey Betts can play real slide as well ..
Roy Rogers
Robert Johnson
Steve Gaines played a mean slide also note t for Texas live at the fox after his 3 Rd wekk in Skynyrd
As for johhy winter he s way closer to the top of this list muther #(#+#@
Whoops I did forget Kim simmonds
savoy brown.
And. Rod price foghat.
Should be just a white blues list only.
Lowell George
Ever heard of Jeff Healy?
Guy’s,I have one more that we can’t leave off,don’t forget Joe Walsh.
Greatest of ALL TIME: LOWELL GEORGE. Period.
Hownd Dog Taylor?
George Thorogood?
John Hammond Jr.?
Allan Wilson?
I could go on but why. There was little or no research done to establish this list. Here’s some research.
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=KX9UG8rqRRQ&si=DkFiGm_htiL0JJm8
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=YWAZNwQun5w&si=PpSXcz2k8Ior_DsX
Lowell George has got to be on that list!
It’s sad to see that two of the greatest blues players and slide players, Billy Gibbons and Stevie Ray Vaughan. It said the guy passes away 20 years ago and it’s all forgotten. I played guitar for 52 years till I could play no more because of circumstances. Beyond me but Stevie Ray Vaughan. Was the greatest thing to ever touch a guitar in this field just saying, as no one mentioned, the poor guy it’s sad, real sad!!!
We all forgot to give Joe Walsh his deserved credit.
Robert Johnson. Justin Johnson, Alan Wison, Hank Ray. JeffBeck