Jimmy Page names the best solo-playing guitarist: “I cannot touch him”

Posted On May 22, 2025May 22, 2025

While he has many strings to his proverbial bow, Jimmy Page knows the world of guitar playing better than most. Few figures in rock ‘n’ roll mythology carry the same weight as Led Zeppelin’s mercurial maestro Page. A conjurer of colossal riffs and arcane tones, Page is more than a guitarist; he’s a symbol of sonic transcendence. So, when the man himself tips his hat to a fellow player, it’s worth sitting up and listening.

In the murky world of London’s 1960s rock scene, Page was part of a small group of the country’s best guitarists alongside Big Jim Sullivan, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. As the lead guitarist of classic rock legends Led Zeppelin, Page cemented his status as one of the greatest ever to pick up the instrument, which remarkably came after he’d made history with another group, The Yardbirds. Even before that, Page was demanding a sense of attention that few amateur players could command as the guitarist made his name on the sessions circuit, providing six-string relief for a whole host of forgotten tracks.

In the years before forming Led Zeppelin in 1968, he became part of this eminent set after making his name as one of the most sought-after session musicians. The young Page would work on early hits by the likes of The Who and The Kinks, as well as Marianne Faithfull’s definitive hit, ‘As Tears Go By’, and each record would see him prove his talent further. 

Rising to prominence in London’s flourishing music scene eventually led to Page joining The Yardbirds in 1966. Famously, he took this decision nearly two years after their first invitation to enter the fold, and it would see him link up with friend Jeff Beck and form a scintillating duel guitar attack.

With ‘Happenings Ten Years Time Ago’, released in 1968, the quintet were pushed into a more pulsating psychedelic area and would see Page develop his idea for a darker, expansive form of rock that he would fully realise with Led Zeppelin. Following their formation in 1968, the quartet refined their craft, and by the release of 1971’s Led Zeppelin IV, Jimmy Page would be hailed by many as the finest rock guitarist of all time.

In terms of guitar playing, it wasn’t just Page and his three associates that London produced in the 1960s. In 1968, another widely influential group formed: Deep Purple. Like Led Zeppelin, they would become one of the most consequential for the proliferation of hard rock and heavy metal and featured their own six-string pioneer, Ritchie Blackmore. Notably, before joining the band, he was also a part of London’s recording scene and even played with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck in a session during this era.

Blackmore has effused numerous times about Jimmy Page’s brilliance and his influence on Deep Purple. “I was impressed with what Zeppelin did,” Ritchmore explained to Classic Rock in 2016. “I wanted to do that kind of stuff, and if it doesn’t take off, we’ll go and play with orchestras the rest of our lives. So we did it, and it was Deep Purple In Rock, which, luckily, took off. We’d purposely made it so it hammered along every song, there was no lull. I was very pleased with it because I never wanted to work with an orchestra again.”

Jimmy Page has also saved some high praise for his Deep Purple counterpart. He deems him the finest player of guitar solos out there and admits that he “cannot touch him” when it comes to improvisation, despite it being an aspect he is widely celebrated for. He once said, “When it comes to a solo, I cannot touch him.” Then, he reiterated this sentiment when speaking at Oxford University in 2016: “I couldn’t touch that guy in the live concert arena, improvisation stakes.”

Considering the sheer scale of the commenter, Blackmore can take these words to the bank. Very few performers are able to hear such words come out of the mouth of such a guitarist. To be called great is one thing, but to be called one of the best by one of the best is perhaps the ultimate merit mark.

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