Musicians Famous Guitarists from New York City

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List of famous guitarists born who were born in New York City, listed alphabetically with photos when available. Many of these guitar players from New York City are legends in the music world, each with their own innovative styles of play. If you play guitar, whether acoustic or electric, then these famous New York City guitar players should be people you look up to. These are some of the best guitarists that have ever picked up the instrument, and whether they play rock, blues, metal or folk, these men and women are considered legends.

List is made up of a variety of items, including Adam Sandler and Lou Reed.

This list answers the questions, "What guitar players are from New York City?" and "Who are famous New York City guitarists?"

1
Adam Sandler is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 52 Adam Richard Sandler is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, entrepreneur, film producer, and musician. After becoming a Saturday Night Live cast member, Sandler went on to star in many ...more

2
John Frusciante is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 48 John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, producer and composer. He is best known as the former guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, from 1988 until 1992, and again ...more

3
Lou Reed is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 71 (1942-2013) Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. After serving as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of the Velvet Underground, his solo career ...more

4
Elliot Easton is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 65 Elliot Easton is an American musician. He played lead guitar and sings backing vocals for The Cars. His guitar solos are an integral part of the band's hit singles. He studied music at the ...more

5
Michael McKean is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 71 Michael John McKean is an American actor, comedian, writer, composer and musician well known for his portrayal of Squiggy's friend, Leonard "Lenny" Kosnowski, on the sitcom Laverne ...more

6
Christopher Guest is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 70 Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest, better known as Christopher Guest, is an English-American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian who holds dual British ...more

7
Eddie Money is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 69 Eddie Money, is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter, who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums. Rock impresario Bill ...more

8
Tom Morello is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 54 The Nightwatchman is the alter-ego and solo act of American musician Tom Morello. Morello began performing as the Nightwatchman in 2003 as an outlet for his political views while he was playing ...more

9
Taj Mahal is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 76 Henry Saint Clair Fredericks, who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award-winning blues musician. He often incorporates elements of world music into his works. A self-taught ...more

10
Les Fradkin is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 67 Fearless Fradkin signed to MGM Records in August 1970 and signed a staff songwriter agreement with Leo Feist Music and a recording contract with the new MGM/Sunflower Records label headed up by ...more

11
Johnny Thunders is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 39 (1952-1991) Johnny Thunders, born John Anthony Genzale, Jr., was an American rock and roll/punk rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He came to prominence in the early 1970s as a member of the New York ...more

12
John Oates is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 69 John William Oates is an American rock, R&B and soul guitarist, musician, songwriter and producer best known as half of the rock and soul duo, Hall & Oates. Although Oates's main role in ...more

13
Janis Ian is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 67 Janis Ian is a singer-songwriter who was mostly active in the 1960s and 1970s; her most successful song "At Seventeen", was released as a single from her 1975 album Between the Lines ...more

14
Paul Stanley is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 66 Stanley Bert Eisen, better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, and painter, best known for being the frontman of the rock band Kiss. He is the ...more

15
Scott Ian Rosenfeld is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 55 Scott Ian is an American musician and an actor.

16
Sean Lennon is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 43 Sean Taro Ono Lennon is an American musician and composer. He is the child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

17
John P. Hammond is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 76 John P. Hammond is an actor.

18
Dave Van Ronk is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 66 (1936-2002) David Kenneth Ritz "Dave" Van Ronk was an American folk singer, born in Brooklyn, New York, who settled in Greenwich Village, New York, and was eventually nicknamed the "Mayor of ...more

19
Eddie Rabbitt is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 57 (1941-1998) Edward Thomas "Eddie" Rabbitt was an American singer-songwriter and musician. His career began as a songwriter in the late 1960s, springboarding to a recording career after composing ...more

20
Ace Frehley is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 67 Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the former lead guitarist and founding member of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" ...more

21
Rivers Cuomo is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 48 Rivers Cuomo is an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist and principal songwriter of the alternative rock band Weezer. Raised in an ...more

22
Jakob Dylan is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 49 Jakob Luke Dylan is an American singer and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band The Wallflowers, with which he has released six albums since 1992. ...more

23
Leslie West is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 73 Leslie West is an American rock guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He is best known as a founding member of the hard rock band Mountain.

24
Nile Rodgers is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 66 Nile Gregory Rodgers is an American musician, producer, and guitarist. He is the lead guitarist and co-founding member with Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, which has been active since 1976 and ...more

25
Hugh Blumenfeld is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 60 Hugh Blumenfeld is an American folk musician and singer-songwriter from Connecticut. He was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York City, graduated with degrees in Biology and Humanities from M.I.T. ...more

26
Lenny Kaye is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 72 Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer and writer who is best known as a member of the Patti Smith Group.

27
Ira Newborn is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 69 Ira Newborn is an American musician and composer, best known for his work composing motion picture soundtracks. Among the many movies Newborn has scored or for which he has written songs are ...more

28
Ron Thal is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 49 Ronald Jay "Ron" Blumenthal, better known by his stage name Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, is an American guitarist, songwriter, recording artist and producer. Thal adopted the name ...more

29
Jesse Harris is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 49 Jesse Harris is a Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter. He has collaborated with several musical artists including Norah Jones, Melody Gardot, Madeleine Peyroux, Nikki Yanofsky, and ...more

30
Larry Campbell is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 63 Larry Campbell is a multi-instrumentalist who plays many stringed instruments in genres including country, folk, blues, and rock. He is perhaps most widely known for his time as part of Bob ...more

31
Kevin Shields is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 55 Kevin Patrick Shields is an Irish musician, singer-songwriter, composer and producer, best known as the vocalist and guitarist of the alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine. As a teenager, ...more

32
Steve Stevens is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 59 Steve Stevens is an American guitarist and songwriter. He is best known for playing for other artists and less so for his solo efforts, collaborations, and as an in-demand session guitarist. He ...more

33
Bob Brozman is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 59 (1954-2013) Bob Brozman was an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist. Brozman was born to a Jewish family living on Long Island, New York. He began playing the guitar when he was 6. He performed in a ...more

34
C.C. DeVille is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 56 C.C. DeVille is the guitarist of the multi-platinum-selling hard rock band. His work with the band has sold over 45 million records worldwide, including 15 million in the United States. He has ...more

35
Walter Becker is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 68 Walter Carl Becker is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist and co-songwriter of Steely Dan. Becker met future songwriting ...more

36
Greg Hetson is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 58 Greg Hetson is a musician, guitarist and actor.

37
Bruce Kulick is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 65 Bruce Howard Kulick is an American guitarist, musician and a member of the band Grand Funk Railroad. Previously, Kulick had been a long-time member of the band Kiss. Kulick is also known for ...more

38
Chris Stein is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 68 Christopher "Chris" Stein is the co-founder and guitarist of the new wave band, Blondie. He is also a producer and performer for the classic soundtrack of the hip hop film, Wild Style, ...more

39
Emily Remler is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 33 (1957-1990) Emily Remler was an American jazz guitarist who rose to prominence in the 1980s. She recorded seven albums of hard bop, jazz standards and fusion guitar. Remler appealed to all audiences with ...more

40
John Leventhal is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 66 John Leventhal is a Grammy Award-winning musician, producer, songwriter, and recording engineer who has produced albums for Michelle Branch, Rosanne Cash, Marc Cohn, Shawn Colvin, Rodney ...more

41
Eddie Hazel is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 42 (1950-1992) Edward Earl "Eddie" Hazel was an American guitarist in early funk music in the United States who played lead guitar with Parliament-Funkadelic. Hazel was a posthumous inductee of the ...more

42
Guy Davis is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 66 Guy Davis was not an honored guest at the Kennedy Center Awards, at which he received medals, alongside other recipients such as Warren Beatty, Elton John and composer John Williams, from the ...more

43
Eric Gale is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
Dec. at 56 (1938-1994) Eric J. Gale was a leading American jazz and session guitarist.

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Bobby Broom is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 57 Bobby Broom, birthname Robert Broom, Jr., is an American jazz guitarist, composer and music educator born and raised in New York City who relocated to Chicago, which has been his home town since ...more

45
Bob Kulick is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 68 Bob Kulick is an American guitarist and Grammy Award-winning record producer, best known for his studio work with Kiss. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, and is the older brother of former Kiss ...more

46
Geoff Muldaur is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 75 Geoff Muldaur is an American musician and a founding member of the Jim Kweskin Jug Band of Cambridge, Massachusetts; a member of Paul Butterfield's Better Days; and an accomplished solo ...more

47
Frank Infante is listed (or ranked) 47 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 67 Frank Infante is an American guitarist and bassist best known as a former member of the new wave band Blondie.

48
Jennifer Batten is listed (or ranked) 48 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 61 Jennifer Batten is an American guitarist who has worked as a session musician and solo artist. She has released three studio albums: her 1992 debut, Above Below and Beyond, the ...more

49
Eddie Ojeda is listed (or ranked) 49 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 63 Eddie "Fingers" Ojeda is one of the two guitarists of the American heavy metal band Twisted Sister. In early 1970s he recorded a couple of singles with a band called SPX. He joined ...more

50
Nick Valensi is listed (or ranked) 50 on the list Famous Guitarists from New York City
age 37 Nick Valensi is an American musician, guitarist of the American rock band The Strokes, in which he primarily plays lead guitar and occasionally rhythm guitar.