Saddened to hear of the death of Ronnie James Dio today

Posted on May 16th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

Image via Wikipedia

Just read that the legendary Ronnie James Dio of Rainbow, Black Sabbath and Heaven and Hell has passed away today  (16 May 2010) after losing his fight against stomach cancer. He was 67. Rumours of his death have been sweeping the web for the last 12 hours or so. It seems that now, sadly, Ronnie has indeed died. Check out the story on Rock Radio for more details.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Ronnie James Dio 1946 – 2010 (current.com)

BBC6 Music Axe Factor Poll results are out and the winner is

Posted on April 10th, 2010 GuitarSavvy No comments

The results of the BBC6 Music Axe Factor Poll have been announced (BBC Music listeners/readers were asked to vote for their top guitarist from the last 30 years). More than 30,000 votes were cast by listeners on the BBC6 Music website and the final tally is as follows:

1. John Frusciante – Red Hot Chili Peppers
2. Slash – Guns n’ Roses
3. Matt Bellamy – Muse
4. Johnny Marr – The Smiths
5. Tom Morello – Rage Against The Machine
6. Kirk Hammett – Metallica
7. Jonny Greenwood – Radiohead
8. Prince
9. Jack White – White Stripes
10. Peter Buck – REM
11. The Edge – U2
12. Thurston Moore
13. John Squire
14. Josh Homme
15. Graham Coxon
16. Omar Rodriguez Lopez
17. James Dean Bradfield
18. Jeff Buckley
19. Noel Gallagher
20. Kurt Cobain

So John Frusciante, former blues/rock/funk guitarist with the Red Hot Chili Peppers has come out top. We’re also very pleased to see Slash and Johnny Marr on the list – Johnny Marr will be the focus of one of our Guitar Influences quick fact files (coming soon).

Remember to sign the petition protesting the BBC’s decision to shut down BBC6 Music and other sites here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Chilis star is modern guitar hero (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Chili Peppers’ John Frusciante named best guitarist (telegraph.co.uk)
• John Frusciante confirms leaving Red Hot Chili Peppers (guardian.co.uk)
• Josh Klinghoffer Confirms He’s Red Hot Chili Peppers’ New Guitarist (rollingstone.com)

Teaching yourself guitar but not progressing fast enough? These great value online guitar courses can help. You can take your guitar playing to the next level NOW!