- 6/17/2025
Get ready to shred without strings! Join us as we count down the ultimate rock anthems that turn everyone into guitar heroes. From grunge classics to metal masterpieces, these legendary tracks have inspired countless air guitar performances. Which song makes you grab that invisible axe and rock out like nobody's watching?
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00:00She's got a smile that it seems to me, reminds me of childhood memories.
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the rock songs
00:12that don't require you to actually have a guitar in your hands to rock out.
00:17Just gotta get out, just gotta get right out of here.
00:23Number 10. Smells Like Teen Spirit, Nirvana.
00:30Featuring, perhaps, the most instantly recognizable guitar riff of all time,
00:38Kurt Cobain's magnum opus is commonly regarded as one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded.
00:44Although, you'd be forgiven for hearing the resemblance to Boston's More Than a Feeling.
00:49Smells Like Teen Spirit never lets up for a second,
00:52consisting of five straight minutes of defiant wall-to-wall moshing.
01:00Despite its now iconic status, Cobain himself initially referred to its timeless riff as
01:19cliché, to which bassist Chris Novoselic agreed.
01:22Novoselic likely regretted speaking his mind, as Cobain then forced him and drummer Dave Grohl
01:28to play it repeatedly for 90 minutes.
01:31Luckily, unlike Chris, we're not being punished.
01:34No, we're choosing to strum Teen Spirit for hours on end.
01:38Number 9. Money for Nothing, Dire Straits.
01:56If you can muster the zen-like patience necessary to make it through this song's slow burn minute-and-a-half-long intro,
02:03then you'll be treated to an all-timer of a rock riff.
02:07As synths bubble and an uncredited sting repeatedly declares that he wants his MTV,
02:12you might think to yourself,
02:13when is this thing gonna take off?
02:15When it does, you'll be sorry you ever doubted Straits frontman Mark Knopfler's considerable prowess.
02:21It's possible that you'll even find yourself replaying that first beat drop over and over again.
02:34But we'd highly suggest sticking out the entire song for more killer guitar licks,
02:40courtesy of the underrated Knopfler.
02:42Not that we feel it'll take much convincing.
02:44We got to install microwave ovens, custom kitchen deliveries.
02:52Number 8. Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix.
03:02Look, there's a reason that Jimi Hendrix is regarded as the guitar god to end all guitar gods.
03:08Just check out Purple Haze, a pitch-perfect showcase for his otherworldly skills on the instrument.
03:14In fact, when producer Chas Chandler first heard Hendrix toying with the riff,
03:26he claimed to have been knocked out, and without the rest of the song having been composed,
03:31declared that it was single material.
03:34Chandler clearly knew what the rest of us didn't yet, as Purple Haze became a smash hit,
03:40helping to establish the soft-spoken guitarist as a superstar,
03:43and setting the stage for hard rock as a commercially viable sensation.
03:55Number 7. Master of Puppets, Metallica.
03:58You didn't think we'd put together an air guitar list without including Metallica, did you?
04:10These giants of heavy metal are highly prolific, boasting an extensive back catalog that contains
04:16some of the heaviest and most quintessential guitar riffs ever composed.
04:20So that made it especially hard to choose.
04:23Do we pick one of the hits like Enter Sandman, or a beloved cult favorite like The Disturbing
04:29One?
04:29In the end, we had to go with Master.
04:38That owes to the fact that it contains a little bit of everything that makes Metallica, well,
04:43Metallica.
04:44It's got punishing riffs, a complex, multi-part arrangement, and face-melting solos.
04:50What more could you ask for?
04:53Sing it loud!
04:58Number 6. Back in Black, ACDC.
05:08It seems fair to say that this song is a far cry from the technical complexity of Master of
05:14Puppets.
05:15And just so it's abundantly clear, we're not complaining.
05:18Considering that ACDC have reliably delivered muscular, head-banging, air guitar-worthy rock
05:24for over 50 years.
05:33The simplicity of the guitar work on Back in Black is a major part of its enduring magnetism,
05:39teaching generations of rockers that you don't need to be Joe Satriani to properly rock out.
05:45Take it from Metal Hammer Magazine's initial review of the song in 1983.
05:50They called Back in Black a song that appeals to everybody, from dads to dudes, to little
05:55old ladies beating noisy kids over the heads with their sticks.
05:59Back in Black, ACDC.
06:08Number 5. Crazy Train, Ozzy Osbourne.
06:12Ozzy Osbourne
06:20After supplying the world with some of its most iconic proto-metal riffs during his tenure
06:25as the lead singer of Black Sabbath, Osbourne embarked on a massively successful recording
06:30career.
06:31Thankfully, Ozzy failed to derail and continued to churn out some of the greatest, most influential
06:36heavy metal the world had ever known.
06:42Case in point, Crazy Train was Ozzy's first single off his first solo album.
06:48Of course, he didn't do it all by himself.
06:51Ozzy benefited tremendously from the nimble fingers of guitarist Randy Rhoads, who died
06:56tragically in a 1982 plane crash aged just 25.
07:00So whenever you're shredding to Crazy Train, be sure to open with a moment of silence for
07:05the fallen musician.
07:06Number 4 Sweet Child O' Mine Guns N' Roses
07:14They were arguably the biggest band of the 1980s, selling out shows across the globe and living
07:28appropriately hard.
07:29While they didn't get to that place overnight, the runaway success of Sweet Child O' Mine
07:34certainly didn't hurt.
07:35Sweet Child took things to an entirely new level, becoming GNR's only song to hit number
07:41one on the Billboard Hot 100.
07:43However, despite providing the song with the guitar parts that would turn it into an anthem,
07:55the band's resident Axeman Slash initially couldn't stand it.
07:59Said Slash, I hated that song with a huge passion for a long time, and it turned out to be our
08:04hugest hit.
08:05So it goes to show what I know.
08:13Number 3 Freebird, Lynyrd Skynyrd
08:16This is one air guitar performance you'll need to make sure you have the stamina for.
08:28Although multiple versions of Freebird exist, the longest one, appearing on the 1989 hits
08:33compilation Skinner's Innards, runs just over 10 minutes in length.
08:37That said, Freebird never feels overindulgent, or long just for the sake of it.
08:50It tells a heartbreakingly fleshed-out story.
08:53That is, a story that takes five glorious minutes to wrap up, via a seemingly endless
08:59supply of red-hot guitar theatrics.
09:02Those come courtesy of twin guitarists Alan Collins and Gary Rossington.
09:07In short, Freebird's perfect blend of drama, emotion, and technicality make it a fantastic
09:12song to rock out to, sans an actual guitar, of course.
09:23Number 2 Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin
09:27What else can we say for this one?
09:35Except, well of course, regarded by countless critics as the greatest rock song of all time.
09:40And an impeccable demonstration of Jimmy Page's guitar mastery, Stairway to Heaven has more
09:45than earned its flowers over the years.
09:48The song is a bonafide epic, and without it, we likely wouldn't have such odysseys of rock
09:53as Freebird and Master of Puppets.
10:02Sure, Stairway to Heaven wasn't the first rock sweep, but its enormous outsized influence
10:07has inspired vast swaths of amateur guitar players.
10:11And that's what makes it a perfect air guitar rocker.
10:15It's got a little bit of everything, and executes it at the very highest levels.
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10:41Number 1.
10:44Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
10:46You're probably asking yourself, if Stairway to Heaven isn't number one, then what is?
11:00Maybe it's a somewhat unconventional choice for a list that's supposed to be about imaginary
11:05guitar shredding.
11:06But that's before you remember the way Brian May makes his Red Special sing in Rhapsody's
11:11Wailing First Guitar Solo.
11:20After the song shifts into opera mode for its second act, it gives way to the hard-rocking,
11:25head-banging section we all know and love, and for that alone.
11:29Bohemian Rhapsody earns our number one spot.
11:31For air guitar supremacy, it's not necessarily about how hard, how fast, or how relentlessly
11:42you play.
11:43It's about how you use your time in the make-believe spotlight.
11:46Which song on our list transforms you into a rock star in your own mind?
11:50Are there any we missed?
11:52Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
11:54Alright, alright, Alice, let's go!
11:55Flat.
11:56It's so flat, I can't even, I don't even know, you don't even look good while you're singing.
12:03The worst thing I've ever heard.
12:05This is $1,200 a week for voice lessons, and this is what I get?
12:09Okay, I'm gonna save it with the solo.
12:11I'm gonna have to rename the rock star overseas.
12:22I can't even draw my lips outdoors region until 3 or 5.
12:26You will see your right after I start of the Choices.
12:29And as you're gonna make friends, thank you.
12:30We're gonna make those two steps.
12:32Okay, thanks.
12:33We'll have eight seconds to help and to be taking so longлы.
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