Outro: Songs That End With a Solo · #1 of 20
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Hotel California

Eagles · 1976 · solo by Don Felder & Joe Walsh
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The Best Outro Guitar Solos: Songs That End With a Solo

Some songs save the best for last. These are the great outro solos, where the vocals are done and the guitar takes the song home: the twin-guitar coda of Hotel California, Gilmour's closing solo on Comfortably Numb, the Free Bird run-out and Prince closing Purple Rain. Normally you have to wait until the last minutes of the track. Every video here starts right at the solo.

  1. 1
    Hotel California
    Eagles · solo by Don Felder & Joe Walsh · 1976
  2. 2
    Free Bird
    Lynyrd Skynyrd · solo by Allen Collins & Gary Rossington · 1973
  3. 3
    Comfortably Numb
    Pink Floyd · solo by David Gilmour · 1979
  4. 4
    Layla
    Derek and the Dominos · solo by Eric Clapton & Duane Allman · 1970
  5. 5
    Sultans of Swing
    Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1978
  6. 6
    November Rain
    Guns N' Roses · solo by Slash · 1991
  7. 7
    Purple Rain
    Prince · solo by Prince · 1984
  8. 8
    Starship Trooper
    Yes · solo by Steve Howe · 1971
  9. 9
    Moonage Daydream
    David Bowie · solo by Mick Ronson · 1972
  10. 10
    Rosanna
    Toto · solo by Steve Lukather · 1982
  11. 11
    Let's Go Crazy
    Prince and the Revolution · solo by Prince · 1984
  12. 12
    Alive
    Pearl Jam · solo by Mike McCready · 1991
  13. 13
    Brothers in Arms
    Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1985
  14. 14
    Tunnel of Love
    Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1980
  15. 15
    Telegraph Road
    Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1982
  16. 16
    Can't You Hear Me Knocking
    The Rolling Stones · solo by Mick Taylor · 1971
  17. 17
    I Am The Resurrection
    The Stone Roses · solo by John Squire · 1989
  18. 18
    White Room
    Cream · solo by Eric Clapton · 1968
  19. 19
    Kid Charlemagne
    Steely Dan · solo by Larry Carlton · 1976
  20. 20
    Life in the Fast Lane
    Eagles · solo by Joe Walsh · 1976

Quick answers

What song has the best guitar solo at the end?

Hotel California and Free Bird are the most common answers. Both are in the top five of our Consensus 100, which combines 79 published rankings, and Comfortably Numb sits at number two. All three end with their biggest solo.

What is an outro solo?

An outro solo is a guitar solo that plays over the ending of a song, usually after the last verse or chorus. It often runs until the song ends or fades out. Unlike a mid-song solo, it doesn't have to hand back to the vocals, so it can build for longer.

Who plays the outro solo on Hotel California?

Don Felder and Joe Walsh trade lines and then play harmonized twin-guitar parts over the song's closing chord progression.