# The 25 Best Pop Guitar Solos of All Time > The 25 best pop guitar solos of all time, ranked. #1 is Beat It by Michael Jackson, then Purple Rain and Rosanna. Every video starts at the solo. Canonical URL: Pop records rarely leave room for a guitar solo, which is why the ones that made it tend to be memorable: short, melodic and often played by a guest from the rock world. This list favours solos that critics and guitar magazines keep returning to, alongside big hits where the guitar break became part of the song's identity. Informed by: [Rolling Stone – The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitar-solos-1235519961/), [Guitar World – The 50 greatest guitar solos of all time](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-50-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time), [Guitar Player – The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (readers' poll)](https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-all-time), [NME – 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.nme.com/lists/50-greatest-guitar-solos-1255), [uDiscover Music – The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time](https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-guitar-solos-ever/), [Guitar Tricks – 200 Best Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.guitartricks.com/blog/200-Best-Guitar-Solos-of-All-Time), [guitarguitar – Top 50 Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.guitarguitar.co.uk/news/141664/), [Classic Rock (Louder) – The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock](https://www.loudersound.com/features/the-100-greatest-guitar-solos-in-rock), [Far Out – 10 pop songs with outrageously good guitar solos](https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/10-pop-songs-with-outrageously-good-guitar-solos/), [Bombay Lives – 100 Greatest Guitar Solos](https://bombaylives.substack.com/p/100-greatest-guitar-solos), [American Songwriter – 4 low-key brilliant guitar solos from 80s classic hits](https://americansongwriter.com/4-low-key-brilliant-guitar-solos-from-80s-classic-hits/), [Magazyn Gitarzysta – 100 solos of all time](https://magazyngitarzysta.pl/muzyka/wywiady/1928-100-solowek-wszech-czasow), [JazzFuel – The Most Famous Pop Guitar Solos in History](https://jazzfuel.com/pop-guitar-solos/), [Guitar World – The greatest guitar solos of the 21st century](https://www.guitarworld.com/features/the-greatest-guitar-solos-of-the-21st-century-so-far) 1. [Beat It](https://greatestsolos.com/song/michael-jackson-beat-it/) — Michael Jackson · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1982 2. [Purple Rain](https://greatestsolos.com/song/prince-purple-rain/) — Prince · solo by Prince · 1984 3. [Rosanna](https://greatestsolos.com/song/toto-rosanna/) — Toto · solo by Steve Lukather · 1982 4. [Let's Dance](https://greatestsolos.com/song/david-bowie-lets-dance/) — David Bowie · solo by Stevie Ray Vaughan · 1983 5. [Little Red Corvette](https://greatestsolos.com/song/prince-little-red-corvette/) — Prince · solo by Dez Dickerson · 1983 6. [Gravity](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-mayer-gravity/) — John Mayer · solo by John Mayer · 2006 7. [Jump](https://greatestsolos.com/song/van-halen-jump/) — Van Halen · solo by Eddie Van Halen · 1984 8. [Private Dancer](https://greatestsolos.com/song/tina-turner-private-dancer/) — Tina Turner · solo by Jeff Beck · 1984 9. [Running with the Night](https://greatestsolos.com/song/lionel-richie-running-with-the-night/) — Lionel Richie · solo by Steve Lukather · 1983 10. [Dirty Diana](https://greatestsolos.com/song/michael-jackson-dirty-diana/) — Michael Jackson · solo by Steve Stevens · 1987 11. [Everybody Wants to Rule the World](https://greatestsolos.com/song/tears-for-fears-everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world/) — Tears for Fears · solo by Neil Taylor · 1985 12. [Let's Go Crazy](https://greatestsolos.com/song/prince-and-the-revolution-lets-go-crazy/) — Prince and the Revolution · solo by Prince · 1984 13. [My Love](https://greatestsolos.com/song/paul-mccartney-and-wings-my-love/) — Paul McCartney and Wings · solo by Henry McCullough · 1973 14. [Hot Stuff](https://greatestsolos.com/song/donna-summer-hot-stuff/) — Donna Summer · solo by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter · 1979 15. [Give In to Me](https://greatestsolos.com/song/michael-jackson-give-in-to-me/) — Michael Jackson · solo by Slash · 1991 16. [Faith](https://greatestsolos.com/song/george-michael-faith/) — George Michael · solo by Hugh Burns · 1987 17. [You and I](https://greatestsolos.com/song/lady-gaga-you-and-i/) — Lady Gaga · solo by Brian May · 2011 18. [I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man](https://greatestsolos.com/song/prince-i-could-never-take-the-place-of-your-man/) — Prince · solo by Prince · 1987 19. [Rebel Yell](https://greatestsolos.com/song/billy-idol-rebel-yell/) — Billy Idol · solo by Steve Stevens · 1983 20. [Maniac](https://greatestsolos.com/song/michael-sembello-maniac/) — Michael Sembello · solo by Michael Sembello · 1983 21. [No More Lonely Nights](https://greatestsolos.com/song/paul-mccartney-no-more-lonely-nights/) — Paul McCartney · solo by David Gilmour · 1984 22. [Slow Dancing in a Burning Room](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-mayer-slow-dancing-in-a-burning-room/) — John Mayer · solo by John Mayer · 2006 23. [Gypsy](https://greatestsolos.com/song/fleetwood-mac-gypsy/) — Fleetwood Mac · solo by Lindsey Buckingham · 1982 24. [In Repair](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-mayer-in-repair/) — John Mayer · solo by John Mayer · 2006 25. [While My Guitar Gently Weeps](https://greatestsolos.com/song/prince-while-my-guitar-gently-weeps/) — Prince · solo by Prince · 2004 --- GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)