The 25 Best Punk Rock Guitar Solos of All Time

Punk is known for rejecting the guitar solo, yet some of its most famous records turn on one, from Pete Shelley's two-note joke to Tom Verlaine's extended improvisations. The list covers proto-punk through hardcore and ranks songs by their appearances on published solo lists.

Informed by: Rolling Stone – The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2026), Classic Rock – The 100 greatest guitar solos in rock (2018), uDiscover Music – The Best Guitar Solos Of All Time: 108 Amazing Moments, Magazyn Gitarzysta – 100 solos of all time, Guitar Tricks – 200 Best Guitar Solos of All Time, NME – 50 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time (2017), NME – 10 Brilliantly Shambolic Guitar Solos (2012), Guitar World – The greatest guitar solos of the 21st century... so far, Musician Tuts – The 51 Best Guitar Solos Of All Time

1. 1
   Marquee Moon

   Television · solo by Tom Verlaine · 1977
2. 2
   Another Girl Another Planet

   The Only Ones · solo by John Perry · 1978
3. 3
   Search and Destroy

   Iggy and the Stooges · solo by James Williamson · 1973
4. 4
   Anarchy in the U.K.

   Sex Pistols · solo by Steve Jones · 1976
5. 5
   Looking at You

   MC5 · solo by Wayne Kramer, Fred "Sonic" Smith · 1970
6. 6
   Boredom

   Buzzcocks · solo by Pete Shelley · 1977
7. 7
   Tattooed Love Boys

   Pretenders · solo by James Honeyman-Scott · 1980
8. 8
   Venus

   Television · solo by Tom Verlaine & Richard Lloyd · 1977
9. 9
   Love Song

   The Damned · solo by Captain Sensible · 1979
10. 10
    EMI

    Sex Pistols · solo by Steve Jones · 1977
11. 11
    Complete Control

    The Clash · solo by Mick Jones · 1977
12. 12
    Blank Generation

    Richard Hell and the Voidoids · solo by Robert Quine · 1977
13. 13
    Banned In DC

    Bad Brains · solo by Dr. Know · 1982
14. 14
    Teenage Kicks

    The Undertones · solo by John O'Neill, Damian O'Neill · 1978
15. 15
    Personality Crisis

    New York Dolls · solo by Johnny Thunders · 1973
16. 16
    New Rose

    The Damned · solo by Brian James · 1976
17. 17
    Ace of Spades

    Motörhead · solo by Eddie Clarke · 1980
18. 18
    Holiday

    Green Day · solo by Billie Joe Armstrong · 2004
19. 19
    Rise Above

    Black Flag · solo by Greg Ginn · 1981
20. 20
    Holiday in Cambodia

    Dead Kennedys · solo by East Bay Ray · 1980
21. 21
    Born to Lose

    Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers · solo by Johnny Thunders · 1977
22. 22
    Youth of America

    Wipers · solo by Greg Sage · 1981
23. 23
    Eight Miles High

    Hüsker Dü · solo by Bob Mould · 1984
24. 24
    Let's Call It Love

    Sleater-Kinney · solo by Carrie Brownstein · 2005
25. 25
    Los Angeles

    X · solo by Billy Zoom · 1980