# The Saddest Guitar Solos Ever Recorded > The Saddest Guitar Solos Ever Recorded: #1 is Maggot Brain by Funkadelic, then While My Guitar Gently Weeps and Comfortably Numb. 19 solos, ranked. Canonical URL: Some solos show off. These ones grieve. Here are the guitar solos that sound like loss: Eddie Hazel's Maggot Brain, which George Clinton reportedly told him to play as if he had just heard his mother had died; Eric Clapton weeping on George Harrison's song; and David Gilmour's final solo in Comfortably Numb. Every video starts right at the solo, so you can go straight to the part that hurts. 1. [Maggot Brain](https://greatestsolos.com/song/funkadelic-maggot-brain/) — Funkadelic · solo by Eddie Hazel · 1971 2. [While My Guitar Gently Weeps](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-beatles-while-my-guitar-gently-weeps/) — The Beatles · solo by Eric Clapton · 1968 3. [Comfortably Numb](https://greatestsolos.com/song/pink-floyd-comfortably-numb/) — Pink Floyd · solo by David Gilmour · 1979 4. [Where Were You](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jeff-beck-where-were-you/) — Jeff Beck · solo by Jeff Beck · 1989 5. [Cause We've Ended As Lovers](https://greatestsolos.com/song/jeff-beck-cause-we-ve-ended-as-lovers/) — Jeff Beck · solo by Jeff Beck · 1975 6. [Still Got the Blues](https://greatestsolos.com/song/gary-moore-still-got-the-blues/) — Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1990 7. [Parisienne Walkways](https://greatestsolos.com/song/gary-moore-parisienne-walkways/) — Gary Moore · solo by Gary Moore · 1978 8. [Since I've Been Loving You](https://greatestsolos.com/song/led-zeppelin-since-i-ve-been-loving-you/) — Led Zeppelin · solo by Jimmy Page · 1970 9. [The Thrill Is Gone](https://greatestsolos.com/song/b-b-king-the-thrill-is-gone/) — B.B. King · solo by B.B. King · 1969 10. [Fade to Black](https://greatestsolos.com/song/metallica-fade-to-black/) — Metallica · solo by Kirk Hammett · 1984 11. [Beyond the Realms of Death](https://greatestsolos.com/song/judas-priest-beyond-the-realms-of-death/) — Judas Priest · solo by Glenn Tipton & K.K. Downing · 1978 12. [The Messiah Will Come Again](https://greatestsolos.com/song/roy-buchanan-the-messiah-will-come-again/) — Roy Buchanan · solo by Roy Buchanan · 1972 13. [Brothers in Arms](https://greatestsolos.com/song/dire-straits-brothers-in-arms/) — Dire Straits · solo by Mark Knopfler · 1985 14. [Still In Love With You](https://greatestsolos.com/song/thin-lizzy-still-in-love-with-you/) — Thin Lizzy · solo by Gary Moore & Brian Robertson · 1974 15. [Estranged](https://greatestsolos.com/song/guns-n-roses-estranged/) — Guns N' Roses · solo by Slash · 1991 16. [Floods](https://greatestsolos.com/song/pantera-floods/) — Pantera · solo by Dimebag Darrell · 1996 17. [The Sky Is Crying](https://greatestsolos.com/song/stevie-ray-vaughan-and-double-trouble-the-sky-is-crying/) — Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble · solo by Stevie Ray Vaughan · 1991 18. [For Mom](https://greatestsolos.com/song/buckethead-for-mom/) — Buckethead · solo by Buckethead · 1998 19. [Hey You](https://greatestsolos.com/song/pink-floyd-hey-you/) — Pink Floyd · solo by David Gilmour · 1979 ## Quick answers ### What is the saddest guitar solo of all time? Funkadelic's Maggot Brain is the solo most often named. Eddie Hazel improvised it after George Clinton reportedly told him to play as if he had just heard his mother had died. Pink Floyd's Comfortably Numb and Jeff Beck's 'Cause We've Ended as Lovers come up almost as often. ### Who played the guitar solo on While My Guitar Gently Weeps? Eric Clapton. George Harrison brought him in for the Beatles recording, and Clapton went uncredited on the 1968 White Album. ### Why do slow blues solos sound so sad? Sad solos use a lot of space, wide vibrato and string bends that go slightly flat or hold just short of the target note. It sounds like a voice cracking. Players such as B.B. King, Gary Moore and David Gilmour build whole solos on a few notes played this way instead of fast runs. --- 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/)