Lonely Boy
The Black Keys, 2011. Solo by Dan Auerbach.
Auerbach's gritty solo is brief, but it fits the garage-rock minimalism that made the song a hit.
Lonely Boy runs on a stomping, fuzzy riff and a relentless beat, and Dan Auerbach's solo is short and gritty in the same spirit. He plays a few rough, bluesy phrases with a crunchy tone that sounds more like an old garage recording than a polished modern hit. There is no attempt at speed or flash; the solo simply adds another layer of grime before the song charges back into its hook. That minimalism is the point, and it matches the duo's back-to-basics approach to blues-rock. Listen for how Auerbach's tone breaks up slightly on the attack, and notice how the solo stays locked to the beat rather than floating above it.
Lonely Boy by The Black Keys is ranked #353 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Dan Auerbach and the song was released in 2011.
In our lists
Sources
Who played the guitar solo on Lonely Boy?
Dan Auerbach played the solo on The Black Keys's Lonely Boy (2011).
Where does Lonely Boy rank among the greatest guitar solos?
#353 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 1 of them.