# Still of the Night guitar solo

> John Sykes's guitar solo on Still of the Night by Whitesnake (1987) starts at about 2:58. From the album Whitesnake. Ranked #490 of all time across 80 lists.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/song/whitesnake-still-of-the-night/>

Whitesnake, 1987, from *Whitesnake*. Solo by *John Sykes*.

After a bowed-guitar interlude, Sykes unleashes a harmonic-laden solo on Whitesnake's heaviest hit.

Still of the Night is Whitesnake's heaviest hit, and John Sykes shapes it as much as David Coverdale does. The song drops into a moody interlude where he plays the guitar with a bow, an eerie, droning passage that clears the air before the storm. Then he unleashes a solo full of pinch harmonics, wide vibrato and fast, bluesy runs, with a thick, aggressive tone that sits right on the edge of metal. His phrasing blends British blues-rock roots with the precision of late-1980s hard rock, which is why so many players still study it. Listen for the squealing harmonics he tucks into the ends of phrases, little bites of noise that make the solo snarl.

Still of the Night by Whitesnake is ranked #490 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by John Sykes and the song was released in 1987. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #51 (Guitar Solo Legends).

## In our lists

- [The 25 Greatest Glam Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/glam/) — #8
- [The Best Whitesnake Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/whitesnake-guitar-solos/) — #1
- [Top 20 Guitar Solos of 1987](https://greatestsolos.com/list/best-guitar-solos-1987/) — #12
- [The 18 Best Hair Metal Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/hair-metal-guitar-solos/) — #9

## Sources

- [Guitar Solo Legends: The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — Ranked (2026)](https://guitarsololegends.com/) — #51

### Who played the guitar solo on Still of the Night?

John Sykes played the solo on Whitesnake's Still of the Night (1987).

### Where does Still of the Night rank among the greatest guitar solos?

#490 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 1 of them.

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