Steve Hackett

To many guitarists influenced by the progressive rock movement of the 1970s, Steve Hackett stands as one of, if not the high priest of the six-string. Hackett built a name for himself as a guitar-shredder during his career with the band Genesis, where he would go on to perfect a system of guitar playing known as "tapping" - a technique that many would often falsely attribute to Eddie Van Halen. Following Genesis front man Peter Gabriel's lead in the mid 1970s, Hackett would leave Genesis to pursue a solo career, allowing him to focus more on perfecting his guitar technique, particularly with classical guitar, on top of releasing several critically acclaimed progressive rock albums over the course of three decades.