Ritchie was fond of guitars and guitarists since a very young age which is the main reason why he became one of the gem guitarists in the history of rock music.

Before Blackmore came to be known all over the globe as one of the legendary guitarists, he practiced a lot playing guitar after he got inspired by some of his rivals and favorite guitarists.

Like we all have the certain best people on our minds, Blackmore also had some of his favorite guitarists whom he personally appreciated. 

So who are they? Who are the best guitarists of the legendary guitar player, Ritchie Blackmore? Let’s dive in.

Jeff Beck

Jeff has succeeded in impressing millions of people with his amusing guitar-playing skills. In this huge world, only a handful of people can match his skills and this is the reason why he is popularly renowned as “guitarist’s guitarist. 

He is appreciated by all including the legendary guitarist, Ritchie Blackmore as we heard him admiring Beck’s skills and abilities in guitar. 

In the interview with Ritchie Blackmore Story(2015) for his documentary, he recalled his memories while he used to work as a session musician and played along with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck.

 There he stated “Then 64 or 65, I met up with him, we did a couple of sessions actually with him. One was with Jeff Beck, Jeff took the solo and everybody was raving about the solo. That was a really good solo.”

He also said when both of them were playing guitar at a time, they were looking at each other, and when Ritchie asked why was Beck looking at his hands. Jeff responded, “I don’t know where we are. I’m just following your chords”.

 Blackmore seems to have enjoyed his performance with Beck as he even  said “The Yardbirds with Jeff Beck were a challenge for a guitarist, but when Jimi Hendrix came, everything else next to him seemed gray and muffled for a moment.”

Born in Wallington, United Kingdon in 1944, Jeff Beck is remarkably the best guitarist who is a visionary, innovator virtuoso in a single person. Accompanied by marvelous vocals along with tempting guitar skills, he succeeded in winning the Grammy Awards for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Eric Johnson

Imagine how familiar is Eric with guitar as he succeeded in impressing Ritchie Blackmore who himself is one of the greatest guitarists in history. Eric is flooded with guitar skills and no one can deny this fact as we know even the most popular image like Blackmore appreciated him. 

Back in 1996, there held Q and A sessions with fans where Ritchie talked about Eric Johnson. During that time, he admired the insane guitar skills residing within Eric.

 According to him, when he got a chance to hear Johnson’s music, he was fascinated. Blackmore also explained that Johnson seems to be more peculiar than others as accompanied by his own natural flair to play and entertain. 

Ritchie believed that Eric would outclass all the other guitarists around them at that moment as he played guitar great despite not being a fast player. There’s no questioning why commended him as he is the legendary guitar player who won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “Cliffs Of Dover”.

The birthplace of Eric Johnson is Texas, Austin where a lot of legendary guitarists were born.

Gordon Giltrap

Gordon’s guitar play has left the entire world mesmerized as a result he’s one of the most respected guitarists of all time. Not only a music lover but he has succeeded even to amuse many music creators including Ritchie with his great guitar-playing abilities. 

Gordon himself stated that Blackmore sent him a sample of his guitar skill to be posted on his official site it said  “Anyone who asks me knows that I think that Gordon Giltrap is one of the best acoustic guitarists in the world. He was always way ahead of his time.”

It is also stated that Ritchie has learned a lot of clues on which strings should he use from Giltrap. Moreover, he uses Pre amp a lot, which bears his name. 

Not only that but Ritchie also gained knowledge on how to approach the acoustic guitar as an alternative to the electric guitar. Black admired Gordon so much that he bought all of Giltrap’s recordings which would help him develop the concept of how to play acoustic guitar. Richie even said  

I especially recommend some of the BBC recordings that he did for anyone who wants to hear the master on the acoustic guitar. His concerts and playing are breathtaking. He’s also very witty. And I love the fact that he has not cut his hair.”

Born in 1948, in Brenchley, Kent, England, Gordon Gilltrap is a heck of a talented guitarist whom Steve Rothery and Jimmy Page even praise. He is also widely known as one of the most revered guitarists to ever live.

Shuggy Otis

With the polished skills of using all kinds of instruments, Shuggy has grossed the entire world. What’s more fascinating is that he left all of us enthralled with his unique way of playing guitar.

 As he was widely popular all over the world, he grabbed the attention of one of the most fascinating guitarists, Ritchie Blackmore. His insane guitar-playing skills might’ve impressed Black more as we heard him glorifying Otis.

During the interview back in 1988 with Fuzz’s Paul Guy, Ritchie Blackmore was interrogated if any Blues players had impressed him or not. His answer was  “Yeah. I used to like Shuggie Otis a lot.  

He was the first one who came along for me and struck me as having – he didn’t just play the usual notes that those guys play, he played a bit more. It was very tasteful.”

Otis was even admired by Ritchie in an interview with Vintage Guitar magazine where he said that Shuggie was one of his greatest inspirations in Blues. Blackmore thought he was quite remarkable and was only 15 years old then.

 Shuggie was born in Los Angeles, California back in 1953 and is remembered for the track named “Strawberry Letter 23” which succeeded to top the Billboard R and B chart and ranked number 5 on Billboard Hot 100 chart during early 1977.

Mick Taylor

Mick Talyor has contributed a lot to the history of rock music as one of the remarkable guitar players.

Because of the insane guitar-playing skills residing inside him, he has worked with the most prominent images of the rock world such as Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and the Grateful Dead.

 Not only millions of audiences but even Ritchie Black considers him one of the most successful guitarists with skills that’ll leave you jaw-dropped.

It seems that Mick succeeded in catching the attention of Blackmore as he was one of the most proficient guitarists rivaling the skills of Ritchie. 

He noticed that he was falling behind when he realized that Taylor who was four years younger than him was renowned as an ace of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers who was located in the Rolling Stones.

Although he didn’t mention that Mick is personally not his favorite, he surely admired his guitar-playing skills. If Ritchie would be asked about his top ten favorite guitarists, he wouldn’t miss Taylor without a doubt.

Is Ritchie Blackmore one of the best guitarists?

Swamped with surprising guitar skills and abilities, Ritchie Blackmore is known to be the greatest guitarist of all time. His presence has inspired the world of music with his art of playing guitar.

The entire rock fandom and even Ritchie himself realized how much contribution has he made to music history as other top-notch guitarists stated that he was their idol despite being a youngster.

Who influenced Ritchie Blackmore?

One has to be surely influenced by others to become the best version of themself and the same thing happened in the case of Ritchie. 

He was influenced by none other than Jimmi Hendrix who himself was the greatest rock guitarist of all time and contributed a lot to bringing fire and emotion to rock songs that were unseen before and since. 

In a certain interview, Blackmore even stated about Jimmi, he said  “Hendrix inspired me,” Blackmore said. “I was impressed by Hendrix. Not so much by his playing, as his attitude—he wasn’t a great player, but everything else about him was brilliant.” “Even the way he walked was amazing.”

Why is Ritchie Black more known among the best-underrated guitarists?

Because of his tempting guitar skills, millions of people have been inspired to learn guitar. His skills and abilities are almost unmatched by others, so his name is never missed among the best guitarists of all time. 

The impressive fact about Blackmore is that Blackmore’s guitar-playing skills were so underrated that not only fans but he’s managed to inspire a lot of other guitarists.

He could impress anyone with his guitar skills, so he gained such a massive status and became renowned among the best-underrated guitarists.