For 30 years, Guitar World magazine has served as North America's leading publication for rock guitarists -- and with more than 325 issues under its belt, the world's best-selling guitar magazine is showing no signs of slowing down. In this extraordinary book, the complete history of Guitar World is chronicled -- from July 1980, when the very first issue, which featured Johnny Winter on its cover, took the guitar playing community by storm, to issues from 2010 which featured the likes of Jimi Hendrix, John Mayer, Keith Richards and many other guitar icons. In addition to detailing the magazine's storied history, The Complete History of Guitar World features many of Guitar World's most legendary interviews. Frank Zappa, Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Kurt Cobain, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton are just some of the names who sat with us for in-depth interviews over the years, and you can read the transcripts of these revealing conversations here. Plus, go behind the scenes of such monumental events in rock and roll as Nirvana's Unplugged performance, the funeral for Stevie Ray Vaughan and the making of Led Zeppelin IV, and see some of the great dual-interviews we orchestrated over the years: Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck, Tony Iommi and James Hetfield, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani and many others. See every GW cover ever published with information about each issue, every issue of Guitar Legends and every issue of the Guitar World Buyer's Guide. There's also a complete transcription list, great behind-the-scenes stories, shocking mistakes and more! Rock music has gone through many changes since 1980 -- bands have come and gone, musical styles have shifted, heroes have fallen -- and through it all, Guitar World has been there, reporting on the events of the day and interviewing the musicians who keep the genre alive. And it’s all here, in The Complete History of Guitar World. This 300-plus page book is available now in the Guitar World Online Store. Click here to order your copy today! Sample images from The Complete History of Guitar World:
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As a teenager, Jeff Kitts began his career in the mid ’80s as editor of an underground heavy metal fanzine in the bedroom of his parents’ house. From there he went on to write for countless rock and metal magazines around the world – including Circus, Hit Parader, Metal Maniacs, Rock Power and others – and in 1992 began working as an assistant editor at Guitar World. During his 27 years at Guitar World, Jeff served in multiple editorial capacities, including managing editor and executive editor before finally departing as editorial director in 2018. Jeff has authored several books and continues to write for Guitar World and other publications and teaches English full time in New Jersey. His first (and still favorite) guitar was a black Ibanez RG550.
