At 75, Joe Perry stands not only as Aerosmith’s defining guitar force but also as one of rock’s most enduring craftsmen, a musician whose sound bridges generations through a unique blend of blues feeling, rock swagger, and unmistakable tone.

In a recent in-depth interview, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer opened the vault on the musicians who shaped his identity, citing ten guitarists who formed the backbone of his style.

His list—spanning early blues architects, British innovators, and pioneering experimenters—offers a rare look into the foundations of one of rock’s most influential careers.

Perry’s earliest inspirations, unsurprisingly, emerged from the blues.

He built his technique on the principle that emotion should lead technique, and that riffs must be memorable enough to carry a song.

In his interview, he described growing up with limited access to concerts or instruction and relying instead on records, obsessively studying players who fused rhythmic confidence with melodic clarity.

Guitarists like Chuck Berry, B.B.King, and Duane Allman became his guides, offering a roadmap into how to inject personality into each note.

At number ten on Perry’s list is Chuck Berry, the man widely credited with inventing rock and roll guitar.

For Perry, Berry represented the foundation on which the entire genre rests: the merging of rhythm and lead lines, the creation of iconic intros, and the blending of attitude with musicality.

Perry studied Berry’s recordings as a teenager, internalizing the double-string bends, the driving rhythms, and the way Berry kept the guitar at the center of the music.

Berry’s introductions—concise, sharp, instantly recognizable—taught Perry that a guitarist could define a song within seconds.

It is clear that Berry’s combination of songwriting, performance, and technical innovation holds a permanent place in Perry’s understanding of what rock guitar should be.

Coming in at number nine is Jeff Beck, the British virtuoso known for constantly reinventing himself.

Perry emphasized his deep respect for Beck’s refusal to repeat the past, calling him the model for lifelong artistic evolution.

Beck’s fearless exploration of sound—from blues rock to jazz fusion to atmospheric instrumentals—showed Perry that the guitar’s possibilities were limitless.

He admired Beck’s mastery of the tremolo arm, his expressive phrasing, and his commitment to tone over technique.

Beck represented, for Perry, the ideal of the restless artist: always searching, never comfortable, forever pushing the instrument forward.

At number eight is Keith Richards, the architect of The Rolling Stones’ sound and one of rhythm guitar’s most influential figures.

Perry praised Richards’ ability to craft riffs that became the backbone of entire songs.

Richards showed him that rhythm guitar could be as powerful as any solo, emphasizing simplicity, groove, and the willingness to serve the song above all else.

Richards’ use of open tunings and weaving guitar patterns shaped decades of rock music, and Perry clearly sees him as a master of understatement—someone who made extraordinary impact through economical, unforgettable parts.

Number seven is Duane Allman, whose work with The Allman Brothers Band redefined Southern rock and slide guitar.

Perry admired Allman’s ability to combine emotional force with technical command, creating solos that felt both rooted in blues tradition and elevated by jazz-like improvisation.

Allman’s slide playing especially impressed Perry; the vocal-like phrasing, the sustain, and the sense of storytelling in every solo offered a model for building emotional intensity across extended passages.

Though his career was cut short, Allman’s influence remains profound in Perry’s approach to blending intuition with structure.

At number six is Jimi Hendrix, arguably the most transformative electric guitarist in history.

Perry highlighted Hendrix’s ability to reimagine what electric guitar could be, using effects, feedback, and innovative recording techniques to build a new sonic universe.

Hendrix proved the instrument could act as a full orchestra, capable of textures beyond traditional blues or rock vocabulary.

For Perry, Hendrix embodied the perfect union of showmanship, emotional depth, and experimentation.

His influence is felt in every guitarist who has attempted to stretch the boundaries of sound.

Number five is Eric Clapton, whose blues-based approach offered Perry a blueprint for phrasing, tone, and emotional subtlety.

Clapton’s work with Cream and Derek and the Dominos showcased a musician who bridged traditional blues with modern rock, and whose melodic sensibility elevated every solo.

Perry praised Clapton’s ability to make simple lines impactful and to express deep emotion without excessive technical display.

For him, Clapton represented purity of tone and the ability to communicate directly through the guitar.

At number four, Perry selected Jimmy Page, the mastermind behind Led Zeppelin and a guitarist whose influence stretches across composition, production, and performance.

Perry admired Page not only for his riffs and solos but for his visionary approach to arrangement and studio innovation.

Page’s exploration of alternate tunings, layered guitars, and textural diversity showed Perry that the guitar could serve the larger architecture of a song.

Page remains a model of the musician-producer hybrid, someone who shaped every element of a track from the inside out.

Number three is B. B. King, long regarded as the ambassador of the blues.

King’s elegant phrasing, vibrato, and emotional transparency resonated deeply with Perry, who credits King with teaching him the value of space and restraint.

King’s ability to say more with a single note than others could say with fifty shaped Perry’s own belief that emotion must guide technique.

B. B. King introduced millions—including Perry—to the heart of blues music, and his influence runs throughout rock’s evolution.

At number two is Stevie Ray Vaughan, whose explosive style brought blues back to mainstream prominence in the 1980s.

Perry admired SRV’s enormous tone, his relentless intensity, and his deep respect for blues tradition.

Vaughan’s ability to reinterpret classic blues vocabulary with fresh energy proved that the genre remained powerful and timeless.

Perry valued SRV’s commitment to authenticity and his role in reviving interest in older blues musicians.

Finally, at number one, Joe Perry selected Peter Green, the original guitarist of Fleetwood Mac.

For Perry, Green represented the ultimate fusion of technical skill and emotional purity.

Green’s warm tone, expressive phrasing, and melodic sensibility influenced an entire generation of British blues artists.

Perry spoke with particular admiration for Green’s emotional honesty, describing him as the player who most perfectly embodied the balance between heart and technique.

Green’s early work with Fleetwood Mac remains a benchmark of soulful blues rock and a defining inspiration for Perry’s own musical identity.

At 75, Joe Perry’s reflections reveal a musician who has never lost sight of the artists who shaped him.

His list is a tribute not only to technical brilliance but to emotional truth, reminding listeners that great guitar playing ultimately comes from the heart.