Dimebag, Randy Rhoads and Tony Iommi Among Greatest Metal Guitarist Of All Time

5. Dimebag Darrell (Pantera, Damageplan): The most popular metal band of the first part of the '90s, Pantera cut through '80s hair metal to establish their own unmistakable style. That signature sound largely came from guitarist Dimebag Darrell, whose rhythmic attack and hard-hitting sledgehammer tactics proved metal guitar could shred wildly, but still groove. Tragedy struck on December 8, 2004, when Darrell, then 38, was shot and killed by a concertgoer during a club show in Columbus, Ohio. He'll always be remembered as one of the most significant engineers of modern metal.

3. Randy Rhoads (Ozzy Osbourne): With Randy Rhoads on lead guitar, Ozzy Osbourne's debut solo release, 1980's Blizzard of Ozz, had no chance to fail. The record was one of heavy metal's supreme releases, very much thanks to Rhoads' blistering playing. While other guitarists of the era emulated Eddie Van Halen,Rhoads stepped out on his own, incorporating classical music into his passages. His untimely death in a freak airplane accident in 1982 remains one of metal's biggest heartbreaks.