Twisted Sister frontman Dee Snider sparked a heated debate over the greatest guitarist of all time. He declared Jimi Hendrix the undisputed best in a series of posts shared on X (formerly Twitter).
Snider made his position clear by ranking Hendrix above all others, including Eric Clapton. He pushed back firmly against fans who argued Joe Satriani or Eddie Van Halen held a higher place.
“#1 [Jimi Hendrix] & #2 [Eric Clapton] influenced all the rest,” Snider said. “#2 [Eric Clapton] was terrified by #1 [Jimi Hendrix]’s abilities & proficiencies. Legend has it he didn’t even want to come out of his dressing room after hearing him for the first time. They are all amazing… But JIMI HENDRIX IS THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME!”
When a fan suggested Joe Satriani surpassed Hendrix, Snider was quick to respond.
“Satch would bow down before Hendrix if he ever got to meet him,” Snider said. “They all would.”
Another fan then brought Eddie Van Halen into the conversation, noting Satriani’s admiration for Van Halen’s playing. Snider acknowledged Van Halen’s impact while still holding firm on Hendrix’s supremacy.
“Eddie Van Halen took everything to a whole other level!” Snider said.
The exchange reflects an ongoing conversation in the rock community about the hierarchy of guitar legends. Snider made his stance unambiguous throughout the debate.
Snider’s reference to Clapton’s intimidation is rooted in one of rock history’s most well-documented moments — the night Hendrix arrived in London and immediately upended the established guitar hierarchy. The story has been retold for decades as a defining example of Hendrix’s overwhelming impact on his peers.
As Open Culture reported, when Hendrix arrived in London in 1966, he asked to get onstage with Cream, the band Clapton fronted at the time. Most musicians would have been too intimidated by Cream’s reputation as the best band in Britain to make such a bold move — but Hendrix was not most musicians. His performance that night left Clapton visibly shaken.
Guitar Player noted that rather than retreating from the challenge Hendrix posed, Clapton ultimately forged a friendship with him. Clapton even began adapting his own style in response, plugging into a wah pedal and rethinking his approach to the electric guitar — a testament to how profoundly Hendrix forced even the best players of the era to evolve.
The two musicians’ relationship deepened over the years. American Blues Scene reported that Clapton was in awe of Hendrix’s talent, and the pair bonded over music and mutual admiration. Hendrix’s death in September 1970 left Clapton devastated — a grief made more poignant by the fact that Clapton had purchased a left-handed Fender Stratocaster as a gift for Hendrix just days before his passing.
Hendrix’s influence extended far beyond Clapton. iHeart’s Rivals podcast highlighted how Hendrix transformed rock guitar technique into a more expressive, lead-driven style through his pioneering use of feedback, distortion, wah, and improvisation. That approach shaped the entire generation of guitar heroes who followed — including the very players Snider’s fans were championing in the debate.
Joe Satriani and Eddie Van Halen both emerged from a world that Hendrix fundamentally reshaped. While their technical achievements are widely celebrated, the foundation they built upon was laid by Hendrix — a point Snider appeared determined to make clear throughout the exchange.
