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Joe Perry
(Photo by Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images)

#48 Joe Perry
of Aerosmith

Joe Perry has spent most of his three decades in Aerosmith being compared to Keith Richards: as the guitar pirate and songwriting foil to Aerosmith’s own Jagger, Steven Tyler. But Perry’s admiration for both Richards’ riffing and Jeff Beck’s screaming leads was grounded in blues and R&B: Perry’s immortal pimp-roll lick in “Walk This Way” was a natural progression from Aerosmith’s early covers of Rufus Thomas’ “Walking the Dog” and James Brown’s “Mother Popcorn.” And everything Perry loves about Jimi Hendrix’s iridescent lyricism comes through in Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” one of the only power ballads worthy of the term.

Essential Recording: “Walk This Way,” Toys in the Attic (1975)