10 Greatest Left-Handed Rock + Metal Guitarists
We challenge you to name 10 left-handed rock and metal guitarists right now! Oh, you can't? Well, that's okay because we've done the heavy lifting for you and not only found 10 lefties in the field, but the 10 greatest!
According to the Huffington Post, around 10 percent of the world's population are left hand dominant, but we see far less than that percentage onstage. For the most part, there's no difference between lefties and righties on guitar, but it's always eye-catching and definitely can make for some totally sweet stage moves — we're thinking crossed axes, Steve Harris style gun battles from the sides of the stage, etc.
Jimi Hendrix was born a natural leftie, but his father demanded he play a right-handed guitar as being left-hand dominant was a sign of the Devil. With a rebellious rock 'n' roll spirit, he flipped the guitar upside down and restrung the instrument and played it the only way it felt... right. He only went on to become arguably the greatest guitarist ever, demonstrating a classic case of "Parents just don't understand."
While being left-handed has been linked with the Devil throughout history, it seems to have a natural fit in the scope of rock and metal and we're genuinely wondering why others haven't attempted to make the switch and play leftie all in the name of the Dark Lord. Maybe they fear they won't be able to contend with other greats like Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, Avenged Sevenfold's Zacky Vengeance or anyone else on this Loud List.
Now, watch the video at the top as we count down the 10 Greatest Left-Handed Rock + Metal Guitarists!
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