Slash, who turns 55 today, is the quintessential rock guitarist.
Best known as the lead guitarist for Guns N' Roses, London-born Slash has also played in Slash's Snakepit, Velvet Revolver, and Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators.
He's known for creating several iconic riffs including the intro for "Sweet Child o' Mine". That riff apparently started simply as a string skipping exercise that Slash played while warming up at a jam session. His band mates asked him to play it again and started arranging it to become the riff we know today.
In 2008, Guitar World ranked Slash's solo in "November Rain" number 6 on their list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos"
Here is Giovanni's version of that iconic solo: