He deserves it. Nile Rogers is an amazing guitarist and has written more hits and sold more records than all the shredders in the world combined. Probably. I don’t really know. The point is he’s hugely influential, just not to metalheads. There’s way more to great guitar than shredding.
Doesn’t really matter. We all like what we like. Rolling Stone doesn’t enter in to it. No hate. They’re trying to make a living, just like everybody.
I’m not a metalhead. At. All.
Nile Rodger’s is certainly influential. Just not as a guitarist, and certainly not ahead of men such as SRV, Rhoads, Clapton, Montgomery, Christian, Reinhardt……and Les Paul !?!?
Absurd.
He’s hugely influential as a guitarist. But I guess not in a style that interests you.
I love metal, by the way. That wasn’t intended as an insult.
There’s no accounting for tastes, and I have no argument with you. I don’t consider having a different opinion to be a disagreement. I think Nile Rogers is a badass. Maybe you don’t. Fine with me.
I’m not just a metal head but a METAL!! head. And I think he belongs, I just don’t know where. In the top 40? Maybe?
But it is indicative of the list itself in that… It just doesn’t make sense. I’ve said that before but it bares repeating lol
We’ll agree to disagree on that one word.
This guy? I’d never really paid much attention to him but he seems like a pretty adept creative; some pretty decent chops in this one if we judge by fleetness of fingers alone! I mean, there’s no bleep blorp whoosh shred antics, but then again music is more of a language than it is an athletic endeavour I think… Not sure I give a s*** about “best of” lists, but thumbs up to this dude!
As for Nile he’s awesome, I’d easily put him in the GOAT rhythm guitarists conversation. (Which is a reason I find lists like rolling stones to be reductive we wouldn’t compare country/folk fiddle players to concert classical violinists, different idioms, different standards.)
When people think disco guitar he’s the guy. His work with Bowie on “Let’s Dance” with SRV handling lead is awesome (Bowie purists can fight me, it’s a good album)
More recently his work on Draft Punk’s final album is one of my favorite pieces of guitar work in a pop context of the last decade.
Side note is Daft Punk the only artist in history to include pedal steel guitar on what is essentially a disco song? Greg Leisz never disappoints. It’s cool they recognized it’s potential as a timbral bridge between the acoustic and electronic.
Nile Rodgers is an amazingly influential guitarist in the same way that the foundations are an incredibly important part of a house.
You don’t really notice them per se, but if they weren’t there, there’d be a lot of problems.
For the record - I never said he wasn’t influential. Just not as a guitarist, and certainly not in the top 10 of an all-time list of guitarists. He’s just not.
Tommy Tedesco is quite possibly the most recorded guitarist in history. He helped create and performed on hundreds of hit records.
Credits include the themes from Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, MASH and Batman. He played on The Beach Boys Pet Sounds album.
Every last one of us has heard Tommy Tedesco and been influenced by him in some manner. ….yet he’s not even mentioned….and Joni Mitchell is.
/massivefacepalm
The point isn’t Nile Rodgers’ presence. The point is the list is grade A prime excrement. I expect little else from Rolling Stone.
Perhaps that is because Tommy was a session cat (playing sheet music) and Joni headlined an influential band? 
I don’t read Rolling Stone, but they seem to be interested in influential artists who shake the industry, and not so much technical excellence.
Nobody is going to name Joni Mitchell as an influential guitarist. Except Rolling Stone.
Tommy Tedesco and the entire Wrecking Crew did not simply play from sheet music. Their contribution was well past simple sight-reading. They wrote many of the riffs others took credit for. Tedesco could read better than anyone - but another Wrecking Crew member, Glenn Campbell - couldn’t read a note.
Those cats made up some of the most iconic hooks ever.
Carol Kaye made up the bass hook for Good Vibrations. Basically on the spot.
Legends.
Brent Mason didn’t make the list either did he? Anyone that’s ever heard country from the late 80s onward has heard him. He might be the most recorded guitarist of all time.
Brooks & Dunn
Alan Jackson
Shania Twain
George Strait
The list goes on
If you don’t know, the story of The Wrecking Crew, you owe it to yourself to watch the movie.
Correct, he was snubbed. BUT he made the list in the OP that Troy was also in 
Much like @Ruefus mentioned:
I’m almost positive the same can be said of Brent. I read some quote from him, which I will misquote because this was 20+ years ago, something along the lines of “When you’re a studio musician you’ve got to pretend you’re part of the band. You have to play to suit the song”.
He’s a MONSTER player but he wrote plenty of just laid back but super catchy hooks.
I friggin’ LOVE how upset this list makes people. As if Rolling Stone mattered.
[insert American Choppers meme]
See…it’s like this…
The Spin list was better cause you couldn’t tell what was unironic and what was trolling.
Brent has a lot of recognition (Wikipedia); perhaps this is due, in part, to his playing his own music (Amazon)? He is an artist, studio musician, teacher, etc.
Brent is awesome, it could be argued irrespective of genre he’s the best “fits the song everytime” type player in history. You don’t get that many callbacks in Nashville otherwise.
