![[Full of legendary guitarists!?] Left-handed guitarists roundup [2026]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi_webp/hTWKbfoikeg/maxresdefault.webp)
[Full of legendary guitarists!?] Left-handed guitarists roundup [2026]
When playing guitar, the basic approach is to strum with your right hand and fret chords with your left, right?
However, there are guitarists out there who play the other way around—left-handed!
Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain are the most famous examples of left-handed guitarists.
In this article, we’ll introduce a wide range of left-handed guitarists from both Japan and abroad, in addition to those two.
Even among left-handed guitarists, styles vary: some use left-handed guitars, some restring right-handed guitars for left-handed playing, and others even play a standard right-handed guitar flipped as-is.
Each guitarist has their own approach.
Let’s take a look at some awesome guitarists while paying attention to their individual styles!
[Full of legendary guitarists!?] Left-handed guitarists roundup [2026] (1–10)
Smells Like Teen SpiritKurt Cobain
When people hear “left-handed guitarist,” many probably think of Kurt Cobain.
He’s so famous that it hardly needs saying that he was the frontman of Nirvana, the legendary rock band hailed as the epitome of grunge.
He mainly played Fender guitars, and many may especially remember him wielding a Jaguar or a Mustang.
In both cases, he used left-handed models of those electric guitars.
KagerouImai Hisashi
Since their debut in 1987, BUCK-TICK has continued with an unchanging lineup and celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2022.
Driving the distinctive B-T sound—which uniquely refines cutting-edge styles like new wave, post-punk, goth, techno, and alternative rock—is guitarist Hisashi Imai.
A multifaceted artist who composes the majority of the band’s songs, wrote many of the early lyrics, and even takes on vocals for certain tracks, Imai is known for a style that defies conventional “guitarist-ness.” The fact that he plays a left-handed guitar simply because it “felt right,” despite being right-handed, says it all.
In the early years, he and fellow guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino used Fernandes TEJ-series guitars and also Strat-type models.
Around 1989, when the band’s musical direction began to shift, he introduced a violin-shaped guitar nicknamed the “Maimai Guitar.” In 1997, during the period when the band moved boldly toward digi-rock, he used a special guitar equipped with a synthesizer known as the “Stabilizer.” His use of visually distinctive, instantly recognizable guitars is said to be influenced by Tomoyasu Hotei.
As a player without roots in traditional hard rock, he isn’t the type to showcase overtly “rock guitar” techniques like rapid-fire shredding; rather, he uses the guitar as one mode of musical expression.
There’s no question that Imai’s inexhaustible creativity—so uniquely his own—is one of the reasons BUCK-TICK continues to perform at the forefront of the scene today.
Little WingJimi Hendrix
Among left-handed guitarists, the most famous is probably Jimi Hendrix, also known as Jimi Hen.
It’s said that by holding a right-handed guitar as a left-hander, he created a unique playing style.
There’s even a theory that he could play right-handed guitars as well, which only deepens the mystery—but the impact he made is undeniable.
Danger ZoneTony Iommi
Tony Iommi is the guitarist of Black Sabbath, a band counted among the Big Three of hard rock alongside Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple.
Since their 1970 debut, he has played on every Black Sabbath album, and those unforgettable sounds and guitar riffs were born from his left-handed guitar.
It’s no exaggeration to call him a progenitor of all heavy music; his inventive playing remains as vivid as ever.
Bat CountryZacky Vengeance
A guitarist who is a founding member of the popular metal band Avenged Sevenfold, serving as the rhythm guitarist and backing vocalist.
He crafts the band’s core sound with tight riffs that create an edgy, modern metal tone, heavy arrangements that still highlight beautiful chorus work, and memorable melodies.
In rock bands, the lead guitarist often takes the spotlight, but it’s clear that Zacky Vengeance’s catchy rhythm guitar is what elevates the presence of the lead guitar.
He is a still-evolving musician at the heart of a band that has sold over eight million records worldwide.
Time BombTim Armstrong
Tim Armstrong, the guitarist and vocalist of Rancid—formed on the U.S.
West Coast in 1991—was born in California in 1966.
It seems he restrings both left-handed and right-handed instruments for left-handed playing and plays in a left-handed stance.
True to a punk guitarist, he looks incredibly cool with his guitar slung extremely low!
Oh, Pretty WomanAlbert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer born in 1923.
Alongside B.B.
King and Freddie King, he is known as one of the “Three Kings” of blues guitar.
A left-hander, he played a right-handed guitar flipped over with the strings still set up for a right-handed player, which is said to have contributed to his distinctive sound.