75 years of the Fender Telecaster: 12 guitarists who defined the Tele
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75 years of the Fender Telecaster: 12 guitarists who defined the Tele
By Barry Divola
May 30, 2026
75 years of the Fender Telecaster: 12 guitarists who defined the Tele
As Fender celebrates 75 years of the Tele, we take a look at 12 of its most influential players<br>Fender
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As Fender celebrates 75 years of the Tele, we take a look at 12 of its most influential players<br>Fender
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Fender recently celebrated 75 years of the Tele with a star-studded concert at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, culminating in a stage full of Teles - but only one of the players in this photo made our list of 12 influential pickers<br>Fender
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2026 marks the 250th anniversary of American independence from Great Britain, as noted by this special Fender Telecaster - in the hands of James Burton at the model's 75th birthday bash in Nashville recently<br>Fender
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Despite garnering unflattering nicknames like "the snow shovel," "the boat paddle," and "the plank" for its simplicity and no-fuss design when it was introduced to the public in 1951, the Fender Telecaster has proved to be an incredibly versatile instrument that morphs depending on who is playing it.<br>Across various genres, from rock to country to blues to funk to indie and beyond, the Tele has been at the center of popular music for decades. On its 75th birthday, let’s look at the guitar-slingers who took the Tele to new places and made it their own.
Albert Collins<br>Known as The Master Of The Telecaster, Albert Collins was both blues legend and wild-eyed showman, picking out licks on his 1966 Custom Tele, usually in an open tuning, with a capo on the neck. Check out this live clip from 1990 – few guitarists could look and sound this cool with their guitar slung so high, and with a dodgy-looking strap casually hooked over their right shoulder.
Albert Collins - If trouble was money
Muddy Waters<br>They call him the father of modern Chicago blues, a guitarist who traveled north from his home in the south, bringing his electrified version of the Delta blues with him and creating a whole new genre in the process. And Muddy Waters did it all on his distinctive red 1957 Telecaster that he nicknamed The Hoss. Here he is doing Honeybee, from 1970.
Muddy Waters - Honey Bee (1970)
James Burton<br>He’s a guitarist who has played a big part in the music careers of not one, but two guys named Elvis – Presley and Costello. James Burton also played on what is often regarded as the first Telecaster-fueled Top 40 hit, Suzie Q by Dale Hawkins. The guitar that is most associated with him is his paisley-patterned Tele, and you can see him almost setting it alight with his lightning-fast picking in this live clip with Presley in Las Vegas in 1970.
ELVIS PRESLEY - Mystery Train / Tiger Man (Las Vegas 1970) New Edit 4K
Steve Cropper<br>Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding; In The Midnight Hour by Wilson Pickett; Soul Man by Sam And Dave; Green Onions by Booker T. & The M.G.s. The list of ’60s soul hits fueled by guitarist Steve Cropper goes on and on. And after being immortalized as part of the band in The Blues Brothers movie in 1980, his star kept shining for decades, his trusty Tele as constant companion. Watch him make it strut and sing in this performance of Green Onions, playing to what looks like the squarest audience of 1967.
(1967) GREEN ONIONS - Live - Booker T. and MG's
Keith Richards<br>Some reports estimate that Keith Richards owns around 3,000 guitars. He once quipped, "Give me five minutes and I can make them all sound the same." One of his most prized is the butterscotch Telecaster Eric Clapton gave him on his 27th birthday that he named Micawber, after a Charles Dickens character in David Copperfield. You can hear the man they name The Human Riff give it a workout on songs like Honky Tonk Women and Brown Sugar.
The Rolling Stones - Brown Sugar (Havana Moon)
Jimmy Page<br>Led Zeppelin’s legendary guitarist may be strongly associated with the Les Paul, but on the band’s debut album, and later on one of the most famous guitar solos of all time – in Stairway To Heaven – Jimmy Page used his beloved 1958 Telecaster. The guitar was gifted to him by Jeff Beck, his former bandmate in The Yardbirds, and he famously painted a dragon on the body. It just about breathes fire in this performance of Dazed And Confused from 1969.
Led Zeppelin - Dazed and Confused (Supershow 1969) [Official Video]
Bruce Springsteen<br>Has any other guitar absorbed as much sweat as Bruce Springsteen’s Telecaster? Well, let’s backpedal a little. This guitar is called The Mutt for good reason. It has a Telecaster body and the neck of an Esquire, the precursor to the Tele. When he appeared on the...