Guitar Superstar is a yearly competition hosted by the Guitar Player

Guitar Player

Guitar Player is a popular magazine for guitarists founded in 1967. It contains articles, interviews, reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists, genres and products. It has been in print since the late 1960s and during the 1980s, under editor Tom Wheeler, the publication was...

 magazine in which 10 finalists compete for the title of Guitar Superstar or Guitar Hero for the year. The competition started in 2005 as the Guitar Hero Competition but was changed in 2008 to the current title, probably to avoid confusion with the Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero

Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

video game series.

Guitar Hero 05

Held at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...

 in Cleveland, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, on June 10, 2005.

Judges: Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani

Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...

, Steve Lukather

Steve Lukather

Steve "Luke" Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto. Lukather has played with many artists, released several solo albums, and worked as a composer, arranger, and session guitarist on more than 1,500 albums...

, Trevor Lukather, DJ Munch, and Jude Gold.

Guitar Hero 06

Held at the Great American Music Hall

Great American Music Hall

The Great American Music Hall is a concert hall in San Francisco, California. It is located on O'Farrell Street in the Tenderloin neighborhood on the same block as the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater...

 in San Francisco, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, on September 23, 2006.

Video of the competition on Guitar Player TV

Finalists:

• Trey Alexander
  Trey Alexander
  Robert "Trey" Alexander is an American soccer player, currently without a club.-College and Amateur:...
  
   (First Place) (video)
• Patrick Woods (Second Place) (video)
• David Powers (Third Place) (video)
• Joshua Karickhoff
• Joe Cefalu
• Nathan Hahn
• Ed DeGenaro
• Ron LoCurto
• Sergei Roudzinski
• Anton Tsygankov

Judges: Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani

Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...

, Steve Lukather

Steve Lukather

Steve "Luke" Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto. Lukather has played with many artists, released several solo albums, and worked as a composer, arranger, and session guitarist on more than 1,500 albums...

, Richie Kotzen

Richie Kotzen

Richie Kotzen is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.At a young age, Richie Kotzen was taken by music and first began playing piano at the age of five. At the age of seven he was inspired by the band KISS to learn the electric guitar...

, Rafael Moreira

Rafael Moreira

Rafael Moreira is a Brazilian-American guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist / vocalist on the hit CBS television shows Rock Star: INXS and Rock Star: Supernova, and most recently on MTV'S Rock the Cradle...

, Shredmistress Rynata, and Steve Read.

Guitar Hero 07

Held at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California, on October 12, 2007.

Video of the competition.

Finalists:

• Ladd Smith (Nashville
  Nashville, Tennessee
  Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
  
  , Tennessee
  Tennessee
  Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
  
  ) (First Place) (video)
• Les Robot (real name: Cory Melnychuk) (Edmonton
  Edmonton
  Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
  
  , Alberta
  Alberta
  Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
  
  ) (Second Place) (video)
• Danny B. Harvey (Canyon Country, California
  California
  California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
  
  ) (Third Place) (video)
• Jamie Robinson (Toronto
  Toronto
  Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
  
  , Ontario
  Ontario
  Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
  
  )
• Juan Coronado (Whitby, Ontario
  Whitby, Ontario
  Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region...
  
  )
• Tony Smotherman (Jacksonville, Florida
  Florida
  Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
  
  )
• Taka Minamino (Hollywood, California)
• Curtis Fornadley (Playa Del Rey, California)
• Casey Harshbarger (Indianapolis
  Indianapolis
  Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
  
  , Indiana
  Indiana
  Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
  
  )
• Chris Peters (Orlando
  Orlando, Florida
  Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
  
  , Florida)

Judges: Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani

Joseph "Joe" Satriani is an American instrumental rock guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, with multiple Grammy Award nominations...

, Steve Lukather

Steve Lukather

Steve "Luke" Lukather is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer best known for his work with the rock band Toto. Lukather has played with many artists, released several solo albums, and worked as a composer, arranger, and session guitarist on more than 1,500 albums...

, Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Duarte Gil Mendes Bettencourt is a Portuguese guitarist and singer-songwriter best known for his role as the lead guitarist of the Boston rock band Extreme whose hits include the acoustic ballads "More Than Words" and "Hole Hearted"...

, Elliot Easton

Elliot Easton

Elliot Easton plays lead guitar and sings backing vocals for The Cars. His guitar solos are integral part of the band's hit singles. He studied music at the Berklee College of Music...

, Greg Howe

Greg Howe

Gregory "Greg" Howe is an American guitarist and composer. As an active musician for nearly thirty years, he has released nine studio albums in addition to collaborating with a wide variety of artists.-Recording career:...

, and Mike Varney

Mike Varney

Mike Varney is an American musician, record producer, music publisher and impresario. He is the founder of the Shrapnel Label Group, which includes Shrapnel Records, Tone Center Records and Blues Bureau International. He also has a 50% stake in Magna Carta Records, a New York-based label...

.

Host: Brendon Small

Brendon Small

Brendon Small is an American sitcom writer/producer, actor, comedian, voice actor, composer, and musician...

.

Guitar Hero 06 winner Trey Alexander

Trey Alexander

Robert "Trey" Alexander is an American soccer player, currently without a club.-College and Amateur:...

 also came back to battle Guitar Hero III expert Mark Johnson. Johnson played Lay Down

Hello Master

Lay Down redirects here. For the song by Melanie, see Lay Down .-Video game appearances:"No Real Pain" is featured on the soundtrack for the video game Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam. "Talk to Her" is featured on the soundtrack to the video game NHL 07...

 by Priestess

Priestess (band)

Priestess is a Canadian stoner rock band formed in 2003 by Mikey Heppner , Mike Dyball , Vince Nudo , and Dan Watchorn .-Biography:...

 on GH3 while Alexander played the riffs with his Peavey HP Special.

Guitar Superstar 08

Was held at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, California, on September 13, 2008.

Finalists:

• Vicki Genfan (Winner)
• Daddo Oreskovich (First Runner-Up)
• Makana (Second Runner-Up)
• Dan Peters
• Eric Barnett
• Mark Orlando

Judges: Joe Satriani, George Lynch, Steve Vai, Elliot Easton and Brendon Small.

Host: Andy Summers

Andy Summers

Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...