Hendrix was good, but not Number 1. Personally, I think he is a bit overhyped.
I haven’t read the criteria by which these picks(no pun intended) were decided on.
I can only assume that the judges, which include many guitarists, decided on the choices based on, among other things, their personal preference, and the influence the guitarist had on their own career and playing.
I have to say likewise. Aside from the critically-acclaimed first album 'The Jimi Hendrix Experience', pretty much every other album he released until his death was garbage except for the appearance of one famous signature Hendrix track on each album.
You'd almost think that Hendrix only wrote six legendary tunes and then plotzed over dead from an overdose: Purple Haze, Voodoo Chile, Crosstown Traffic, All Along The Watchtower, The Wind Cries Mary, and Little Wing (Slight Return).
When's the the last time you've ever heard someone say they actually like any Hendrix tune but those six I mentioned above? Or can even NAME another track but those six?
PS: Rolling Stone flat doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. They panned every single Led Zeppelin album that came out on their release date, but they gave their highest critical award and endorsement to every single last Elvis Costello release ever produced. Elvis Costello is just awful, and the only reason Rolling Stone adores him is because everyone who works at Rolling Stone looks like Elvis Costello.
Rolling Stone is the most pretentious gathering of assholes on the planet. And that's saying something.