Guitarists enter the Guinness World Record
A crowd of guitarists in Poland are entering the Guinness World Record, for the largest number of guitarists playing a track together. The southwestern Polish city of Wrocław broke its own Guinness World Record.
By Dimitris (Bari) Polyzois
7,423 guitarists gathered in the market square in a successful attempt to break the record for the number of people playing Jimi Hendrix's 1960s song Hey Joe simultaneously.
The previous record, set in 2018, was broken on Wednesday 30 May. Back then, 7,411 guitarists played Hendrix's song together.
All types of guitars were welcome to take part in the event. From acoustic to electric guitars, basses, mandolins, banjos and ukuleles. The result was a joyful, eclectic rock music festival in the heart of one of Poland's most charming cities.
Virtuoso guitarists, rock stars and the greatest hits of all time
Polish and foreign rock stars are invited every year to take part in the record attempt. This year they included musicians from the band Slade, Jennifer Batter, Stan Skibby, Jussi "Amen" Sydanmaa from the band Lordi, and Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer.
The artists confirmed to play at the World Guitar Record are joined by outstanding Polish musicians. On stage in Wrocław we'll see Łukasz Łyczkowski, a charismatic singer from the band 5 RANO. Together with Jan Borysewicz, he'll play Lady Pank's song. He'll also join Grzegorz Skawiński to sing Thanks Jimi. We'll hear Skawiński's guitar on Foxy Lady by Patrycja Markowska, who will play remotely.
The first record attempt took place in Wrocław in 2003 and gathered 588 guitarists.
It's described as "an annual guitar gathering where guitarists from Poland and beyond meet en masse to set (yet another) record in simultaneous guitar playing." The Thanks Jimi Festival has been held in Wrocław since 2003 as a tribute to Jimi Hendrix. The pioneering guitarist is recognised as one of the greatest singers, musicians and songwriters of the 20th century. He passed away in 1970 at the ominous age of 27.
