Let’s Rock: Texas Artists Who Dominated Guitar Hero Games

Guitar Hero...for many it was an introduction to many rock & metal bands we've come to know & love very much. I'm sure you or you know someone that still has that plastic guitar controller somewhere in your house. Since 2005, the Guitar Hero series is still regarded as THE music rhythm based video game out there & in every main game, we've seen countless songs by Texas bands appear in the GH series.

How many Texas artists are in the main Guitar Hero games?

There have been a total of 7; each have featured at least one or more artists. So let's start at the beginning with Guitar Hero, which had 4 songs:

• Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
• The Edgar Winter Group - Frankenstein
• ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man
• & Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Texas Flood

Guitar Hero II had a total of 4 Texas artists

• The Sword - Freya
• The Toadies - Possum Kingdom
• The Reverend Horton Heat - Psychobilly Freakout
• The Butthole Surfers - Who Was In My Room Last Night

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock - we saw a total of 4 Texas artists

• ZZ Top - La Grange
• Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover
• Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Pride & Joy
• Lions - Metal Heavy Lady

Guitar Hero: World Tour also had a total of 3 Texas artists.

• The Mars Volta - L'Via L'Viaquez
• At The Drive-In - One Armed Scissor
• Willie Nelson - On the Road Again

Guitar Hero 5 only had 1 Texas artist

• The Sword - Maiden, Mother Crone

Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock had the most Texas artists on the game disc than any other game; a total of 5 Texas artists.

• Flyleaf - Again
• Drowning Pool - Bodies
• The Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride
• Pantera - I'm Broken
• ZZ Top - Sharp Dressed Man (Live From Texas)

Guitar Hero Live/GHTV - While the game itself had none, the online service called GHTV, which allowed players to get even more songs. This allowed players to see 8 different Texas artists

• White Denim - At Night in Dreams
• Jamestown Revival - California (Cast Iron Soul)
• Hilary Duff - Chasing the Sun
• Pantera - Cowboys From Hell
• Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble - Cold Shot
• Gary Clark Jr. - Don't Owe You a Thang
• ZZ Top - I Gotsta Get Paid
• Flyleaf - New Horizons

We've seen some love shown in the Guitar Hero spin off games

Not all of them have Texas artists but here are the ones that DO:

• Guitar Hero: Metallica has The Sword's "The Black River"
• Guitar Hero Smash Hits - Pantera's "Cowboys From Hell", The Sword's "Freya" & The Reverend Horton Heat's "Psychobilly Freakout"
• Band Hero features Roy Orbison "Oh, Pretty Woman" & Hilary Duff "So Yesterday".
• Guitar Hero: On Tour features Los Lonely Boys "Heaven", ZZ Top "La Grange", Stevie Ray Vaughan "Pride & Joy"
• & Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades features Edgar Winter Group "Free Ride"

It's unlikely we'll see another Guitar Hero game come out; but at least we can pick our plastic guitar controllers...and play for old times sake.

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EDIT: This article was originally published on September 27, 2023