Greatest rock riffs ever?

Chevelle--The Red

 

Music Machine “trouble”

 

Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis

 

Paperback Writer-The Beatles
Everywhere I'm Not-Translator
Frame by Frame-King Crimson
Middle of The Road-The Pretenders
All I Want Is You-Roxy Music

 

White Room - Cream

"Misirlou" - Dick Dale & The Del Tones

 

A few personal faves not yet mentioned:

"Wham Bam Thank You Mam" - Small Faces
"Fall On You" - Moby Grape
"3/5ths Of A Mile In 10 Seconds" - Jefferson Airplane
"Crazy Mama" - The Stones
"Heart Full of Soul" - The Yardbirds
"Ticket To Ride" - The Beatles

Aaron

 

Stone Cold Fever ~ Humble Pie
Heart Full of Soul ~ Yardbirds

* @doubleaapn you beat me to it as I was typing !

 

Mountain - "Never In My Life"

 

This may be a blues song, but the riff certainly rocks :

 

You need an excellent delay pedal and the skill to not listen to it while playing.

Robert Fripp is a monster player.

 

"I Will Dare" - The Replacements

 

Probably the best riff of the '90s...
(crank it!)

 

Same band's song "July" has a fantastic riff too!

 

It's the top "jock jam" of the 21st Century, apparently.

 

Oh, Hell Yeah.
Mine:
B.H.N.C. - Jef Lee Johnson
Racing To The Ruins - Syd Straw
Get Up (Sex Machine) - James Brown
Keith Richards

 

The Youngs basically wrote all of them.

 

Directly from my youth.

 

Jane- Jefferson Starship
Rock Steady- Bad Co.
Message in a Bottle-Police
Saturday Night’s alright for fighting- Elton John

 

Doors - "Love Me Two Times"

 

Surprised that three of my favourites have not been mentioned:

La Bamba - Richie Valens, which Dylan admitted begat Like a Rolling Stone

Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground

Hitch Hike - Marvin Gaye

 

And no one has identified the Bo Diddley riff ?!?

 

From my 2017 thread: Great Guitar Riffs that you never tire of...

THE WHO - EMINENCE FRONT

MEGADETH - SYMPHONY OF DESTRUCTION

SAMMY HAGAR - THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO ROCK

TED NUGENT - WANG DANG SWEET POONTANG

YARDBIRDS - OVER, UNDER. SIDEWAYS, DOWN

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - DOWN [MEDIA]

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS - WICKED GARDEN [MEDIA]

CHEAP TRICK - HOT LOVE THE BALLAD OF T.V. VIOLENCE (I'M NOT THE ONLY BOY)

PINK FLOYD - SHEEP

ERIC CLAPTON - PRETENDING

GNR - YOU COULD BE MINE

GNR - Welcome To The Jungle

AIC - Jerry Cantrell's Electric Guitar riffs in Your Decision

Grand Funk Railroad - Shinin' On

Bob Seger - Mainstreet

A Flock of Seagulls - I Ran (So Far Away)

Dire Straits - Sultans of Swing

Filter - Hey Man Nice Shot

Joe Walsh & The Eagles - Life In The Fast Lane

Most of ZZ TOP's TEJAS album. Then there's Tush.

-VAN HALEN -

I'M THE ONE
HEAR ABOUT IT LATER
LITTLE DREAMER
SOMEBODY GET ME A DOCTOR
TAKE YOUR WHISKEY HOME
GIRL GONE BAD
LITTLE DREAMER
THE FULL BUG

-LED ZEPPELIN-

Nobody's Fault But Mine
For Your Life
TSRTS (Live)

 

Whats the riff in Mr Tam man?

 

Satisfaction.

And How about Seven Nation Army?

There are a lot of postings here that exhibit a fine lack of understanding about what a riff is..But there are a lot of real good ones mentioned, too.