popular electronic game series developed and released by American companies RedOctane, Harmonix Music Systems, and Activision (now Activision Blizzard) in 2005. Utilizing a controller modeled after a guitar, Guitar Hero allows users to play an expansive collection of popular rock-and-roll songs by matching commands displayed on the screen by pressing corresponding buttons on their controller. Scores are determined by a player's accuracy and by the level of difficulty. The Guitar Hero series was a huge success, surpassing more than $1 billion of sales in its first 26 months.

Guitar Hero was originally inspired by the lesser-known arcade game GuitarFreaks and has spawned numerous local and national competitions, countless YouTube high-score videos, and a legion of fans. Guitar Hero II was released in 2006, followed by Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s in 2007, adding to the franchise's musical library and including an array of controllers modeled after the famous Gibson electric guitars. Guitar Hero: World Tour, which included a drum kit and microphone to go with the guitar, was released in November 2008.

Guitar Hero became a cultural icon. An episode of the animated television show South Park was created in homage to the game's immense popularity, and the Guinness Book of World Records has recognized the game's highest scoring players. Guitar Hero surfaced in the video for the hit song "Touch My Body" by Mariah Carey (Carey, Mariah), and rock group Aerosmith extended their hit library to Activision and received their own game, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.