I think rock genre kind of created this with a lot of help from the Guitar Magazines. It was a way to sell magazines to young guitarists to see where their idols ranked.

Someone mentioned shredders on here. Personally the majority of these guitarists miss the mark for me. Playing 70 notes in 1.4 seconds, while impressive to some, sounds like noise to me. I have to hear melody. That is what makes me hum or sing a song all day. I have never heard a shred tune and tried to hum or sing the riff. Now think of some Gilmour solos. Ever hum those out? Chances are you have.