John McLaughlin is a jazz fusion guitarist and composer from Doncaster, Yorkshire in England. He played with Tony Williams's group Lifetime and then played with Miles Davis on his landmark electric jazz-fusion albums In A Silent Way and Bitches Brew.

His 1970s electric band, The Mahavishnu Orchestra performed a technically virtuosic and complex style of music that fused eclectic jazz and rock with eastern and Indian influences. His guitar playing, includes a range of styles and genres, including jazz, Indian classical music, fusion and Western Classical music, has influenced many other guitarists. He has also incorporated Flamenco music in some of his acoustic recordings. The Indian Tabla maestro Zakir Hussain often refers to John McLaughlin as being "one of the greatest and most important musicians of our times".