The guitarist so good Brian May couldn’t comprehend it: “Outside anything I could imagine”
No matter how much the world of guitar heroes may seem like a desperate scramble to be the best, Brian May insists it’s never about that. His list of favourites only reinforces this, with each guitarist bringing completely different capabilities, making comparisons pointless. As he once said, “I don’t think any guitarist should feel like they have anything to prove. It’s not a competition.”
When accepting this fact, appreciating the different flavours of guitar work becomes significantly easier. At the same time, it also becomes a whole lot more fun when looking at the varying attitudes that each musician takes when approaching the instrument, some appearing to see it as more of a means to an end, others regarding it more as a world-building tool; everything else comes second.
Interestingly, some of the biggest names fall into the former category. Eddie Van Halen, for instance, often seemed somewhat sheepish whenever anybody floated the idea of him being a world-class guitarist, instead opting for a more humble response that centred around the idea that anything he achieved with a guitar was simply part of a bigger whole.
For others, the instrument is the main attraction and, by extension, the focal point in their broader legacy. While the familiar sounds of Brian May are almost always entirely unmistakable, he has achieved what many strive for, emerging from one of history’s biggest bands as one of the industry’s most coveted guitar players, with a reputation and credibility commendable enough to float between different projects.
Like Johnny Marr, Nils Lofgren, and a handful of others, May has achieved the seemingly impossible feat of being a highly sought-after standalone musician whose relevance far surpasses his value within Queen. Perhaps this is why, when discussing his own heroes, his cherished favourites all hold different flavours of appeal, not one the same, confirming May’s fixation with guitar players with unique styles.
Expanding on this for Guitar World, May described Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix as his heroes and Eddie Van Halen as someone who made his jaw drop “every time he touched the strings.” He also said Steve Vai’s playing was “colossal, beautiful” while praising Jeff Beck’s abilities as “something so exceptional and outside anything you could have imagined.”
Pushing the idea that guitar playing isn’t a competition and no two are the same, he also praised Kurt Cobain’s style, saying that while his approach wasn’t that technical, he mastered the art of pouring his feelings and emotions into the instrument, resulting in a sound that was just as impactful as some of the more established players.
In May’s world, it doesn’t matter if someone possesses the technical precision or appropriate know-how so long as they are able to evoke an emotional connection. In many ways, however, this is also why he continued to be one of the more reputable figures, with an unparalleled ability to combine both emotional depth and instrumental intricacy.
