Prince’s nine favourite guitarists of all time
“I haven’t had a lot of time to develop a favourite artist. I try not to listen to too many people. It’s distracting.” — Prince.
As the above may suggest, during his all-too-short lifetime, Prince, aka ‘The Purple One’ and perhaps the greatest moniker in rock history, ‘His Royal Badness’, wasn’t particularly forthcoming with his answers to some of the music world’s most tediously asked but so desperately wanted questions. One of the leading paint-by-numbers journalistic practices was asking Prince about the topic of his favourite guitarists. But, such was his prowess on the instrument; it was a question we all needed the answers to.
The famed singer, guitarist, performer and all-around musical impresario is far more than just a dedicated axeman. Nevertheless, he is still regarded as one of the instrument’s finest players the world has ever seen. It means his opinion on who he deemed to be the best is of serious value, no matter how hard it is to track down.
Pulling together a selection of guitar players whom Prince would have called his favourites is a lot harder than you think to compile. Prince remained largely tight-lipped about his influences throughout his career, only really noting that one artist was a true hero. Despite offering very little in the way of an indication of his favourite musicians, the singer did, on the odd occasion, break from the pattern and share a bit of his tastes.
For years, Prince ignored the questions asking for his influences until he finally cracked when speaking with Mojo: “When I’m working, I’m working. I don’t have time to… You know what? It’s such a drag to have musicians claim they never listen to the competition,” he said. “They’re liars, man. I mean, I know bands who in the press badmouth artists they revere in rehearsal. I don’t wanna be like that.”
Prince continued: “I crave great musicianship, and I don’t care who provides it. I’ve got no problems saying I dig D’Angelo. Or some of the things that Bjork does…the Cocteau Twins…Musicians, we’re family. I hope young musicians learn from me — my mistakes too — the way I learned.”
While this didn’t necessarily lead to an outpouring of his admiration for other artists, Prince famously asked his band to refrain from listening to music when they were recording; it did signal that Prince Rogers Nelson, despite his previous proclamations, was a music fan after all. The variation of his likes and dislikes hints at the mercurial talent he indeed was.
Below, enjoy a selection of Prince’s favourite guitar players of all time and an introductory playlist to help you get to know them.
Prince’s favourite guitarists:
Freddie Stone
The influence of Sly and The Family Stone is often centred on the band’s enigmatic frontman. But the truth is, without Freddie Stone the group simply wouldn’t have functioned well enough to reach the heights it did.
Stone’s guitar playing was integral to the sound that enraptured a young Prince as he began his musical journey. And it wouldn’t be the only thing the outfit offered him by way of inspiration. Funk rhythm inside a rock motif was all well and good, but it was the idea of band diversity that also spoke to Prince as he began to assemble his own group.
Freddie Stone is one of the underrated heroes of the band, and there is no doubt that Prince, ever the champion of forgotten players, would have found his work to be the lifeblood of the Sly and the Family Stone.
Tony Maiden
Another forgotten guitarist who arguably changed the entire direction of music itself is Tony Maiden. The six-string player for Chaka Khan, Maiden was at the forefront of the disco revolution, as guitars moved away from noodling nonsense toward floor-filling riffs.
Funk was now a part of the vocabulary for any guitar player, and it is hard not to hear the work of Maiden in Prince’s own adaptations of the sound. Most notably, his licks in ‘Controversy’ and ‘Kiss’ feel like a direct link to Maiden’s unique tone.
Maiden’s huge contribution to Prince’s world-dominating sound shouldn’t be underestimated.
Mark Farner
Take yourself back to the 1970s and you will find yourself searching for a unique rock band. The truth is, while there is a lot to be appreciated in the arena of rock music at the time, few were able to truly stand out. One band that did, however, was Grand Funk Railroad.
A powerhouse unit built on the distinct uniqueness of the group’s dynamic, the troop benefited from Mark Farner’s incredible guitar playing as well as his powerful vocals. As able to wail on either his six-string or his mic, there’s no doubt that his presence inspired a young Prince.
Perhaps the finest example of this is when Prince named his first band after the group, calling his and his friends’ band Grand Central in homage.
Amos Garrett
Sometimes, all you need to hear is one song to catch the influence of one player on another, and if you press play on Garrett’s solo for ‘Midnight at the Oasis’, you will understand how Prince found inspiration in the blues player.
To confirm the story, it has also been said that Prince, as a young prince-ling, would often walk around the school halls wailing out the solo by way of practice. It’s a joyous image and one that is easy to believe.
Garrett’s ability to switch into different gears on guitar, allowing himself to move up and down the power gauge, is something Prince ably adapted to. It’s part of why some people don’t quite understand just how great a player he was.
Terry Kath
Within this list, it is easy to see how the 1970s influenced Prince most of all. Least of all because he claimed to be really no longer influenced by anybody by the time he hit his own fame, but there are plenty of foundational stones of inspiration in this list.
While some have suggested Boston was a big influence on Prince, there’s also a nod to another one-city band by way of Chicago’s Terry Kath, a man whose solo on ’25 or Six to Four’ was the acid test for all guitarists at Prince’s high school.
Considering Kath was considered easily one of the best of his generation, it is easy to see how a young boy from Minnesota might have easily been affected by his unique six-string stylings.
Jimi Hendrix
So often compared to Jimi Hendrix during his time on the stage, it’s hard not to see how Prince could be inspired by the enigmatic guitarist.
Though he admitted that he missed the Hendrix explosion because “they were too old by then”, it’s hard to see a world in which Hendrix wasn’t revered by ‘The Purple One’ as one of his favourite guitarists of all time. He not only paid tribute to him but also covered the great man on a few occassions.
“Hendrix is very good. Fact,” Prince told MTV, but he was also aggrieved by the constant comparisons. “There will never be another one like him, and it would be a pity to try. I strive for originality in my work, and hopefully, it’ll be perceived that way.” In many ways, this desire for uniqueness is exactly what links the two men and arguably what makes Prince Hendrix’s nearest successor.
Carlos Santana
However, the comparisons between himself and Hendrix were, in his mind, irrelevant and only connected to his race. Instead, Prince always believed: “He plays different guitar than I do. If they really listened to my stuff, they’d hear more of a Santana influence than Jimi Hendrix. Hendrix played more blues; Santana played prettier.”
“You can’t compare people, you really can’t,” explained Prince, “unless someone is blatantly trying to rip somebody off. And you can’t really tell that unless you play the songs.”
While he might not have liked the comparisons, it is easy to hear how Santana was a gigantic influence on Prince’s more expressive solos. Less concerned with the machismo that seemed to be attached to the guitar, Prince was inspired by Santana to find a new, more delicate way forward for expression.
Joni Mitchell
There is, of course, room on the list of Prince’s favourite guitarists for perhaps his most well-known idol, Joni Mitchell. A far more skilled guitar player than her superb songwriting allowed her to gain credit for, Prince has always heralded Mitchell’s creative daring. Whether it was reckless open tunings on her songs or her jazz adoption, Mitchell remained a pertinent influence on Prince. ‘The Purple One’ even went to see Mitchell before he was famous.
Wonderfully, Mitchell is a fan of the singer too, often saying he is her favourite artist to ever call her an influence, telling New York Magazine: “Prince attended one of my concerts in Minnesota. I remember seeing him sitting in the front row when he was very young. He must have been about 15. He was in an aisle seat and he had unusually big eyes,” she said.
Adding: “He watched the whole show with his collar up, looking side to side. You couldn’t miss him—he was a little Prince-ling. Prince used to write me fan mail with all of the U’s and hearts that way that he writes. And the office took it as mail from the lunatic fringe and just tossed it!”
Sonny T
Without a doubt, the greatest influence on Prince as a guitarist and, therefore, likely his favourite of all time, was Sonny Thompson, Prince’s longtime friend.
When asked the question of his favourite guitarist in 1994, Prince picked his bandmate and bassist, Sonny T by saying: “I listened to everybody. My favourite of all time is Sonny T.” While bassists aren’t strictly included in this list, Sonny’s influence and ability on guitar are still the overriding factor.
“I thought Sonny was God,” says Prince in the 1994 conversation. “Sonny was my hero. A lot of what I do on guitar, I learned from him. I’d go over to his house and we’d play records and he’d show me things on guitar.” We’re glad he did, as, almost completely under the radar, Prince is rightly revered as one of the greatest guitarists of his generation, if not all time.
