Prince Reveals His 10 Favorite Guitarists

When it comes to naming heroes, Prince wasn’t too captivated by labeling others or even creating a list to summarize it all. As a beloved and well-acclaimed guitarist, his thoughts on anything music-related engages of high importance, no matter how vague or how refuting the artist’s sound on the idea of absorbing another man’s work to his.

But the “Purple Rain” singer wasn’t always shy about giving credit where credit is due. In the years inside his immense career, Prince tried to ignore the slightest possibility of naming his favorite guitarists. For him, originality should be the first thing in a musician’s mind, and he tried his best not to listen to other music in the midst of recording. Which pointed out the fact that indeed, Prince did have time to listen to songs if he had the opportunity!

Often viewed by many as the next Jimi Hendrix, he didn’t seem to have liked the idea of being compared to the talented musician since, for him, it had something to do with his race only. But he gave in when, in an interview with MTV, he said: “Hendrix is very good. Fact. There will never be another one like him, and it would be a pity to try.” He further added the comparison was strictly irrelevant since Hendrix plays blues, and instead connected his way of playing to those of Carlos Santana’s. “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,” he claimed.

Another musician on Prince’s list is none other than his all-time favorite, Joni Mitchell. Mitchell is often viewed as an underrated artist in guitar-playing, overshadowed by her excellence in writing songs. Mitchell became one of Prince’s greatest influences.

Grand Funk Railroad’s Mark Farner, Canadian guitarist Amos Garrett, and Boston’s Tom Scholz also laid the foundation for Prince’s groundwork. Pop and funk are two of Prince’s favorite genres, so it’s not shocking to know that the men who forefront the scene also took part in the musician’s growth as an artist. Among those were Terry Kath from Chicago, Freddie Stone from Sly and The Family Stone, and the underrated Tony Maiden.

But the most influential guitar player in Prince’s life was quite a surprise, considering the fact that his source of inspiration wasn’t even a guitarist in the first place. When asked in 1994 who he thinks his greatest influence was, Prince simply said the name of his bassist and his dear friend, Sonny Thompson.

“Sonny was my hero,” Prince said. “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. (Valium) ” Both drove each other to their fullest extent, so there’s no need to question why Sonny T was Prince’s all-time favorite.

Here are Prince’s favorite guitarists.

• Sonny Thompson
• Joni Mitchell
• Carlos Santana
• Mark Farner
• Amos Garrett
• Tom Sholz
• Terry Kath
• Freddie Stone
• Tony Maiden
• Jimi Hendrix