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Sad and shocking news today as we hear about the sudden death of Prince at the age of 57.
Prince was a very influential musician who played many instruments, but he is probably best know for playing guitar.
In 2004 the magazine “Rolling Stone” published a list of the top 100 guitarists of all time. When Prince didn’t make the list a lot of people felt the artist was snubbed.
Perhaps Prince himself felt a little overlooked as a guitarist because, in typical Prince fashion, he responded a week later when inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. As fellow inductee and “Rolling Stone” founder Jann Wenner watched on from the audience, Prince joined Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne and others for a rendition of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” where Prince played the ending guitar solo.
He struts and swaggers for the song’s last 2 1/2 minutes constantly turning up the heat as the song progresses. It’s a perfect performance fitting of a king. If you watch the video of the performance closely you might witness the awe other musicians felt when in the presence of Prince.
So, did Prince’s flamboyant guitar solo do enough to get the attention of “Rolling Stone” and place him their top 100 guitarists of all time? How does #33 sound?
He truly was rock royalty. Such a talented man who left us way too early….
Here’s the performance from the awards show: