(Credits: Far Out / Allen Beaulieu)
Wed 18 February 2026 20:29, UK
After breaking out in the early 1980s with 1999 and later Purple Rain, Prince consolidated his position as a bonafide pop icon across multiple media. His affection for acting in cinema saw Purple Rain enter cinemas as a feature film. Subsequently, the star maintained a staple presence on MTV, with acting roles and a Batman soundtrack to boot.
Prince’s infatuation with acting, symbolism and extravagant stage production often distracted us from the fact that he was a genuinely gifted multi-instrumentalist. In one of his most impressive yet widely unknown accomplishments, Prince was credited with playing all 27 different musical instruments heard on his 1978 debut solo album. He was just 20 at the time.
Although Prince was a multi-talented instrumentalist, his weapon of choice was the electric guitar – if it was a purple, personalised symbol-shaped axe, then all the better. Naturally, Prince’s style was informed by a galaxy of disparate artists, but early in his career, he was reluctant to divulge in interviews.
Fortunately, in an interview with Mojo in the 1990s, he changed his tune for good. “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.”
“I crave great musicianship, and I don’t care who provides it,” he continued. “I’ve got no problems saying I dig D’Angelo. Or some of the things that Björk does…the Cocteau Twins…Musicians, we’re family. I hope young musicians learn from me — my mistakes too — the way I learned.”
(Credits: Far Out / Alamy)
Prince was often compared to a more polished update on Jimi Hendrix, where his guitar skills were concerned. “Hendrix is very good. Fact,” Prince once told MTV of the guitar hero. “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.”
While Prince undoubtedly appreciated Hendrix’s pioneering work in the psychedelic era, he was more directly inspired by other guitar icons. Speaking to his hometown publication, Minnesota Monthly, Prince offered further details on his musical education.
“You know the old KQ[RS] after midnight, that was the bomb station,” he beamed. “I’d stay up all night listening to it. That’s where I discovered Carlos Santana, Maria Muldaur, and Joni Mitchell. Was I influenced by that? Sure I was. Back then, I always tried to play like Carlos or Boz Scaggs [of Steve Miller Band].”
In his conversation with MTV, Prince continued to discuss the parallels drawn between himself and Hendrix. “If they really listened to my stuff, they’d hear more of a Santana influence than Jimi Hendrix,” he argued. “Hendrix played more blues; Santana played prettier. You can’t compare people, you really can’t, unless someone is blatantly trying to rip somebody off. And you can’t really tell that unless you play the songs.”
What emerges from Prince’s reflections is a quiet confidence in his own musical identity. He was never interested in outrunning comparison for the sake of ego, but in acknowledging lineage while carving his own path. By pointing to Santana rather than Hendrix, he subtly reframed the conversation around feel and melody rather than sheer virtuosity. It was a reminder that influence is not imitation, but interpretation.
In the end, Prince’s originality came not from denying his heroes, but from absorbing them completely. The late night radio discoveries, the admiration for great musicianship across genres, and the insistence on individuality all fed into a sound that felt unmistakably his. Comparisons may have been inevitable, but Prince’s body of work stands as proof that reverence and reinvention can coexist without contradiction.
Watch Carlos Santana shred at Woodstock 1969 below.