(Credits: Far Out / Allen Beaulieu)
Sun 31 August 2025 23:30, UK
Reader, I have a theory about Prince that I would like to share, if you would be so kind as to indulge me for a moment.
Prince is one of the most underrated musicians on the planet. “Well, how could that be?” I hear you ask. “How can you call one of the most famous musicians on the planet, who had multiple classic albums, overrated?” Yeah, I suppose that’s a fair point, but ask yourself this: When people talk about the greatest songwriters, guitarists, vocalists and performers of all time, there are a number of classic names that come up pretty quickly, but Prince’s doesn’t. Why?
My theory is that Prince was such a unique presence within the creative world that people didn’t judge him in the same way that they judged other artists. If you had a guitarist like Slash come along, people compared him to other guitarists in order to judge his merit, such as Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. When you had a new songwriter make tracks, people would hold their work up in the light of the likes of Bob Dylan and John Lennon. Prince doesn’t fit into the one specific lane of guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, etc, which means when people consider his work, the only artist they can compare Prince to is… Prince himself.
When he passed away, the famous video of him playing the guitar solo on the cover of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ started doing the rounds, and people’s comments all emulated one another. People watched in shock, unaware just how exceptional a guitarist Prince was, as they asked whether or not he might be one of the greatest to pick up a six string.
How did people not recognise his ability? The evidence was always there, both in his live show and his studio recordings, so why didn’t people talk about him as a great guitarist? It’s simple, because nobody saw him as just a guitarist. Similarly, nobody saw him as just a songwriter or just a vocalist either, but when you separate these aspects of Prince, rather than thinking of him as the full package, you realise how much he excels in all these individual fields.
Focusing specifically on Prince’s guitar-playing ability, he was a sucker for a great guitar line and a good solo. He loved listening to the shredding abilities of musicians like Jimmy Page, and he also encouraged the guitarists in his band to push themselves creatively, not to feel burdened by creative restrictions but instead to try and pierce through them.
“Jimmy Page is cool. But he couldn’t keep a sequence without John Bonham behind him. He went from one to four without stopping at two and three,” said Prince before looking at his own guitarist at the time, Donna Grantis, “I want her to be her own favorite guitar player. I want everyone at Paisley Park to be their own favorite guitarist, saxophonist, whatever. I don’t want people to play like nobody else,” Prince said at the time.”
Prince’s admiration for Page (and all of Led Zeppelin for that matter) can be seen in the fact that he frequently covered their classic song ‘Whole Lotta Love’. Using that exciting guitar playing ability of his, Prince took what was one of Led Zeppelin’s most famous songs and put his own twist on it. It’s unclear just how many times he played the song live, but it was certainly over 50, as fans rocking up to his shows were frequently treated to the psychedelic classic.
It seems that Zeppelin’s influence bled into some of Prince’s music as well. He didn’t just cover them, but he also let their impact on him as an artist represent itself within some of the songs he wrote. In 1985, when Prince was interviewed, he was asked whether he was upset that people were calling some of his music psychedelic. To the contrary, Prince was happy with the descriptor and used Led Zeppelin as an example as to why.
“I don’t mind that, because that was the only period in recent history that delivered songs and colors,” he said, “Led Zeppelin, for example, would make you feel differently on each song.”
Related Topics
The Far Out Led Zeppelin Newsletter
All the latest stories about Led Zeppelin from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.