10 Greatest Rock Music Guitar Solos Of The 2000s
3. Prince - While My Guitar Gently Weeps
This might be cheating slightly, but it’s too incredible not to talk about.
At the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony, a who’s who of superstars played a version of While My Guitar Gently Weeps to honour inductee George Harrison. The first half of the song, which features Tom Petty and Geoff Lynne drearily going back and forth on vocals, is about as exciting to watch as somebody doing their taxes.
And then Prince shows up.
The diminutive icon, who was also inducted that year, flips the whole performance on its head. He effortlessly puts on one of the greatest live guitar performances ever captured on camera, showing complete mastery over the fretboard with a devilish glint in his eye. He even plays some of the solo with a security guard propping him up as he leans off the stage!
And then, to top it all off, he plays his final note, throws his guitar into the air, and just walks off stage. Antarctic ice wishes it could be that cool.
This is, simply put, a masterclass, and it saved every single person in that room from death by boredom.