Brian May is the champion of rock guitarists, my friends.
The Queen guitarist came out on top of a new reader poll from Total Guitar magazine edging out Jimi Hendrix, who came in at number two in the reader poll.
Of the honor, May said, “I’m absolutely speechless. I’m blown away. I have to say it’s completely unexpected. Obviously I’m deeply touched that people feel that way about me. I’m not under any illusions that, technically, I’m even on the tree of great guitarists. I guess this tells me that what I’ve done has affected people, and that means a great deal to me.”
As for beating Hendrix in the poll, May said, “Jimi is, of course, my number one. And I’ve always said that. To me, he’s still something superhuman. It’s like he really did come from an alien planet, and I will never know quite how he did what he did.”
The U.K. guitar magazine went all out in paying tribute to May in their new issue including highlighting his 20 greatest guitar moments and doing a feature on his iconic and beloved “Red Special” guitar. A preview to those pieces can be viewed below.
The complete top 100 readers poll can be found in Total Guitar magazine. To buy print or digital versions of the magazine, head over to MyFavouriteMagazines.co.uk.