Nuno Bettencourt comfortably makes it on to the list of the best electric guitar players of all time, with the Extreme virtuoso heralded by fans and professional musicians alike.
One artist who held Bettencourt in particularly high regard was Prince – in fact, the Purple Rain icon thought so highly of Bettencourt that he apparently once called him “one of the top three guitar players in the world”.
Though Prince didn’t say this directly to Bettencourt himself, the praise was fed back to him through singer Nikka Costa, who was present alongside The Purple One when the pair witnessed the Extreme guitarist play at an Earth, Wind & Fire tribute show.
As Bettencourt’s story goes, he was summoned to the stage to play Higher Ground, and during his performance saw Prince whisper something to Costa. Naturally, he automatically assumed the feedback wasn’t very flattering.
Speaking to SiriusXM, Bettencourt recalled, “I'm waiting for my name to be called out to be introduced. And, of course, the second they say my name, I look in the aisle and walking down the aisle, coming into the building is Prince.
“He sits down front row. And I'm, like, ‘Fucking great. Isn't this great? Prince has probably never seen me play before. Now I'm gonna be doing this,’” he added. “And I noticed that he was sitting next to somebody that I know is a producer, and his girlfriend is an amazing singer called Nikka Costa.
“So all of a sudden I'm playing. I can't help but sweat that Prince is in the front row and I'm trying my best to be as cool as fuck and have him like me. And then, all of a sudden, he leans over to Nikka and he says something. I'm, like, ‘Oh my God. He just told her how much I suck. He told her I'm not playing it right.’”
According to Costa, though, Prince was saying something very different indeed, and awarded Bettencourt with some of the highest praise a guitarist could dream to receive.
He continued, “Ironically enough, she was at my house the next day and I come back from the studio, and her and my daughter, I think, are sitting there and they're just looking at me.
“[She's] like, ‘You don't wanna know what Prince said to me about you?’ And I'm, like, ‘No, I don't.’ I walked away. I come back 30 seconds later. ‘All right, what did he say?’
“And she said, ‘He said, “Right there I think that's one of the top three guitar players in the world.”’ I've never told that story to anybody until today.”
Indeed, Bettencourt’s name is always mentioned along with the likes of Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix and the rest of the usual suspects when the question of the greatest guitarists of all time arises.
Prince’s seal of approval is another high-profile vote for Bettencourt, whose virtuosity has been the talk of the guitar world in recent weeks following Extreme’s long-awaited return last month.
