Nuno Bettencourt says most guitarists 'could not in their lifetime' play for Rihanna
It's a challenging gig, he claims
Last updated 17th Jul 2023
Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt has told Planet Rock how musically challenging his side gig with pop megastar Rihanna can be.
Nuno Bettencourt was our very special guest on My Planet Rocks this month to coincide with the release of Extreme’s sixth studio album ‘Six’, and he told Liz Barnes that playing with Rihanna is definitely no walk in the park.
“When somebody like Rihanna reaches out to you to perform everybody thinks ‘oh, that’s cute. It’s a pop artist, whatever,’” Nuno said.
“Let me tell you something, what I had to do night after night… put on a reggae hat (for one song) with a reggae feel, and go into R&B, then go into some punk rock and pop rock that she did, and then club tracks. All sorts of (things), all those different feels.
“I’m sorry, most of the guitar players who I admire could not in their lifetime play that gig. I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Slash is one of the greatest rock guitar players of all time but I guarantee – and he’d be the first to tell you – that if he jumps up and he’s got play a clean intro to ‘Rude Boy’ from Rihanna, it ain’t happening.”
Reflecting on the huge career opportunities that playing with Rihanna has opened up – including performing at The Grammys in 2015 – Nuno continued: “I feel like I can really jump in and then be ready to play with Paul McCartney on ‘FourFiveSeconds’ at The Grammys and have that moment for me.
“I believe that if I wasn’t that diverse musically and accept everything I grew up on, there’s no way that I would have been in these rooms. And also being open, being an open musician in the sense of ‘up for anything.’”
In the same My Planet Rocks interview, Nuno Bettencourt waxed lyrical about Eagles’ seminal 1977 anthem ‘Hotel California’ saying it features the greatest guitar solo of all time.
Find out where Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ came in Planet Rock’s 2023 listener poll of the Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time below.
Extreme UK tour:
Extreme hit the road in the UK in November and December 2023 on the Thicker Than Blood Tour with special guests Living Colour.
Extreme open the tour at Newcastle O2 City Hall on Monday 27th November, and they visit Glasgow, Manchester, Wolverhampton and Bristol before culminating at London O2 Forum Kentish Town on Monday 4th December.
Tickets are on sale from Planet Rock Tickets now.
The greatest guitar solos of all time:
75) Pink Floyd – ‘Wish You Were Here’ (1975)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
74) Iron Maiden – ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ (1982)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
73) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Paradise City’ (1987)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
72) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Estranged’ (1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
71) Bon Jovi – ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’ (1986)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
70) Iron Maiden – ‘Powerslave’ (1984)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
69) UFO – ‘Lights Out’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
68) Neil Young – ‘Like a Hurricane’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
67) Judas Priest – ‘Beyond The Realms of Death’ (1978)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
66) Free – ‘All Right Now’ (1970)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
65) Extreme – ‘Play With Me’(1989)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
64) AC/DC – ‘Back in Black’ (1981)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
63) UFO – ‘Love To Love’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
62) Led Zeppelin – ‘Whole Lotta Love’ (1969)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
61) Eric Johnson – ‘Cliffs of Dover’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
60) Stevie Ray Vaughn – ‘Little Wing’ (1984, released posthumously in 1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
59) Pearl Jam – ‘Alive’ (1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
58) Metallica – ‘Nothing Else Matters’ (1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
57) Fleetwood Mac – ‘The Chain’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
56) Dragonforce – ‘Through the Fire and Flames’ (2005)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
55) Thin Lizzy – ‘Emerald’ (1976)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
54) Dire Straits – ‘Brothers in Arms’ (1985)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
53) Steve Vai – ‘For the Love of God’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
52) Deep Purple – ‘Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming’ (1996)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
51) AC/DC – ‘Thunderstruck’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
50) Rainbow – ‘Gates of Babylon’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
49) Metallica – ‘The Unforgiven’ (1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
48) Rush – ‘La Villa Strangiato’ (1978)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
47) Pantera – ‘Cemetery Gates’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
46) Pink Floyd – ‘Shine on You Crazy Diamond’ (1975)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
45) Dire Straits – ‘Telegraph Road’ (1982)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
44) Peter Frampton – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (2003)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
43) Slash – ‘Anastasia’ (2012)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
42) The Beatles – ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ (1968)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
41) Pink Floyd – ‘Time’ (1973)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
40) Genesis – ‘Firth of Fifth’ (1973)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
39) Deep Purple – ‘Smoke on the Water’ (1972)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
38) AC/DC – ‘Let There Be Rock’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
37) Megadeth – ‘Tornado of Souls’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
36) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘No More Tears’ (1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
35) Metallica – ‘Fade To Black’ (1984)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
34) Marillion – ‘Easter’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
33) Joe Bonamassa – ‘India / Mountain Time’ (2008)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
32) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Crazy Train’ (1980)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
31) Cream – ‘Crossroads’ (1968)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
30) AC/DC – ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’ (1977)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
29) Led Zeppelin – ‘Since I’ve Been Loving You’ (1970)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
28) Queen – ‘Brighton Rock’ (1974)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
27) Metallica – ‘One’ (1989)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
26) Extreme – ‘Get The Funk Out’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
25) Thin Lizzy – ‘Still In Love With You’ (1974)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
24) Metallica – ‘Master of Puppets’ (1986)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
23) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)’ (1968)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
22) Joe Bonamassa – ‘Sloe Gin’ (2007)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
21) Ozzy Osbourne – ‘Mr Crowley’ (1980)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
20) Derek & The Dominoes – ‘Layla’
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
19) Gary Moore – ‘Still Got The Blues (For You)’ (1990)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
18) Prince - ‘Purple Rain’ (1984)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
17) Deep Purple – ‘Child in Time’ (1970)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
16) Bon Jovi – ‘Dry County’ (1992)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
15) The Jimi Hendrix Experience – ‘All Along The Watchtower’ (1967)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
14) Deep Purple – ‘Highway Star’ (1972)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
13) Gary Moore – ‘Parisienne Walkways’ (1979)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
12) UFO – ‘Rock Bottom’ (1974)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
11) Dire Straits – ‘Sultans of Swing’ (1978)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
10) Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (1975)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
9) Rainbow – ‘Stargazer’ (1976)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
8) Guns N’ Roses – ‘Sweet Child ‘O Mine’ (1987)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
7) Van Halen – ‘Eruption’ (1978)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
6) Guns N’ Roses – ‘November Rain’ (1991)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
5) Eagles – ‘Hotel California’ (1976)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
4) Led Zeppelin – ‘Stairway To Heaven’ (1971)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
3) Alter Bridge – ‘Blackbird’ (2007)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
2) Lynyrd Skynyrd - ‘Free Bird’ (1973)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time
1) Pink Floyd – ‘Comfortably Numb’ (1979)
The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time