Brian May, best known as Queen's lead guitarist, has responded to fans calling him the greatest guitarist of all time by naming his own favourite players, insisting that ranking musicians is meaningless because "everybody's different." Speaking on SiriusXM's The Howard Stern Show, May was modest about his own standing, saying he isn't among the world's top players but instead focuses on making the guitar an extension of his own voice, a philosophy that has shaped his approach throughout his career with Queen.

May singled out several guitarists he admires, including Extreme's Nuno Bettencourt, whose ability he called "so beautiful" and beyond his own reach, alongside Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton. He also praised Kurt Cobain, noting that technical skill wasn't Cobain's strength but that he nonetheless left behind "some of the greatest guitar music of all time," reinforcing May's view that feeling matters more than technique.