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The guitarist Paul McCartney and Keith Richards agreed was better than Eddie Van Halen: “The best”
Paul McCartney and Keith Richards both held Jimi Hendrix above Eddie Van Halen as a guitarist, valuing Hendrix’s ability to make the instrument serve a song. Their views highlight a difference between expressive playing and displays of technique, while recognising Van Halen’s skill and influence.
McCartney praised Van Halen but said he preferred Hendrix, whose performance of ‘Sgt Pepper’s’ he remembered hearing in London soon after its release. Richards said Hendrix was uniquely able to play in that showy style, and argued that guitar solos need not simply wail at the high end; the article presents this as a difference in taste rather than a dismissal of Van Halen.
In short
- McCartney and Richards preferred Hendrix’s expressive guitar playing.
- McCartney praised Van Halen while favouring Hendrix.
- Richards said Hendrix’s showy style was uniquely his.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A guitarist’s greatness can be judged by how well their playing serves a song and communicates feeling, not only by technical difficulty. On that view, Hendrix’s expressive sound and musical imagination make him the stronger guitarist, and his performance of “Sgt Pepper’s” illustrates how he could transform another artist’s work.
The case against
Technical command, innovation and influence are also meaningful measures of guitar greatness. Van Halen’s virtuosic style expanded what many players thought possible, and a listener who values that precision and energy could reasonably rank him above Hendrix without denying Hendrix’s expressive gifts.