Who Queen’s Brian May Thinks ‘Basically Invented’ Rock Guitar

Revisiting one of his old quotes and expanding on it in a social media post, Queen’s Brian May has credited one icon in particular having “basically invented” rock guitar playing.

May reshared a post that features a photo of him and The Who’s Pete Townshend with their arms draped over one another’s shoulder. Beneath the image is a pre-existing quote from May that expresses how influential The Who, and Townshend specifically, were on Queen’s own goals and songwriting ambitions.

He then added some new thoughts, brilliantly summarizing what made Townshend so great.

What Brian May Previously Said

“Pete Townshend is the master of mood change, a master of the suspended chord,” May had said, in part. “That was the whole kind of principle of the early electric guitar,” the Queen legend previously explained, amazed how the roaring amplification didn’t yield any noisy feedback.

New Comments From Brian May

“I’m glad I said this,” May reflects in the new caption on Instagram.

Reiterating his love of Townshend’s playing, the guitarist continues, “I probably don’t say it enough. I can’t imagine rock guitar without Pete Townshend. Looking back, it seems to me he basically invented it!”

May humbly notes that he was “lucky enough to be there watching” and that his playing “owes so much” to The Who six-stringer. “I’m not talking about the blues-influenced playing which also underpinned the evolution of 70s and 80s rock music,” May advises, “Townshend brought to the scene a blistering clang of super-amplified but not over-saturated chords — razor-edged monoliths crashing angrily through our brains, biting rhythmic hammer blows which would change the likes of me forever.”

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It’s an enthusiastic summation of what made Townshend such a standout and multi-generational influence on rock music. And, if you’re still not convinced, May pleads, “If you want to feel what I’m talking about, put on ‘My Generation’ at full volume on your home system and gasp in wonder!!!”

The Queen guitarist also shouts out some other recommended tracks and calls The Who singer Roger Daltrey “a punk icon long before the invention of punk rock.”

See all of what May had to say in the post below.