“When Rihanna's team reached out to me, I said, ‘Why would you want to use me? Like, I do what I do’”: Nuno Bettencourt explains why he accepted the role of Rihanna's go-to guitarist
The Extreme guitarist has also detailed why he won't sacrifice his tone to land a gig with a huge artist
(Image credit: Larry Marano/Getty Images)
Aside from his solo work and Extreme, Nuno Bettencourt has lent his talents to a menagerie of artists, including Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Julian Lennon, and Dweezil Zappa. Despite his impressive list of collaborators, Bettencourt has revealed that he never sacrificed his tone or playing style to land a gig.
“The tone doesn't change at all,” he tellsPositive Grid. “I've never done anything where somebody says ‘You can't use your rig, or you can't be you.’
“That was the cool thing about doing the Rihanna stuff. When they [Rihanna’s team] reached out to me, I said, ‘Why would you want to use me? Like, I do what I do,’ and they go, ‘No, man, we want what you do,’ so I get to be myself. So it's the same rig, same everything.”
Nuno Bettencourt Talks Spark 2, Yngwie, and Getting Snubbed by the Super Bowl - YouTube
Bettencourt goes on to say that he doesn't put much emphasis on pedals and amps, as what truly counts are the hours he's put into his craft, expressed through his hands.
“I think your hands tell the story of who you are, at your DNA. Of course, an amp matters for sure, but pretty much, you should be able to plug in just about anything and still be you. And I think that's why I don't use anything in front of it.”
“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.”
Janelle is a staff writer at GuitarWorld.com. After a long stint in classical music, Janelle discovered the joys of playing guitar in dingy venues at the age of 13 and has never looked back. Janelle has written extensively about the intersection of music and technology, and how this is shaping the future of the music industry. She also had the pleasure of interviewing Dream Wife, K.Flay, Yīn Yīn, and Black Honey, among others. When she's not writing, you'll find her creating layers of delicious audio lasagna with her art-rock/psych-punk band ĠENN.