ONCE UPON A TIME
When Nuno Bettencourt appeared on the cover of our sibling mag Guitar World, in December 1992, they declared the then 26-year-old phenom the “new boss.” At the time, Bettencourt had turned the six-string universe on its ear with the excessively funky and fiery guitar acrobatics he packed into every groove (or, given the smash acoustic hit “More Than Words,” almost every groove) of Extreme's smash sophomore album, Pornograffitti.
Here we are more than three decades later, and while Bettencourt has continued to push the creative and technical limits of rock guitar — on successive albums with Extreme; in his own solo work and projects like Mourning Wid-ows; with superstar bands like Satellite Party; alongside pop superstar Rihanna; and with Yngwie Malmsteen, Zakk Wylde and Tosin Abasi on the Steve Vai-led Generation Axe extravaganza tours, for starters — he has, at 56 years old, quite possibly just set a new bar. In March, Extreme announced their first album in nearly 15 years, Six, and also released its first single, “Rise.” And while all the hall-marks of what makes a great Extreme song — high-energy, rock-solid riffs and rhythms; sticky hooks and choruses; a forceful and ex-pressive Gary Cherone vocal — are present and intact, it was Nuno's guitar solo that stopped fans, peers, industry pros and even guitar legends in their tracks.
We can assume that anyone reading this magazine has by now heard it, and maybe even injured a finger or two trying to play it. But if you haven't, rest assured it's a thing of wonder, infused with intensity and emotion and capped with one of the most mind-boggling fretboard-spanning triplet passages in this or any era. Guitar websites ooh'd. Online commenters ahh'd. Howard Stern namechecked him on his SiriusXM show. Popular YouTuber Rick Beato released a fawning instructional video titled “The Nuno Bettencourt Solo Everyone Is Talking About” that racked up more than a million views in its first week. And guitar icons from Steve Vai and Tom Morello to Brian May and Steve Lukather reached out to Bettencourt to express their awe at and appreciation for not just Nuno's playing, but also the fact that, through it, he managed to jumpstart a conversation and excitement about the guitar that, at least in a mainstream context, seems to have withered in the 21st century.
It's an incredible response to a mere 60 seconds of
