Eric Gales nearly played a 16-bar solo on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter album
Self-proclaimed via his website as the “best blues guitarist in the world” – hey, we’re not exactly arguing that – Eric Gales has indisputably top-tier guitar chops. And the fact he does it all with an upside-down guitar is something else, but we digress…
As producer Raphael Saadiq reveals in a new interview with Tonya Mosley of NPR, Gales’ skills nearly got him the opportunity to play a solo on Beyonce’s 2024 album Cowboy Carter, but touring commitments meant he wasn’t able.
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One of the guitar highlights of the album comes at the end of eighth track Bodyguard, where Saadiq lays down a bluesy solo underneath Beyonce’s outro vocals.
“Bey wanted a solo. And I did a solo,” Saadiq reflects. “And she was like, ‘Can we make it longer?’ But she knows her audience, and she knows that is rare. And she’s like, ‘I think we could do that. We can have a 16-bar solo on this record.’
“So that was a little bit of pressure, to go back in there and play, like, a 16-bar solo.”
While Saadiq played the solo himself, he originally intended to tap up Eric Gales for the job.
“I would’ve called my boy. I would’ve called Eric Gales,” he continues. “Eric Gales is one of the most amazing guitar players in the world today. He’s from Memphis, Delta blues. He was the guy that’s playing – he played a lot of guitar in [2025 film] Sinners. But I would’ve called him to play, but he was on tour, so I had to play it. And it came out good.”
Cowboy Carter saw Beyonce – like many other artists as of late – foray into country, leading to something of a country revival in recent years.
If you need proof of Eric Gales formidable guitar skills, he recently traded licks with blues legend Buddy Guy on an album dedicated to his late brother Little Jimmy King.
Listen to Somebody below:
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
