Vernon Reid on the Jimi Hendrix riff that inspired Living Colour's Cult of Personality

When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.

Vernon Reid doesn't shy away from crediting the guitarists who came before him. In fact, he has recently named the Jimi Hendrix riff that directly inspired Living Colour's iconic hit Cult of Personality.

In a recent Guitar World video interview, Reid starts by playing Hendrix's Power of Soul from the 1970 live album Band of Gypsys, before saying, “I think that riff is so hot. It influenced a lot of fusion music as well.”

Then, after playing a segment of Cult of Personality, he adds, “And, you know, it's not the same… but one thing eventually led to the other. That did happen!”

The clip also finds Reid wielding his new Reverend signature guitar, which he teased a first look at earlier this year (more on that soon).

Reid has previously raved about Hendrix's overarching influence, highlighting how his playing perfectly captured the zeitgeist.

“I always come back to a few things with Jimi, one being Machine Gun, specifically the second version from the Band of Gypsys set, recorded on January 1, 1970, at the Fillmore East,” he said in a 2023 Guitar World interview.

“It’s the one electric guitar performance that stands out as being about more than just the notes he's playing.

“Jimi spoke to what the nation was going through. He was a witness to what the nation was going through and was communicating with people who were walking in rice paddies in Vietnam thousands of miles away. He was in solidarity with the Vietcong and the American G.I.’s with Machine Gun.”

He continued, “Jimi plugged into something cinematic, like a movie coming from his guitar. If you look at a song like [Van Halen's] Eruption, while extraordinary, it's about the guitar itself, but Machine Gun is about the nation at a specific point in time. Jimi plugged into that at an unprecedented level.”

Reid recently featured on Detroit proto-punk band MC5's latest single, Can't Be Found, from their upcoming album Heavy Lifting, their first in 53 years.