3 Legendary Musicians You Didn’t Know Were Left-Handed

Being left-handed was often punished in the 20th century. It’s strange to think about today, as it’s such a small quirk that doesn’t hurt anyone at all, except the occasional elbow of the person sitting next to you. Thankfully, though, some of the greatest musicians of the 20th century were left-handed and didn’t let it stop them from becoming the legends they are today. Jimi Hendrix, Paul McCartney, and Tony Iommi are just a few big names who are left-handed. But I bet you didn’t know the following three musicians were actually left-handed, too.

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Albert King

Few musicians in the blues genre are as revered and loved as Albert King. A magician on the electric guitar, King is best known for his work in the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to his uniquely tall stature at 6 foot 4 inches, King was also a left-handed player. 

Left-handed guitars were not really accessible back in King’s heyday of the 1920s and 1930s, so rather than force himself to play right-handed, he simply learned to play the guitar upside down. He would play right-handed guitars upside down for much of his career, and this method affected his sound quite positively.

Kurt Cobain

Minor fans of grunge might not know that Nirvana’s famed late frontman, Kurt Cobain, was actually left-handed. Interestingly enough, as a child, he was forced to write with his right hand, but he never lost the dominance in his left hand and opted to play the guitar that way. Cobain often performed with budget model lefty guitars instead of high-quality guitars. One might think this was just in line with his punk rock style. However, Cobain denied this, claiming that finding left-handed guitars of good quality was just too difficult.

Elizabeth Cotten

Elizabeth Cotten is one of the most influential American blues and folk musicians of the 20th century. And like Albert King, Cotten was a left-hander who simply played the right-handed guitar upside-down. As a child, Cotten learned how to play the banjo while playing with her brother’s instrument, opting to play it in the reverse position instead of forcing herself to play right-handed. She later learned to play the guitar in a similar way. Her style of fingerpicking is still used by guitarists today.

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