“Somebody handed me a ’59 Les Paul and said, ‘That’s yours to play.’ I went from poverty one minute to having the world’s ultimate guitars in my care”: The underrated Stone Roses guitarist whose life changed completely after landing the highly-coveted gig

Aziz Ibrahim with his guitar.

Aziz Ibrahim may not be a household name. However, the guitarist’s tonal fingerprints are all over works by Simply Red, Asia, The Stone Roses, Paul Weller, and Steven Wilson, to name a few.

Raised in a poor immigrant family in Manchester, England, Ibrahim says free access to libraries was instrumental in his development as a guitarist. He spoke about their lasting impact in a recently unearthed interview with the former Mayor of Manchester, and now the British Prime Minister, Andy Burnham.