Adrian Smith 🎸 “He said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got it. Want to play it?’”

Iron Maiden’s Adrian Smith spent an afternoon with Les Paul “Greeny” — and the guitar worked its magic again

Some guitars transcend wood and wire, becoming legends in their own right. The Les Paul known as Greeny is one of those rare instruments — and this time, it cast its spell on Iron Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith, the latest superstar to fall under its charm.

Originally made famous by Fleetwood Mac founder Peter Green, the guitar later passed into the hands of Gary Moore before becoming the prized possession of Kirk Hammett. Since acquiring it in 2014, Hammett has ensured Greeny remains a living, breathing instrument, regularly taking it onstage with Metallica.

True to his generous spirit, Kirk Hammett has never treated Greeny as untouchable. Instead, he’s allowed fellow musicians to experience its character firsthand. That opportunity came for Adrian Smith while Iron Maiden were touring Canada.

“Kirk’s a great guy,” Smith told eonmusic. “I ran into him at a hotel in Canada. Metallica were checking in too. The first thing I said was, ‘Oh, you bought Greeny.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got it. Want to play it?’”

Smith followed Hammett to his room, where he was handed the legendary guitar along with a small practice amp. Naturally, Oh Well was the first tune he played. While Hammett and photographer Ross Halfin were busy with a photo shoot, Smith took Greeny back to his own room and played it for most of the afternoon.

Much like Jake E. Lee before him, Smith found it difficult to part with the instrument.

“It plays incredibly well — the intonation, the feel, the sound,” he explains. “There’s no question this is a special guitar. The mojo is off the charts. Peter Green and Gary Moore? That famous middle position, the out-of-phase neck pickup — it’s all there. That sound.”

Smith also expressed appreciation that Greeny continues to be played rather than preserved behind glass.

“I’m glad someone’s using it instead of keeping it locked away in a climate-controlled vault. It’s out there doing what it’s meant to do.”

Greeny can be heard on countless Fleetwood Mac classics, including Black Magic Woman, Rattlesnake Shake, Oh Well, and Albatross — a track believed to have inspired The Beatles’ Sun King.

Gary Moore later recorded the entire Blues for Greeny album with the guitar, along with Parisienne Walkways from Still Got the Blues, proving the instrument’s magic endured in new hands.

Elsewhere, Adrian Smith has been reflecting on a treasured guitar from his own collection — one he received for free and still uses decades later — as well as the twists of fate that led to him writing two of Iron Maiden’s biggest anthems.

Meanwhile, original Thin Lizzy guitarist Eric Bell recently revisited the moment he played Whiskey in the Jar with Metallica, and why he later jokingly referred to them as “a pack of bastards.”