The Greatest Music Mentors In Rock History

As much as fans look up to musicians, they themselves also look up to others. Let's call these people music mentors, because that's exactly what they are. These individuals are there to help guide other artists through the wild, wacky, and wonderous roads of the music industry — both in terms of the good and bad stuff.

In rock, it's especially important to have good mentors because of all the temptations notorious to the genre. The right advice is not only paramount to an everlasting and successful career, but it may also save one's life. For people like Trent Reznor, Miley Cyrus, Sheryl Crow, and Keith Richards, they had the life-changing experience of meeting their heroes. Unlike the adage that says you should never do that, their stories prove the opposite is true.

With that being said, let's explore some of the greatest mentor-mentee relationships in rock history. If anything, this gives everybody hope that there's somebody out there willing to root for you and impart wisdom when necessary.

Stevie Nicks is one of the famous musicians that Sheryl Crow wrote a song for, but their relationship extends beyond the professional — it's far more personal and close than most people may realize. The pair originally met at a party in the '90s before they reconnected years later and built upon their initial positive interaction.

For Crow, what stood out about Nicks was her authenticity and welcoming nature, especially in terms of how she didn't shun her when she was on the rise as a superstar. "She's totally like a sister: one of the few people who takes care of me," Crow told the Independent (via Stevie Nicks Info) in 2002. This was evident again when the announcement broke that Crow would be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. Like a big sister, Nicks took to Instagram to celebrate and congratulated her fellow musician's achievement. Crow and Nicks would actually go on to perform together at the ceremony.

According to Nicks, one of the secrets to their relationship is honesty. "If she plays me something and I don't like it, I'm going to tell her," Nicks told the Independent. "And she's not going to [spare] my feelings either."

The Rolling Stones and Chuck Berry's legends are intertwined in music history. The iconic rock group's first-ever single was a cover of Berry's "Come On," and guitarist Keith Richards has never shied away from the fact that Berry was his guitar idol. The originality and inventiveness of Berry inspired Richards, and they got to know each other better throughout the years and performed together. In fact, Richards even inducted Berry into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1986. 

A scene from the documentary "Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll" also demonstrated how Berry still had something to teach a virtuoso like Richards. While rehearsing the song "Carol," Berry stopped Richards several times to correct his guitar playing. Eventually, Berry hit Richards with a harsh reality check and said, "You wanna get it right, let's get it right!" Richards would tell Rolling Stone that Berry had special ways of showcasing "respect," but there were moments when the pair played together and Berry told him that "between us, we got that s*** down."

When Berry passed away in 2017, Richards wrote a wonderful tribute to the icon on his Facebook page, expressing just how much Berry meant to him as a professional and person. "He was a very guarded and private man, essentially warm-hearted, though he spent a lot of time disguising that fact which could give the opposite impression," Richards stated. "Hard to know, moody, but when you got him at the right time, beautifully friendly."

While there are several stars who can't stand Miley Cyrus, country legend Dolly Parton is far from one of them. Not only is she a music mentor to Cyrus, but she also happens to be her godmother. From Disney star to rock star, Cyrus has been in the limelight for many years, reinventing herself and attempting to stand out from the pack. As it turns out, this is something that Parton encouraged her to do as well.

"She's always trying new things," Parton told People about Cyrus. "Some of them work great, some of them don't, but she's learned a lot. If you don't have the nerve to try it, you're never going to know. That's kind of like my philosophy."

According to Cyrus, Parton has never been afraid of sharing her opinion, including that of Cyrus' music choices either. Speaking to Harper's Bazaar about Parton, Cyrus said, "She goes, 'I don't know if I like that new "Used to Be Young" song because it's not fair that you're singing about not being young when you're young and beautiful.'" Parton and Cyrus have also collaborated musically several times -– both in the studio and live onstage.

It isn't too difficult to see that Trent Reznor under the moniker Nine Inch Nails is the evolution of David Bowie. In 1995, as Reznor's industrial machine cemented its claim as one of rock's hottest acts, Bowie took the band on tour with him. For Reznor, a major moment featured Bowie singing "Hurt" with Nine Inch Nails onstage.

When Bowie passed away in 2016, Reznor penned a tribute to the musician in Rolling Stone, revealing a closer relationship behind the scenes and beyond the musical collaborations. He described the experience of Bowie's death as "like the loss of a mentor" and how the singer provided his own life advice to Reznor, who was going through his own personal issues.

Reznor wrote, "There were a number of times where the two of us were alone, and he said some things that weren't scolding, but pieces of wisdom that stuck with me: 'You know, there is a better way here, and it doesn't have to end in despair or in death, in the bottom.'" The Nine Inch Nails mastermind credited Bowie for helping him overcome this period in his life and said there was never any judgment from Bowie. It isn't a stretch to say that David Bowie saved Trent Reznor's life.