Is Jimmy Page left-handed? No. Jimmy Page plays guitar right-handed and has been photographed signing with his right hand. The claim that he is a natural lefty who learned to play righty is widely repeated but unverified.
Page turns up on some lists of famous left-handed guitarists, usually with a note that he was a lefty forced to play right-handed. The first half of that story has no source we could find. The second half is easy to check, because Page has spent more than sixty years on stage with a guitar in his hands.
Jimmy Page plays guitar right-handed
This part is not in dispute. Page frets with his left hand and picks with his right, which is the standard right-handed setup. It is visible in every era of his career, from his session work and the Yardbirds in the 1960s through Led Zeppelin and his later projects.
His best-known instruments are all right-handed models:
- Gibson Les Paul Standard: his main guitar for most of Led Zeppelin's career
- Gibson EDS-1275 double-neck: used live for "Stairway to Heaven"
- Fender Telecaster: used in the Yardbirds and on the first Led Zeppelin album
- Danelectro: used for songs in alternate tunings such as "Kashmir"
When he played guitar with a violin bow, he held the bow in his right hand. Wikipedia's list of musicians who play left-handed does not include him.
Which hand does Jimmy Page write with?
There is less evidence here than for his playing, but what exists points to his right hand. Two Getty Images photos from the Classic Rock Awards afterparty in London on November 2, 2009 show Page signing a Marshall amplifier with a gold marker. Seen from the front and from the side, the marker is in his right hand. The Marshall logo reads correctly in both photos, so they have not been mirrored.
That is one event, not a long record. Page has held several book signings since 2014, but the press photos we found from those events are portraits and do not show him writing. We found no photo of him writing with his left hand.
Where the left-handed claim comes from
The usual version says Page is naturally left-handed and learned on a right-handed guitar because left-handed instruments were hard to find. A 2024 SPIN list of left-handed guitarists mentions this in passing, in an entry about another musician, and gives no source. Other lists repeat it the same way. We could not find an interview in which Page says he is left-handed, and we could not find a biography cited for it.
The story is believable because it is true of other players. Left-handed guitars were scarce when Page was learning in the 1950s, and some left-handed people did learn right-handed. Wikipedia names Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore, and Joe Perry as left-handers who play right-handed. A claim that fits a familiar pattern is easy to repeat without checking. Our guide on whether to learn guitar left or right-handed explains why that choice comes up.
Mirrored photos add to the confusion. Images of Page that appear to show him playing left-handed circulate online. A reversed print of an ordinary right-handed shot looks exactly like that, and it is the most likely explanation.
How confident is the answer?
The confidence differs by question:
- Does he play left-handed? No. This is certain
- Does he write left-handed? Probably not. The photos we found show his right hand, but they come from a single event
- Was he born left-handed and switched? Unverified. No source we found supports it, and it cannot be ruled out without a statement from Page
Taken together, there is no good reason to call Page a left-hander. He should not be counted among left-handed guitarists.
Guitarists who really play left-handed
Several of rock's best-known players are genuine lefties. Jimi Hendrix played right-handed Stratocasters flipped over and restrung. Paul McCartney plays left-handed basses and guitars. Kurt Cobain and Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath also played left-handed. Our list of famous left-handed musicians covers more of them.
Left-handed players today have far more choice than Page's generation did. See our picks for the best left-handed guitars, or browse the wider hub of famous left-handed people.
Frequently asked questions
Is Jimmy Page a lefty?
No. Jimmy Page plays guitar right-handed, and photos from 2009 show him signing with his right hand. The idea that he is a natural lefty is repeated on some lists but has no source we could find.
Is Jimmy Page right or left-handed?
Jimmy Page is right-handed based on the available evidence. He plays right-handed guitars and has been photographed signing right-handed.
Does Jimmy Page play guitar left-handed?
No. He frets with his left hand and picks with his right, which is the standard right-handed setup. All of his well-known guitars, including his Les Pauls and the EDS-1275 double-neck, are right-handed models.
Was Jimmy Page born left-handed and forced to play right-handed?
That claim is widely repeated but unverified. It appears on lists of left-handed guitarists without a source, and we could not find Page saying it himself.
Why do some photos show Jimmy Page playing left-handed?
The most likely explanation is that those photos are mirrored. A reversed print of a right-handed shot makes any guitarist look left-handed.
