A guitar stolen from The Rolling Stones during the 1970s has unexpectedly been rediscovered as part of an exhibition on display in New York.
The 1959 Gibson Les Paul instrument was originally owned by Keith Richards before being bought by former guitarist Mick Taylor in 1967, having famously been played by Richards during the band’s appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.
However, the guitar, which was stolen in 1971 while the Stones were recording their prolific album Exile on Main St, has now been rediscovered by Taylor’s partner and manager Marlies Damming, after it was gifted to New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art back in May.
In a recent statement given to Page Six, Damming said: “There are numerous photos of Mick Taylor playing this Les Paul, as it was his main guitar until it disappeared.”
She continued: “The interesting thing about these vintage Les Pauls [of that era], is that they are renowned for their flaming… which is unique, like a fingerprint.”
Having been described as a “trailblazing and transformative gift” by the museum, they said the addition of the famed instrument made its current exhibition of 500 rock guitars “the epicentre for the appreciation and study of the American guitar.”
The piece was donated to the exhibition by guitar collector Dirk Ziff, but before it came into his hands, it had enjoyed an illustrious history of being played by a range of rock and roll greats. This included Jimmy Page while he was still a session musician and Eric Clapton during a Cream concert in 1966, after his guitar had also been stolen.
Years later, in 1971, the guitar was stolen from the French mansion where The Rolling Stones were recording Exile on Main St. It was allegedly carried out by drug dealers, after Richards did not pay them for the substances he had bought from them.