Stolen Rolling Stones Guitar Resurfaces Among 500 Guitars Donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art
via Just Some Videos / YouTube
Discovery in the Met Collection
In May, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced it had received a donation of over 500 guitars described as some of the “finest guitars from the golden age of American guitar making.” Among them were early Leo Fender models and rare pre-war Martin acoustics.
But recently, it came to light that one of the guitars in the donation was a 1959 sunburst Gibson Les Paul that had been stolen from The Rolling Stones during the recording of their 1972 album Exile on Main St.
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A Guitar with a History
This Les Paul wasn’t just any guitar—it had been played by Keith Richards during the Stones’ 1964 appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. Over the years, it was also handled by Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page. The instrument vanished when nine guitars were taken during a robbery at Villa Nellcôte, the rented French Riviera mansion where the band was recording.
Other items stolen during the incident included a saxophone belonging to Bobby Keys and a bass guitar owned by Bill Wyman. Reports suggest the robbery was carried out by local drug dealers connected to Richards at the time.
The Guitar’s True Owner
According to Marlies Damming, business manager for Mick Taylor, the Les Paul actually belonged to Taylor. She stated that Taylor had purchased it from Richards in 1967 before joining John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. “There are numerous photos of Mick Taylor playing this Les Paul, as it was his main guitar until it disappeared,” she explained.
She also mentioned the unique look of vintage Les Paul guitars, noting, “The interesting thing about these vintage Les Pauls is that they are renowned for their flaming, which is unique, like a fingerprint.”
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What Happened at Villa Nellcôte
Exile on Main St. was recorded at Villa Nellcôte partly because it provided the band with privacy. But according to Messy Nessy, the house became chaotic. Richards’ frequent guests and drug dealers came and went freely, and by the end of the band’s stay, nearly half the furniture was gone.
Jack Vanderwyk, a researcher on the band, said, “Villa Nellcôte was such an open house that, one day in September 1971, burglars walked out of the front gate with nine of Richards’s guitars, Bobby Keys’ saxophone, and Bill Wyman’s bass in broad daylight while the occupants were watching television in the living room.”
No Compensation, No Answers
A source told Page Six that Taylor “never received compensation for the theft and is mystified as to how his property found its way into the Met’s collection.”
