Paul McCartney finally reunited with his guitar that was stolen over half a century ago

Paul McCartney has been reunited with his stolen bass guitar, which he used on Beatles hits such as "Love Me Do" and "She Loves You," 51 years after it was taken from a van in London. The instrument, a Hofner bass, was discovered in the attic of a man in Sussex as a result of a search by a project called the Lost Bass. McCartney purchased the guitar in 1961, and it was stolen in 1972. A spokesperson for McCartney expressed his gratitude for its return. The search for the bass began after the musician appealed to Hofner to find his beloved instrument, which played a significant role in Beatles' songs. After the Lost Bass project launched an appeal for information, a man living in Sussex remembered having an old bass guitar in his attic and contacted the team. The guitar was then reunited with McCartney on Sunday, and it was authenticated by Hofner. The Lost Bass project team, who headed the search, expressed their excitement in solving this rock and roll mystery and highlighted McCartney's joy on getting his guitar back. The instrument, which is complete with its original case, will require some repairs to make it playable again. During the investigation, information about the theft from the back of a van in Notting Hill in 1972 was received, and it was found that the guitar was subsequently sold to a pub landlord before ending up in Sussex. People who came forward to provide information did so out of goodwill and a desire to assist McCartney. The guitar has not been valued, but the Lost Bass team believes it could be worth more than the most expensive guitar ever sold, which was a Kurt Cobain guitar that fetched $6 million at auction in 2020. John Lennon's stolen guitar, on the other hand, sold for $2.4 million when it resurfaced fifty years later.