Get Back: Paul McCartney reunited with bass he played on string of Beatles hits, 52 years after it was stolen
16 February 2024, 09:51
Sir Paul McCartney has been reunited with the bass guitar he played on Beatles tracks like She Loves Me, and Twist and Shout, 50 years after it went missing.
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The Beatles legend is "incredibly grateful" to the people who helped find his Hofner bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972.
A group set up in 2018 to find the German violin-shaped bass were given information that claimed the guitar had been stolen from the back of a van in 1972 in Notting Hill in west London.
The bass was then sold to a landlord in the area before being passed on until it ended up in the attic of a terraced house on the south coast of England.
They realised they had the bass after media coverage of the search increased last year.
The bass is still complete and in its original case but needs repairs to make it playable again, according to the Lost Bass Project.
Sir Paul said in a statement: "Following the launch of last year's Lost Bass project, Paul's 1961 Hofner 500/1 bass guitar, which was stolen in 1972, has been returned.
"The guitar has been authenticated by Hofner and Paul is incredibly grateful to all those involved."
Sir Paul bought the bass for about £30 in Hamburg in 1961, and played it on the Beatles' first two albums, Please Please Me and With The Beatles, as well as on several of the band's big hits, including Love Me Do.
The Lost Bass project said in a statement: "We are extremely proud that we played a major part in finding the Lost Bass.
"It has been a dream since 2018 that it could be done. Despite many telling us that it was lost forever or destroyed, we persisted until it was back where it belonged.
"We want to thank everyone who helped with the search, all those who sent us leads and ideas and many who just wanted to lend their support to us.
"Thank you all so very much. Very much indeed! We did it!"
