Mick Taylor, former Rolling Stones: the Metropolitan Museum 'stole' one of my guitars

There is an open clash between the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Mick Taylor, former Rolling Stones guitarist, over a historic Gibson Les Paul guitar that, according to the musician, was stolen in 1971 and is now in the storeroom of the prestigious New York museum. The controversy erupted on 10 July, when the New York Post reported statements by Taylor's manager Marlies Damming that one of the guitars recently donated to the Met by entrepreneur Dirk Ziff belonged to the former member of the legendary British band.

The donation in question, which was also announced in May with great fanfare in the pages of the New Yorker, comprises 500 guitars considered to be one of the museum's most important acquisitions in the field of music. "A revolutionary and transformative gift," the Met's director, Max Hollein, called it, emphasising the institution's intention to open a permanent gallery dedicated to the American guitar in 2027.

According to Damming's version, the instrument was stolen from a villa owned by the Rolling Stones in Nellcôte, France, in 1971, during a theft that also involved nine of Keith Richards' guitars. "There are numerous photos showing Mick Taylor with that Les Paul: it was his main instrument until he disappeared," Damming said, adding that the unique look of the 'flamed' wood of the late 1950s Les Pauls makes each piece unmistakable, almost like a fingerprint. However, the Met responded in a statement reported by the New York Times on 1 August: "This guitar has a long and well-documented history of ownership. It is true that Taylor played it, but he never owned it'.