taylor swift speak now tour arm writing

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What Is Written on Taylor Swift’s Arm?

As Taylor Swift 's Speak Now world tour rolls on in full swing, fans and concert-goers are wondering, what is written on Taylor Swift's arm each night? The answer? Song lyrics!

Not her own lyrics, of course. Though Swift's love-filled and inspiring lyrics are music to millions of people's ears, the singer herself finds solace in other artist's songs. Each night before her concerts, the 'Love Story' songstress takes a black Sharpie to her left arm to write a line from a different song that speaks to her.

The genre varies show by show, most likely based on Swift's mood, and she's penned inspiring lines from everyone from fellow country stars Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks, to rockers U2 and Tom Petty, and even a line from her friend Selena Gomez 's hit, 'Who Says.'

At last night's (July 23) Newark, N.J. show, the pop-country singer sported an arm full of Jimmy Eat World lyrics that read: "I was only there to sing your song what were you protecting yourself from." On July 10 in Knoxville, TN, Swift wore the line, "You won't be the songs that I could never write" -- lyrics penned by her opening act, Needtobreathe.

We're anxious to see which musician or band the 'Mean' hitmaker will pay homage to next! As many of the artists she writes lyrics from on her arms probably look up to her, it's only fair that she pay it forward.

The Speak Now World Tour continues through November 22.

See the Full List of Taylor Swift's Arm Lyrics From the 2011 Speak Now Tour

More From Taste of Country

Speak Now World Tour Arm Lyrics

Speak now world tour | 2011-2012.

«One day at rehearsals I was having a rough day, and I wrote a lyric by my friend Selena Gomez on my arm: 'You’ve got every right to a beautiful life'. It looked cool, so now I put lyrics on my arm every night. It’s like a mood ring.» Taylor Swift

“You’ve got every right to a beautiful life”

Show: Nashville, Tennessee Song: Selena Gomez and the Scene, “Who Says”

Taylor chose a lyric from her good friend Selena Gomez to kick off the 2011 “Speak Now Tour.” “Who Says” is a confidence booster to Selena’s fans, and perhaps to Taylor, as she was no doubting fighting butterflies as she prepared to embark on another massive headlining tour.

“You gotta keep your head up, but you can’t let your hair down”

Place: Omaha, Nebraska Song: Andy Grammer, “Keep Your Head Up”

While this show was one week after the “Speak Now, Help Now” rehearsal in Nashville, Taylor chose another lyric meant to boost her self-esteem. She proved throughout this tour that she favors lyrics that address and rise above personal vulnerabilities.

“I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone” Place: Omaha, Nebraska Song: Alanis Morissette, “You Learn”

Quite the mood shift compared to the night before. Taylor would later cover this song during a tour stop in Toronto. So perhaps Taylor was only paying tribute to one of her favorite artists.

“Cinderella said to Snow White, ‘How does love get so off course?'”

Place: Des Moines, Iowa Song: Faith Hill, “This Kiss”

Like her tribute to Alanis Morissette the night before, Taylor could have just been paying homage to a woman she admires in choosing to write a Faith Hill lyric on her arm. After all, “This Kiss” is one of her favorite songs. However, it’s difficult to ignore back-to-back breakup lyrics.

“And for one desperate moment, he crept back in her memory”

Place: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Song: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “American Girl”

“ American Girl ” was also featured on Taylor’s pre-show playlist. Furthermore, she is a big fan of the song and has covered it multiple times over the years, one of them being a professional recording from 2009.

“It took a while to understand the beauty of just letting go”

Place: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida Song: The Chicks, “Let Him Fly”

Once again, Taylor drew inspiration from one of her favorite bands. She sang the Chicks’ “Cowboy Take Me Away” at one of her four shows in Newark at a later stop on the tour.

“I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees”

Place: Orlando, Florida Song: Mat Kearney, “Closer to Love”

Taylor proved the diversity of her iPod throughout this tour. Kearney is a Nashville based singer-songwriter, but most of his success has been on the Adult Top 40 chart. Interestingly enough, the lyric is similar to one of the lines in Taylor’s magnum opus “ All Too Well “: And you call me up again just to break me like a promise.

“One life, you got to do what you should”

Place: Columbus, Ohio Song: U2, “One”

As Taylor began her third week of the “Speak Now Tour,” the lyrics on her left arm began feeling more hopeful. If it was indeed heartbreak that struck some time around Omaha, then she now seemed to have found acceptance.

“I slept in castles and fell in love because I was taught to dream”

Place: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Song: Faith Hill, “Fireflies”

The “Speak Now World Tour” dropped the castle scenery from the previous “ Fearless Tour ,” but it still played into a fantasy that Taylor acted out during the course of the evening. If this line from ‘Fireflies’ didn’t send a personal message, it at least fit well into that imagery.

“You better lose yourself in the music”

Place: Detroit, Michigan Song: Eminem, “Lose Yourself”

Taylor has been known to sprinkle Eminem songs into her set during the early stages of her career, so there’s no doubting her familiarity with this Detroit-born rapper. It’s fairly easy to find video of Taylor performing this song from as far back as 2007.

"I slept in castles and fell in love because I was taught to dream." Arm Lyric from "Fireflies" by Faith Hill

“Remember me in ribbons and curls, love your baby girl”

Place: Nashville, Tennessee Song: Sugarland, “Baby Girl”

Taylor could have been speaking to the city of Nashville with this lyric, as she was somewhat of the Music City’s princess at the time. This was her CMA Music Festival performance, however Sugarland was not on the lineup. Taylor and the duo would later collaborate on the song “ Babe ” in 2018, which was written by Taylor and re-released on RED (Taylor’s Version) in 2021.

“Love has 1,000 faces”

Place: St. Paul, Minnesota Song: Randy Montana, “1,000 Faces”

This lyric was no doubt a tip of the cap to the night’s opening act. Taylor must have really beeen a fan of the song, though, as she didn’t repeat the tribute for subsequent openers, aside from tour mainstays Needtobreathe in Knoxville.

“A moment, a love, a dream, a laugh, a kiss, a cry, our rights, our wrongs”

Place: St. Paul, Minnesota Song: The Temper Trap, “Sweet Disposition”

Taylor is a big fan of the Australian rock band The Temper Trap. She met them at the 2012 ARIAs and asked them to write lyrics of “Sweet Dispostion” on paper and sign it as gift for her (ex) boyfriend Harry Styles’ birthday:

“She was like ‘Hey, you know, I’m a big fan’ blah, blah, blah. And she goes, ‘Ahh it’s my boyfriend’s birthday soon. I wanna give him a present – here’s a piece of paper, can you please write down the lyrics to ‘Sweet Disposition’ and sign it? I wanna give it to him.’”

Apparently she liked the handwritten lyrics herself too, since she has the original framed above her stove in her New York City apartment.

“Where I was born, where I was raised, where I keep all my yesterdays”

Place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Song: Montgomery Gentry, “My Town”

Her actual hometown of Wyomissing doesn’t have a venue big enough to support 20,000 Taylor fans, so she compromised by calling Pittsburgh her homecoming. Technically, she grew up much closer to Philadelphia, though.

“I am just a dreamer, but you are just a dream”

Place: Buffalo, New York Song: Neil Young, “Like a Hurricane”

Neil Young was a member of Buffalo Springfield, so it’s likey Taylor chose this lyric as an homage to him at this tour stop. Moreover, she could also have been speaking to the same person who seemed to break her heart at the beginning of the tour. Many of the next few lyrical tributes seemed to indicate she’d moved out of the eye of her emotional storm.

“‘Cause when I close my eyes, I’m somewhere with you”

Place: Hartford, Connecticut Song: Kenny Chesney, “Somewhere with You”

Taylor grabbed lyrics from just about every genre, but was always careful to include music from the style that made her famous. When she did, it was a nice peek at the list of artists and songs on country radio that she found inspiring.

“She said, I think I’ll go to Boston”

Place: Foxboro, Massachusetts Song: Augustana, “Boston”

Foxboro is just outside of Boston, making this left-arm lyric somewhat obvious. On the other hand, Augustana aren’t even from Boston; they’re a rock band from San Diego.

“Like love from a drunken sky, she’s confetti falling down at night”

Place: Foxboro, Massachusetts Song: Tim McGraw, “She’s My Kind of Rain”

The previous night’s show in Foxboro proved Taylor’s mettle. During her infamous first “rain show” she pressed on despite a driving rain. This lyric may have been in appreciation of that storm.

“And we are just breakable, breakable, breakable girls and boys”e

Place: Greensboro, North Carolina Song: Ingrid Michaelson, “Breakable”

This album cut from Ingrid Michaelson’s 2006 “Girls and Boys” album again showed that Taylor was digging deep to find great music. She is a noted fan of Ingrid’s. The lyric doesn’t make any connection to the venue, leaving one to guess it was another one of her personal messages to someone.

“You won’t be the songs that I could never write”

Place: Knoxville, Tennessee Song: Needtobreathe, “Again”

The Christian rock band from South Carolina opened every date of the “Speak Now World Tour,” and in Knoxville she said thank you by inking their lyric on her arm.

"Like love from a drunken sky, she's confetti falling down at night." Arm Lyric from "She's My Kind of Rain" by Tim McGraw

“When you’re alone, you ain’t nothing but alone”

Place: Montreal, Québec (Canada) Song: Bruce Springsteen, “When You’re Alone”

This deep cut from Bruce Springsteen’s “Tunnel of Love” album might have been part of Taylor’s childhood memories in Pennsylvania. It could also describe a homesick or still heartbroken 21-year-old.

“Money can’t buy you back the love that you had then”

Place: Toronto, Ontario (Canada) Song: Feist, “1234”

This song from Canadian rock singer Feist became a hit after airing on a commercial for the iPod in 2007. Taylor once again tied geography into her arm lyrics, and there’s no doubt she was aware, if not a big fan of, this artist.

“Doing all the things that I neglected, I traded them all in to be in your arms”

Place: Toronto, Ontario (Canada) Song: Mandy Moore, “Gardenia”

At this point it’s been almost 50 days since Taylor’s first forlorn lyric tattoo, and nothing of this suggested breakup had made the news, blogs or Twitter fodder.

“Belief builds from scratch, doesn’t have to relax, doesn’t need space”

Place: Newark, New Jersey Song: Gavin DeGraw, “Belief”

There were plenty of New Yorkers at each of Taylor’s four New Jersey shows, and they no doubt appreciated her showing some love to an artist from their state. She consistently showed appreciation for well-written songs, no matter what her motivation was.

“You’re someone else’s baby, you’re someone else’s crazy now”

Place: Newark, New Jersey Song: Matt Nathanson, “Queen of (K)nots”

A remorseful and bitter song, if there ever was one. Taylor again proved she’s a virtual Wikipedia of song lyrics.

“I was only there to sing your song, what were you protecting yourself from”

Place: Newark, New Jersey Song: Jimmy Eat World, “Mixtape”

Another message, or just a tribute to one of her favorite rock bands? If it wasn’t Taylor, the theme wouldn’t be as obvious, but for a singer who wears her emotions on her sleeves this could have been much more literal than one would believe.

“It’s been a long hot summer and I’m still trying to leave you alone”

Place: Newark, New Jersey Song: Mindy Smith, “Love Lost”

This lyric from a song on Mindy Smith’s recent album at the time could have been another indicator of Taylor’s emotional state that summer.

“We all learn to make mistakes and run from them”

Place: Grand Rapids, Michigan Song: Paramore, “Misguided Ghosts”

Taylor is good friends with Hayley Williams of Paramore, and is a big fan of the rock band’s music in general. Hayley was also a special guest at a later show during the tour (she and Taylor performed “That’s What You Get” together), and Paramore was an opening act on “ The Eras Tour ” in 2023.

“He looked just like you’d want him to. Some kind of slick, chrome American prince”

Place: Indianapolis, Indiana Song: The Killers, “A Dustland Fairytale”

Interestingly enough, this lyric has a similar sentiment as Taylor’s song “ Mr. Perfectly Fine ,” which she released as part of “The Vault” on Fearless (Taylor’s Version) in 2021.

“Don’t know why I’m so afraid, if you weren’t real I would make you up”

Place: Cleveland, Ohio Song: Joseph Arthur, “Honey & the Moon”

Arthur is from Akron, Ohio, which makes this a likely geographical connection versus a personal statement.

"We all learn to make mistakes and run from them." Arm Lyric from "Misguided Ghosts" by Paramore

“I guess to build yourself up so high you had to take her and break her down”

Place: Washington D.C. Song: Keith Urban, “Stupid Boy”

This Keith Urban lyric seemed to be continuing the narrative most sentences on Taylor’s arm had built since late May. However, she is also friends with Keith, ever since she was an opening act on his tour back in 2009.

“I dream of things that never were and ask why not”

Place: Washington D.C. Quote from Robert F. Kennedy

Taylor was either quoting politician Robert F. Kennedy or Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Kennedy was actually quoting Shaw, but given that Taylor was in Washington D.C., she was likely paying tribute to the late politician. It was the first time on this tour an arm quote had come from somewhere other than a song lyric.

Notably, Taylor briefly dated Conor Kennedy during the summer of 2012.

“‘Cause I live and breathe this Philadelphia freedom”

Place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Song: Elton John, “Philadelphia Freedom”

Taylor chose lyrics from Montgomery Gentry’s “My Town” for her show in Pittsburgh, although her hometown of Wyomissing is much closer to Philadelphia. As expected, she found a way to pay tribute to the city she grew up living and breathing with this classic Elton John lyric.

“And up in the air they would write your name there, but love would fall to pieces in the rain”

Place: Chicago, Illinois Song: Patty Griffin, “Christina”

It’s rumored that Patty Griffin wrote this song about the tragic life of Christina Onassis. 

“If you want to be somebody else, change your mind”

Place: Chicago, Illinois Song: Sister Hazel, “Change Your Mind”

This was a different style of lyric than others Taylor had written on her left arm during the “Speak Now World Tour.” While a few had been geographically linked, most had been either angry, remorseful or reflected scorn or heartbreak. It was good to see her thinking positive thoughts once again.

“I got a really good heart, I just can’t catch a break”

Place: St. Louis Missouri Song: Ryan Adams, “Two”

There may not be a better lyric to sum up Taylor’s love life at the time.

“And the hardest part was letting go, not taking part”

Place: St. Louis, Missouri Song: Coldplay, “The Hardest Part”

Taylor chose another song about breaking up, or being broken up with or just general heartache. Since early June, the majority of her chosen lyrics had been of this brand.

“Find the grace in all the things that you can’t change, and help somebody if you can”

Place: Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) Song: Van Zant, “Help Somebody”

Edmonton is a long ways away from the southern country-rocker’s homestate of Florida, so this lyric wasn’t chosen due to the geographical connection. This inspirational lyric fit in nicely with some of her more uplifting Sharpie stylings.

“Hey brother, we’re all learning to love again”

Place: Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) Song: Mat Kearney, “Learning to Love Again”

Taylor first quoted Kearney in early June using the, “I guess we’re all one phone call from our knees” lyric from his “Closer to Love” song. Perhaps this song could have been the second bookend to an emotionally difficult time in her life.

“Don’t worry baby, everything will turn out all right”

Place: Los Angeles, California Song: The Beach Boys, “Don’t Worry Baby”

Not including the George Bernard Shaw quote, this is the oldest lyric Taylor had drawn on her left arm. She has mentioned that she is a big fan of The Beach Boys. In this song, they sing about a lover learning to trust again.

"Find the grace in all the things that you can't change, and help somebody if you can." Arm Lyric from "Help Somebody" by Van Zant

“But my heart cried out for you, California”

Place: Los Angeles, California Song: Joni Mitchell, “California”

Mitchell’s song, another geocentric choice, mixes politics and social awareness but at the end is just a love song for the state Taylor was spending a week or so visiting. She already had a home in LA in 2011, so like Mitchell, there’s no doubt she felt more and more at home with each return visit.

“Love Actually is all around”

Place: Los Angeles, California Quote from the movie Love Actually

Taylor was quoting Hugh Grant’s character from this 2003 movie. It was the first time she had quoted a movie on tour. It is a well-known fact that Love Actually is one of Taylor’s favorite movies of all time.

“I wish that I could have this moment for life”

Place: Los Angeles, California Song: Nicki Minaj feat. Drake, “Moment 4 Life”

The song is about two kids who share a dream, grow up, and realize they’ve achieved it together. Yet another uplifting lyric.

“After all that we’ve been through, I know we’re cool”

Place: San Jose, California Song: Gwen Stefani, “Cool”

There were reports that Joe Jonas and Taylor were becoming friends again around this time. He attended one of her “Speak Now Tour” shows.

“For what it’s worth, it was worth all the while”

Place: San Jose, California Song: Green Day, “Good Riddance”

The Green Day lead singer says he wrote this song after a difficult break up with a girl who was moving to Ecuador. He was trying to make peace with the separation. Perhaps Taylor was now at that stage with the guy she split from at the beginning of the year.

“Tell me everything I want to hear like that was your favorite year”

Place: Sacremento, California Song: The Chicks, “Favorite Year”

Yet another song about saying Goodbye to lover. 

“You’re just somewhere that I’ve been, and I won’t go back again”

Place: Portland, Oregon Song: Selena Gomez and the Scene, “Ghost of You”

Three songs in a row about getting over an ex, this time by one of her best friends. Taylor seemed to have been in the phase of “break up, get back together, break up, get back together etc…” Which was, after all, the inspiration for her 2012 hit song “ We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together .”

“You are the ever-living ghost of what once was”

Place: Tacoma, Washington Song: Band of Horses, “No One’s Gonna Love You”

Taylor threw a curveball in the narrative. This song is about a troubled relationship, but the chorus goes, “No one’s gonna love you more than I do.”  

“There was always something that meant more to you than me”

Place: Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) Song: Jessica Andrews, “There’s More to Me Than You”

Andrew’s song is a kiss-off to a guy that didn’t appreciate her. Taylor certainly had a target to fire that sort of song at.

“Where were you when the world stopped turning”

Place: Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada) Song: Alan Jackson, “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)”

Taylor was in Canada on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. She played this song for her Vancouver audience, but the song didn’t have nearly as much influence on Canadian fans as it would have American. It was still a nice thought, and an obvious choice for her left arm. For the record, Taylor was in fifth grade, at school “When the World Stopped Turning.”

"After all that we've been through, I know we're cool." Arm Lyric from "Cool" by Gwen Stefani

“Be a best friend, tell the truth and overuse ‘I love you’”

Place: Nashville, Tennessee Song: Lee Brice, “Love Like Crazy”

From time to time one figures Taylor ignored any personal stuff happening in her life and chose a song to scribble down her left arm just because it’s a really good song. This might have been one of those occasions.

“This one’s for the girls who love without holding back”

Place: Nashville, Tennessee Song: Martina McBride, “This One’s For the Girls”

This song is similar to the one Taylor penned on her arm the previous night. It’s notable that three of the four arm lyrics from Nashville shows on this tour were from country songs. The other was from Selena Gomez, back when this project wasn’t fully formed on the “Speak Now Tour”‘s first night.

“Love, save the empty and save me.”

Place: Bossier, Lousiana Song: Erin McCarley, “Love, Save the Empty”

McCarley’s song from her 2009 album of the same name was used during an episode of Grey’s Anatomy , which is one of Taylor’s favorite TV series. It seems likely she just picked a good lyric from a great song.

“Do you realize that you have the most beautiful face”

Place: Tulsa, Oklahoma Song: The Flaming Lips, “Do You Realize?”

Most likely this was a geographical tribute. This song from 2002 was chosen as the official rock song of Oklahoma. The Flaming Lips are from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

“I hope you know that even if I don’t, I wanted to.”

Place: Kansas City, Oklahoma Song: Rachel Yamagata, “Even If I Don’t”

This song begins with, “I miss you most in the morning / Most every morning / I wake up thinking / I could call / I could come visit / I could come running / We could relive it.” Taylor was feeling blue again. The lyrics seem to be connected to her own song “ I Almost Do ,” released in 2012.

“But it flew away from her reach, so she ran away in her sleep and dreamed of paradise.”

Place: Denver, Colorado Song: Coldplay, “Paradise”

This was one of the longest arm lyrics. As far as content, the Coldplay song could have been a theme for Taylor. It’s about a girl with romantic dreams who keeps getting her heart broken by various people.

“Little girl, you’re in the middle of the ride.”

Place: Salt Lake City, Utah Song: Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”

This is the second Jimmy Eat World lyric Taylor had scribbled down her arm. This 2002 hit was the band’s biggest, and it’s mostly words of encouragment to a girl who’s down on her luck. They actually wrote it about their professional situation at the time, but Taylor certainly wasn’t having troubles there.

“Just as free, free as we’ll ever be.”

Place: Atlanta, Georgia Song: Zac Brown Band, “Free”

This is a geographical nod to the Georgia based country rockers.

“No telling where it’ll take you, just live your life.”

Place: Atlanta, Georgia Song: T.I. feat. Rihanna, “Live Your Life”

T.I. surprised Taylor’s audience by making a cameo on Oct. 2, with her singing Rihanna’s parts, he performed this hit from 2008. Previously, Taylor had invited hip-hop star Usher on stage with her in Atlanta.

“It’s easy saying nothing when there’s nothing to say.”

Place: Little Rock, Arkansas Song: K.T. Tunsall, “Fade Like a Shadow”

Another song about a relationship that has run its course. Taylor continued with the trend of choosing songs about either heartbreak, getting over a lover or being spurned by one.

"But it flew away from her reach, so she ran away in her sleep and dreamed of paradise." Arm Lyric from "Paradise" by Coldplay

“She’s out there on her own and she’s alright.”

Place: New Orleans, Lousiana Song: Shawn Colvin, “Sunny Came Home”

This song is Shawn Colvin’s biggest hit, winning a Grammy in 1998. The lyrics are destructive, to say the least. Colvin talks about burning a house down.

“A little voice inside my head said, ‘Don’t look back. You can never look back'”

Place: Dallas, Texas Song: Don Henley, “Boys of Summer”

This is a geographic tribute to Henley as he was born in Gilmer, Texas. More likely Taylor chose the song because of the lyrical content. “I thought I knew what love was what did I know / Those days are gone for ever / I should just let them go,” he sings. Who ever hurt Taylor a couple of months ago really scarred her.

“Through autumn’s advancing we’ll stay young, go dancing.”

Place: Louisville, Kentucky Song: Death Cab For Cutie, “Stay Young, Go Dancing”

An unusually happy song from Death Cab For Cutie, and an unusually optimistic choice for an arm lyric by Taylor.

“Can you still feel the butterflies? Can you still hear the last goodnight?”

Place: Lubbock, Texas Song: Jimmy Eat World, “For Me This is Heaven”

This is a more introspective Jimmy Eat World song. It was also the third song by the band Taylor had scribbled on her arm during the “Speak Now Tour.”

“I hope to god I would’ve done something good with my life.”

Place: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Song: Doc Walker, “My Life”

Taylor chose a song from Canadian country group Doc Walker. It’s a song of independence, choosing your own path and taking responsibility for the choices you make.

“Memories fade like looking through a fogged mirror”

Place: San Diego, California Song: MGMT, “Kids”

The song was a huge hit for alt-rockers MGMT in 2008. The message has to do with controlling impulses or being told to control impulses.

“May angels lead you in. Hear you me my friends.”

Place: Phoenix, Arizona Song: Jimmy Eat World, “Hear You Me”

This song is about saying thank you to someone who you’re no longer able to say thank you to. Exactly one year earlier, one of Taylor’s best friends sadly passed away. She mentioned that this song was played at his funeral.

“You know you’re doing better on your own, so don’t buy in.”

Place: Phoenix, Arizona Song: Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”

It’s the third time in five nights Taylor had chosen Jimmy Eat World to decorate her arm, and it was the second time during the “Speak Now World Tour” she’d chosen “The Middle.” The band is from Mesa, Arizona, so she was no doubt paying tribute to the boys’ hometown. Alas, it’s another geographical reference. However, it’s clear Taylor is a huge fan of the alt-rock band.

“Where love is just a lyric in a children’s rhyme, a sound bite”

Place: San Antonio, Texas Song: Keane, “Is it Any Wonder?”

This Grammy nominated hit from 2006 was actually about the war in Iraq. Just days before this show President Obama announced all American troops were leaving Iraq. This explanation is such a variant from the normal Taylor arm-lyric, that it almost sounds unbelievable. 

“And I never saw blue like that before across the sky around the world”

Place: Austin, Texas Song: Shawn Colvin, “Never Saw Blue Like That”

Perhaps more interesting than the lyric Taylor chose for her arm are the words that follow in Colvin’s song. “I can’t believe a month ago / I was alone, I didn’t know you / I hadn’t seen or heard you’re name / And even now, I’m so amazed / It’s like a dream, It’s like a rainbow, it’s like the rain.” 

“Can you still feel the butterflies? Can you still hear the last goodnight?" Arm Lyric from "For Me This Is Heaven" by Jimmy Eat World

“’Cause happiness throws a shower of sparks”

Place: Lexington, Kentucky Song: The Fray, “Happiness”

The title of this song is misleading (just like Taylor’s own song “ happiness “) because it’s all about chasing, and rarely finding happiness.

“But darling, I wish you well on your way to the wishing well”

Place: Memphis, Tennessee Song: Patti Griffin, “Nobody’s Cryin'”

Many think this song is about death, which would be a perfect topic for the night before Halloween. However, it seems more likely Taylor just had a fondness for this great songwriter.

“It’s love’s illusions that I recall, I really don’t know love at all.”

Place: Houston, Texas Song: Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides, Now”

Taylor first discovered Joni Mitchell’s classic album Blue in 2011. She was still a woman healing from a break up, which would lead to her own classic, RED , just one year later.

“Birds flying high, you know how I feel”

Place: Jacksonville, Florida Song: Nina Simone, “Feeling Good”

Taylor won the CMA Award for “Entertainer of the Year” less than 24 hours before this show. There’s no doubt that is why she was feeling good. Credit Taylor for digging deep into her iPod to find a lyric that captured her spirit.

“I could rest my head just knowing that you were mine”

Place: Tampa, Florida Song: Guns N’ Roses, “November Rain”

While this could be a lyric dedicated to a love she’d lost and wanted back, it could also have been a sweet ode to her new kitten Meredith . Not too many people would dedicate a hard-rock song to a kitten, but Taylor is indeed unlike many people.

“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly”

Place: Miami, Florida Anonymous

A very good week wrapped up for Taylor in Miami, and it’s possible she was viewing her good fortune at the CMA Awards as a turning point in what seemed to have been a difficult year. She was ready to write a new chapter.

“I feel lost again but this time for the best”

Place: Charlotte, North Carolina Song: Gregory & the Hawk, “For the Best”

This song by singer-songwriter Meredith Godreau is about pining for someone from afar. It’s a happier, more upbeat lyric; a stark contrast to many of the melancholy messages Taylor had chosen prior to her wins at the CMA Awards . It may have been an indicator as to where she was at emotionally.

“We learned more from a 3 minute record than we ever learned in school”

Place: Raleigh, North Carolina Song: Bruce Springsteen, “No Surrender”

Springsteen showed up at this show in Raleigh. The rock legend has a daughter who attended nearby Duke University and he brought her and a few friends to the show since they’re huge Swifties. Before Taylor went on stage Springsteen appeared backstage and strummed a few chords on her acoustic guitar. She posted a picture of the encounter on Twitter.

“Where would we be today If I never drove that car away”

Place: Columbia, South Carolina Song: Darius Rucker, “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It”

This is another lyric that serves as a thank you note to an artist who was nice enough to take time to appear with Taylor on stage. Rucker and her sang “Alright,” much to the delight of his hometown crowd.

“May these memories break our fall”

Place: New York City, New York Song: Taylor Swift, “ Long Live “

It was the perfect song for Taylor to close the “Speak Now World Tour” with. She has said that this song is about her band, producer and all of the fans that helped her “build this brick by brick.” It’s a thank you note to finish what was arguably the year’s best tour.

“Bring on all the pretenders, one day, we will be remembered”

The last two shows in New York City were the only ones in which Taylor chose lyrics from her own song to scroll down her arm. While often the lyrics she chose felt like reactions to something happening in her personal life, it’s likely she had this song in mind to close the tour for quite awhile.

"It's love's illusions that I recall I really don't know love at all." Arm Lyric from "Both Sides, Now" by Joni Mitchell

“I am on a lonely road and I am traveling, traveling, traveling.”

Place: Perth, Western Australia (Australia) Song: Joni Mitchell, “All I Want”

Taylor was still heavily inspired by Blue at this time, having just played Joni’s song “A Case of You” on guitar on her flight to Perth, according to one of her journal entries included in the Lover Diaries .

“We sleep underneath the same big sky at night. And dream the same dream we can fly.”

Place: Adelaide, South Australia (Australia) Song: Chantal Kreviazuk, “In This Life”

One of Taylor’s happier and more optimistic arm lyrics.

“She said watch your back, I’m nobody’s girlfriend”

Place: Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) Song: Matt Nathanson, “Modern Love”

Taylor seemed to be moving on from the heartbreak of last year.

“The war outside your door keeps raging on. STOP KONY 2012”

Place: Brisbane, Queensland (Australia) Song: Taylor Swift feat. the Civil Wars, “ Safe & Sound “

Taylor had released her acclaimed folk song for The Hunger Games soundtrack back in December, but the movie premiered around this time in March.

“Go cut through the noise so you can know what love sounds like.”

Place: Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) Song: Natasha Bedingfield, “Neon Lights”

Another sign that Taylor might have been ready to look for love again.

“If things go right we can frame it, and put you on a wall.”

Place: Sydney, New South Wales (Australia) Song: Ed Sheeran, “Lego House”

Taylor first heard an Ed Sheeran song on the Australian leg of the “Speak Now Tour.” Soon after, the two would meet up and write a couple of songs together (“ Everything Has Changed ” and “ Run “). Which in turn was the beginning of “Sweeran,” a very close friendship.

“We love our lovin’ but not like we love our freedom”

Place: Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) Song: Joni Mitchell, “Help Me”

Taylor had now chosen to write down one of Joni Mitchell’s lyrics more than three times.

“Last time I talked to you, you were lonely and out of place.”

Place: Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) Song: Our Lady Peace, “Somewhere Out There”

Taylor seemed to be reflecting on one of her past relationships.

“All romantics meet the same fate somehow.”

Place: Melbourne, Victoria (Australia) Song: Joni Mitchell, “The Last Time I Saw Richard”

Taylor was deep in the writing process for RED , and Joni Mitchell’s Blue was one of her main inspirations.

“Keep your feet ready, heart beat steady, keep your eyes open”

Place: Auckland, New Zealand Song: Taylor Swift, “ Eyes Open “

“Eyes Open” is Taylor’s second contribution to the Hunger Games soundtrack. The song was released a few days prior.

“Every lesson forms a new scar”

Another nod to “Eyes Open.” Taylor also performed the song acoustically at the end of the show.

“You know wherever I am, I’ll come running to see you again”

Place: Auckland, New Zealand Song: Carole King, “You’ve Got A Friend”

A song written and performed by one of Taylor’s biggest idols, Carole King. The lyric for the farewell show of the “Speak Now World Tour” was surely carefully chosen. Taylor promised her fans in New Zealand and around the world that it wouldn’t be too long until they would meet again.

“You know wherever I am, I’ll come running to see you again” Arm Lyric from "You've Got A Friend" by Carole King

The RED Tour Arm Lyric

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For The Record: How Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' Changed Her Career — And Proved She'll Always Get The Last Word

The third Taylor Swift album to receive the 'Taylor's Version' treatment, 'Speak Now' isn't just a time capsule for the superstar — it was the turning point for her both personally and professionally.

As Taylor Swift began work on her third album, she knew all eyes were on her. The singer had solidified her status as a bonafide country-pop superstar thanks to her sophomore LP, 2008's Fearless , which earned Swift her first four GRAMMYs, including Album Of The Year. Meanwhile, her personal life had become non-stop fodder for the tabloids; critics painted her as a boy-crazy maneater ready to chew up exes for the sake of hits.

While her first two records had largely centered on romantic daydreams and small-town adolescence, Swift's new level of fame meant her next set of music would involve more high-profile subjects. Like, say, the rapper who'd tried to humiliate her in front of the entire world at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. Or the Hollywood starlet she was convinced had stolen her pop star boyfriend. Or the critic who had taken a particularly vicious swipe at her on his well-known industry blog. All of those moments pinwheeled around a common theme: speaking up, speaking out, speaking her truth. And the result became Speak Now .

"These songs are made up of words I didn't say when the moment was right in front of me," Swift wrote in the LP's liner notes. "These songs are open letters. Each is written with a specific person in mind, telling them what I meant to tell them in person."

Swift's Speak Now era officially began in August 2010, when she released "Mine" as the album's lead single. The rollout was expedited by two weeks after the song leaked on the internet, but even with an earlier-than-planned release, the star immediately proved she was pushing her songcraft past the high school hallways and teenage fairytales of her first two albums — a level of maturity that rang through Speak Now .

"Mine" told an altogether different kind of love story, one that confronted the daunting realities of adulthood head-on. Instead of the hopeless romantic fans had come to know on past hits like "Love Story" and "You Belong With Me," Swift positioned herself as the jaded protagonist at the tale's center, one whose walls are only broken down by this new, grown-up kind of love.

Becoming her fourth top five hit on the Billboard Hot 100, "Mine" also contained a particularly flawless turn of phrase in its chorus — "you made a rebel of a careless man's careful daughter" — that remains, to this day, one of the best examples of Swift's razor-sharp talent for crafting the perfect lyric.

The rest of Speak Now — which Swift wrote entirely alone as a mic drop against critics — proved to have the same kind of brilliance. Swift had unleashed a new layer of her songwriting ability; not only did she dive deeper into the unveiled honesty of her diaristic style, but she also hinted at the whimsical storytelling that was to come on future albums, particularly 2020's folklore and evermore . But above all, Speak Now showed that Swift would never leave anything unspoken again.

Swift's evolution as a songwriter mirrored her growing success: Upon its October 2010 release, Speak Now sold an eye-popping 1,047,000 copies in its first week. The seven-digit sales figure nearly doubled Fearless ' opening week tally of 592,300, and became the first album to achieve the million-copy first-week feat in more than two years. (The achievement also foreshadowed the records Swift would break with her subsequent releases, most recently her majorly record-breaking 10th album, Midnights .)

Nearly every track on Speak Now had fans and the press hunting for clues about who was on the receiving end of Swift's open letters. There's "Back to December," a break-up ballad written for Taylor Lautner, and "Better Than Revenge," a condescending clapback at Camilla Belle for "sabotaging" her romance with Joe Jonas . She even offered Kanye West a surprising amount of grace after their viral VMAs moment on the downtempo ballad "Innocent."

Arguably the most talked-about Speak Now subject was (and still is) John Mayer , who had two songs aimed squarely at him: pop-punk-fueled single "The Story of Us" and "Dear John," a devastating dressing down of their 12-year age gap. The latter even mimicked Mayer's trademark blues guitar as Swift wailed, "Dear John, I see it all now, it was wrong/ Don't you think 19's too young/ To be played by your dark, twisted games when I loved you so?/ I should've known."

Perhaps the most victorious moment from Taylor's Speak Now era, though, came from "Mean." The banjo-tinged tune served as a deliciously twangy clapback to critic Bob Lefsetz, who had publicly derided Swift's 2010 GRAMMYs performance with Stevie Nicks , just hours before she was awarded Album Of The Year for the first time.

Not only did "Mean" end up winning Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance at the 2012 GRAMMYs, but Swift also got the last word by performing the single during the ceremony. In the final chorus, Swift landed her knock-out punch — the music dropped out completely as she triumphantly declared, "But someday I'll be singin' this at the GRAMMYs/ And all you're ever gonna be is mean."

Nearly 13 years after Speak Now was first unveiled, Swift is now on the precipice of giving her beloved third album its highly anticipated Taylor's Version re-release — appropriately the third project after Fearless and Red to be re-recorded in her history-making quest to own her life's work.

The new edition of Speak Now will contain all 14 tracks on the original LP as well as sixth single "Ours" and fellow deluxe cut "Superman." (Though released in March to celebrate the start of The Eras Tour , "If This Was a Movie" was mysteriously left off the (Taylor's Version) tracklist.) It will also feature six vault tracks from the era, including collaborations with Paramore 's Hayley Williams ("Castles Crumbling") and Fall Out Boy ("Electric Touch"), two acts Swift said "influenced me most powerfully as a lyricist" back when she was recording the album in 2010. 

As the lone LP in her now 10-album discography to be written solely by Swift's pen, Speak Now undoubtedly holds a special and solitary place in the superstar's heart. Looking back on the album after announcing the Taylor's Version release at her first Nashville Eras Tour stop , she made clear it has only become more meaningful over the last 13 years. 

"I first made Speak Now , completely self-written, between the ages of 18 and 20," she wrote in a social media post announcing the album . "The songs that came from this time in my life were marked by their brutal honesty, unfiltered diaristic confessions and wild wistfulness. I love this album because it tells a tale of growing up, flailing, flying and crashing…and living to speak about it."

10 Albums On Divorce & Heartache, From Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours' To Kelly Clarkson's 'Chemistry'

Photo: ALERIE MACON / AFP via Getty Images

How Sabrina Carpenter Became A Pop Queen: Tracing Her Journey To 'Short N' Sweet'

More than a decade in the making, Sabrina Carpenter is living out her superstar dreams. As she releases her new album, 'Short n' Sweet,' look back on the chart-topping star's journey and how every venture helped her evolve into a pop phenom.

Sabrina Carpenter is the first to admit that it's taken her a bit of time to find her way to the top of the music industry. She even likens herself to the tortoise in the fable "The Tortoise and the Hare" — even if she didn't want to believe the metaphor growing up.

"Something that my mom always said to me as a little girl that really annoyed me was that I am the tortoise… throughout my life, [I was] being told, 'Sabrina, you're the tortoise, just chill,'" Carpenter recalled while accepting the Variety Hitmakers Rising Artist Award in December 2023. "In moments of frustration and confusion it can feel like a letdown, but it turns out it's actually a very good thing."

It's been a very good thing for Carpenter, indeed. A decade since the release of her debut single, the singer/songwriter isn't just breaking through — she's one of pop's new reigning queens. Over the last year, Carpenter has nabbed her first No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100, made a stellar debut at Coachella, and performed on "Saturday Night Live," all the while racking up billions of streams on her music new and old. It's all built excitement for one of the most anticipated pop albums of the summer: Short n' Sweet .

As Carpenter unveils her new album, take a deep dive into her decade-long journey to pop stardom.

Getting Started: Disney Breakthrough

Growing up, Carpenter filled the sounds of her family home in Pennsylvania with covers of songs like Adele 's "Set Fire To The Rain" and "Picture to Burn" by future Eras Tour companion Taylor Swift (more on that later). After submitting videos for a singing contest spearheaded by Miley Cyrus , Carpenter would get her first taste of success. Placing third, she caught the eye of Hollywood Records, who signed her following the competition.

Simultaneously, Carpenter also began pursuing acting, landing guest spots on series like "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in 2011 and joining "The Goodwin Games" in 2012. In 2014, she landed a lead role in the Disney Channel series "Girl Meets World," a spin-off of the beloved '90s series "Boy Meets World," which served as a breakthrough moment for the burgeoning star — and a catalyst for her music career.

Just before the show debuted, Carpenter released her debut single, "Can't Blame A Girl for Trying," the title track to her debut EP that arrived a month later. While the four-track EP was the typical output of a teenage Disney star — bubblegum pop sounds with digestible, family-friendly lyricism — it showed off her youthful timbre and offered themes that would become prevalent later in Carpenter's songwriting: love, heartache, and navigating life.

A year later, she released her debut album, Eyes Wide Open . A mix of pop with folk and country influences — a soundscape that remains on Short n' Sweet — Carpenter's debut showed maturity and growth following Can't Blame A Girl For Trying ; songs like "Eyes Wide Open" and "We'll Be the Stars" showed a more introspective side, reflecting on the pressures of being in the spotlight and the journey of finding her identity. Eyes Wide Open also hinted that Carpenter was beginning to hone her songwriting skills, penning four of the 12 tracks.

It would be on her 2016 sophomore album, EVOLution, where Carpenter would find confidence as a songwriter, co-writing all but one song on the 10-track project. In turn, the lyrics reflected her growing sense of self and a new perspective on past themes, like embracing non-romantic forms of love in "All We Have is Love," being there for a struggling friend in "Shadows," and learning to assert boundaries in "Space."

EVOLution transitioned Carpenter out of the teen pop aesthetic into a more sophisticated sound, experimenting with dance-pop and techno sonics. Genre versatility would become a throughline of sorts for Carpenter, and EVOLution foreshadowed the multifaceted musicality that was to come.

Shedding Disney: From Child Actor To Pop Star

After "Girl Meets World" came to an end at the beginning of 2017, Carpenter was ready for reinvention. Much like Britney Spears ' Britney and Cyrus' Can't Be Tamed before her, as Carpenter grew into an adult, she felt like she needed to shed the Disney-fied image that has become a rite of passage for teen stars. Thus began the Singular era.

Released in 2018 and 2019, respectively, Singular: Act I and Singular: Act II featured songs that were more risqué and mature in nature. A far cry from her tamer work of the past, the R&B track "Hold Tight" is equal parts sultry and evocative with Carpenter singing, "Wanna keep you in, wanna keep you in right/ Wanna feel your skin, wanna feel it on mine."

As she noted in an interview with Billboard , Singular: Act I   was a natural progression for a girl now in her late teens — even if it was against the squeaky-clean image of her beginnings.

"I was known as a fictional character on television with lines that were written for her with an attitude that was portrayed in a way by other people. So for a lot of people, their first impression of me was as a 13-year-old girl [singing] the kinds of songs that she should be singing," she said. "Then, flash forward to 19, and people are asking why I am not singing about the same things that I did when I was 13, as if that's normal."

One of the more notable Singular tracks is from Act I , "Sue Me." Sneakily disguised as a story about a romantic relationship, the song is Carpenter's response to being sued by her ex music managers: "That's my shape, I made the shadow/ That's my name, don't wear it out though/ Feelin' myself can't be illegal." Its tongue-in-cheek and snarky nature would inevitably embolden Carpenter to continue writing more confessional songs with attitude, whether she's responding to media scrutiny in "because i liked a boy" from 2022's emails i can't send , or warning a suitor to be careful in Short n' Sweet 's "Please, Please, Please."

Singular: Act I and Act II further helped demonstrate different facets of Carpenter's musicality, with the former leaning into pop tendencies and the latter embracing an R&B flair. And as her final albums with Hollywood Records, she used Singular: Act I and Act II to indicate that she wasn't going to let any sort of previous perceptions hold her back. Their coming-of-age themes showcased Carpenter as an artist coming into her own — regardless of whether listeners wanted to keep her in the Disney box or not.

Reintroducing Herself: Artistic Authenticity & The "Nonsense" Effect

While the world was going through a period of change amid the COVID-19 pandemic, so was Carpenter. She signed with Universal Music Group's Island Records in 2021, and soon she would be able to fully introduce the world to who Sabrina Carpenter is as an artist.

As she noted herself to Variety earlier this year, her 2022 LP, emails i can't send , "marked the beginning of a really freeing and artistic time for me." Once again, she co-wrote every song on the album; this time, though, she only had one co-writer for each track, and even wrote two songs solo ("emails i can't send" and "how many things") — proving that she was more assured as a songwriter than ever.

As a result, Carpenter's knack for confessional songwriting is on full display. emails i can't send represents a reflective time capsule of sorts; one that brings the curiosity of her earlier work with the perspective and wisdom of a young adult. Her growing fame meant there was more attention on her personal life, and emails i can't send allowed her to reclaim her narrative and express her side of the story.

Carpenter's candidness struck a chord with listeners, and upon the release of emails i can't send in July 2022, it was clear Carpenter was on a new trajectory. The album debuted at No. 23 on the Billboard 200, which marked her highest entry on the chart to date (as of press time); the 2022 stretch of her Emails I Can't Send Tour sold out in less than a day. And once  "Nonsense" was released as a single that November, her place as a rapidly rising star was solidified.

"Nonsense" was initially written as a means to an end after Carpenter was writing a sad song and had writer's block. Now, the track is the epitome of Carpenter's lyricism, weaving together her wit and humor with an infectious hook. First gaining traction on TikTok because of its catchiness, it's become a beloved part of Carpenter's canon thanks to her inventive and bespoke outros during her live shows. It's since become a tradition for fans to check to see what outro she created for each performance, adding to the fan fervor.

Carpenter further satiated fans' taste for her cheeky lyricism in March 2023, when she released emails i can't send fwd: , the deluxe version of her album, which featured a new track called "Feather." She took the playful, flirting energy of "Nonsense" and infused "Feather" with buoyant, airy production that mimics the feeling of self-liberation after moving on from a relationship. Earning Carpenter her first pop radio No. 1, "Feather" proved that the singer's audacious style was taking hold — and it set the stage for an even bigger 2024.

Becoming A Superstar: Eras Tour, "Espresso" & Beyond

After her own extensive — and very sold out — tour in support of Emails I Can't Send , Carpenter's rising star status was further confirmed by pop's current queen, Taylor Swift. The singer earned a coveted opening slot on Swift's monumental Eras Tour in Mexico, South America, Australia, and Asia.

Just after her last Eras Tour show in March 2024, Carpenter hinted that her own new era was beginning. "I'm starting to feel like I've outgrown the songs I'm singing," she admitted to Cosmopolitan , "which is always an exciting feeling because I think that means the next chapter is right around the corner."

That chapter began with "Espresso," which dropped a day before her debut Coachella performance. Doubling down on the playful, self-assured vibe of "Nonsense," the song immediately hinted that big things were coming for Carpenter, debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at No. 3.

Upon announcing her sixth album, Short n' Sweet , Carpenter released "Please Please Please." Combining her now-signature playful, carefree lyricism with an airy, disco-tinged sound, "Please Please Please" didn't just present Carpenter as a confident superstar —  it became her first Hot 100-topping smash.

Carpenter has referred to Short n' Sweet as the "hot older sister" of emails i can't send. "It's my second 'big girl' album; it's a companion but it's not the same," she explained to Variety , to whom she also admitted she feels a "sense of separation" from her work prior to emails . "When it comes to having full creative control and being a full-fledged adult, I would consider this a sophomore album."

It's apt, then, that her Short n' Sweet collaborators — including songwriters Julia Michaels , Amy Allen and Steph Jones — are largely the same as the team from emails i can't send . "I've really honed in on the people that I love making music with," she told Rolling Stone in June.

Even more telling of the direction she's heading is her work with one of pop's hottest producers — and Swift's right-hand man — Jack Antonoff , for the first time. At a GRAMMY Museum event with Antonoff himself, Carpenter debuted the country-infused " Slim Pickins ," presenting yet another pop style from Short n' Sweet . And as "Slim Pickins," "Espresso" and "Please Please Please" indicate, Carpenter's knack for infectious and edgy lyrics isn't just the throughline across Short n' Sweet — it's become the epitome of both her artistry and her stardom.

Just like her metaphorical friend the tortoise, Carpenter's long but steady journey has clearly paid off. As she's figured out who she is on her own terms, she's manifested the bonafide superstardom she's always imagined.

"I never had the plan B, and it wasn't even a thought in my mind that it wouldn't work out," she told Rolling Stone . "I just always knew it was about not if it would happen but when it would happen."

For Carpenter, every chapter of her artistry has built on the last; she's refused to rest on her laurels and continuously pursued new directions. She's creating work that wholeheartedly reflects her, and growing a loyal fan base because of it. Her next album might be named Short n' Sweet , but her time as a pop superstar will be anything but.

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Photo: Jeremy Cowart

Behind Ryan Tedder's Hits: Stories From The Studio With OneRepublic, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift & More

As OneRepublic releases their latest album, the group's frontman and pop maverick gives an inside look into some of the biggest songs he's written — from how Beyoncé operates to Tom Cruise's prediction for their 'Top Gun' smash.

Three months after OneRepublic began promoting their sixth album, Artificial Paradise , in February 2022, the band unexpectedly had their biggest release in nearly a decade. The pop-rock band's carefree jam, "I Ain't Worried," soundtracked Top Gun: Maverick 's most memeable scene and quickly became a global smash — ultimately delaying album plans in favor of promoting their latest hit.

Two years later, "I Ain't Worried" is one of 16 tracks on Artificial Paradise , which arrived July 12. It's a seamless blend of songs that will resonate with longtime and newer fans alike. From the layered production of "Hurt," to the feel-good vibes of "Serotonin," to the evocative lyrics of "Last Holiday," Artificial Paradise shows that OneRepublic's sound is as dialed-in as it is ever-evolving.

The album also marks the end of an era for OneRepublic, as it's the last in their contract with Interscope Records. But for the group's singer, Ryan Tedder , that means the future is even more exciting than it's been in their entire 15-year career.

"I've never been more motivated to write the best material of my life than this very moment," he asserts. "I'm taking it as a challenge. We've had a lot of fun, and a lot of uplifting records for the last seven or eight years, but I also want to tap back into some deeper material with the band."

As he's been prepping Artificial Paradise with his OneRepublic cohorts, Tedder has also been as busy as he's ever been working with other artists. His career as a songwriter/producer took off almost simultaneously with OneRepublic's 2007 breakthrough, "Apologize" (his first major behind-the-board hit was Leona Lewis ' "Bleeding Love"); to this day he's one of the go-to guys for pop's biggest names, from BLACKPINK to Tate McRae .

Tedder sat down with GRAMMY.com to share some of his most prominent memories of OneRepublic's biggest songs, as well as some of the hits he's written with Beyoncé , Adele , Taylor Swift and more.

OneRepublic — "Apologize," 'Dreaming Out Loud' (2007)

I was producing and writing other songs for different artists on Epic and Atlantic — I was just cutting my teeth as a songwriter in L.A. This is like 2004. I was at my lowest mentally and financially. I was completely broke. Creditors chasing me, literally dodging the taxman and getting my car repoed, everything.

I had that song in my back pocket for four years. A buddy of mine just reminded me last month, a songwriter from Nashville — Ashley Gorley , actually. We had a session last month, me, him and Amy Allen , and he brought it up. He was like, "Is it true, the story about 'Apologize'? You were completely broke living in L.A. and Epic Records offered you like 100 grand or something just for the right to record the song on one of their artists?"

And that is true. It was, like, 20 [grand], then 50, then 100. And I was salivating. I was, like, I need this money so bad . And I give so many songs to other people, but with that song, I drew a line in the sand and said, "No one will sing this song but me. I will die with this song." 

It was my story, and I just didn't want anyone else to sing it. It was really that simple. It was a song about my past relationships, it was deeply personal. And it was also the song that — I spent two years trying to figure out what my sound was gonna be. I was a solo artist… and I wasn't landing on anything compelling. Then I landed on "Apologize" and a couple of other songs, and I was like, These songs make me think of a band, not solo artist material. So it was the song that led me to the sound of OneRepublic, and it also led me to the idea that I should start a band and not be a solo artist.

We do it every night. I'll never not do it. I've never gotten sick of it once. Every night that we do it, whether I'm in Houston or Hong Kong, I look out at the crowd and look at the band, and I'm like, Wow. This is the song that got us here.

Beyoncé — "Halo," 'I Am…Sacha Fierce' (2008)

We were halfway through promoting Dreaming Out Loud , our first album. I played basketball every day on tour, and I snapped my Achilles. The tour got canceled. The doctor told me not to even write. And I had this one sliver of an afternoon where my wife had to run an errand. And because I'm sadistic and crazy, I texted [songwriter] Evan Bogart, "I got a three-hour window, race over here. Beyoncé called me and asked me to write her a song. I want to do it with you." He had just come off his huge Rihanna No. 1, and we had an Ashley Tisdale single together.

When you write enough songs, not every day do the clouds part and God looks down on you and goes, "Here." But that's what happened on that day. I turn on the keyboard, the first sound that I play is the opening sound of the song. Sounds like angels singing. And we wrote the song pretty quick, as I recall. 

I didn't get a response [from Beyoncé after sending "Halo" over], which I've now learned is very, very typical of her. I did Miley Cyrus and Beyoncé "II MOST WANTED" [from COWBOY CARTER ] — I didn't know that was coming out 'til five days before it came out. And when I did "XO" [from 2013's Beyoncé ], I found out that "XO" was coming out 12 hours before it came out. That's how she operates.

OneRepublic — "Good Life," 'Waking Up' (2009)

["Good Life"] was kind of a Hail Mary. We already knew that "All the Right Moves" would be the first single [from Waking Up ]. We knew that "Secrets" was the second single. And in the 11th hour, our engineer at the time — who I ended up signing as a songwriter, Noel Zancanella — had this drum loop that he had made, and he played it for Brent [Kutzle] in our band. Brent said, "You gotta hear this drum loop that Noel made. It's incredible."

He played it for me the next morning, and I was like, "Yo throw some chords to this. I'm writing to this today." They threw some chords down, and the first thing out of my mouth was, [ sings ] "Oh, this has gotta be the good life." 

It's the perfect example of, oftentimes, the chord I've tried to strike with this band with some of our bigger records, [which] is happy sad. Where you feel nostalgic and kind of melancholic, but at the same time, euphoric. That's what those chords and that melody did for me.

I was like, "Hey guys, would it be weird if I made the hook a whistle?" And everyone was like, "No! Do not whistle!" They're like, "Name the last hit song that had a whistle." And the only one I could think of was, like, Scorpion from like, 1988. [ Laughs .] So I thought, To hell with it, man, it's been long enough, who cares? Let's try it. And the whistle kind of made the record. It became such a signature thing.

Adele — "Rumour Has It," '21' (2011)

"Rumour Has It" was the first song I did in probably a four year period, with any artist, that wasn't a ballad. All any artist ever wanted me to write with them or for them, was ballads, because of "Halo," and "Apologize" and "Bleeding Love."

I begged [Adele] to do a [song with] tempo, because we did "Turning Tables," another ballad. She was in a feisty mood [that day], so I was like, "Okay, we're doing a tempo today!"

Rick Rubin was originally producing the whole album. I was determined to produce Adele, not just write — because I wanted a shot to show her that I could, and to show myself. I stayed later after she left, and I remember thinking, What can I do in this record in this song that could be so difficult to reproduce that it might land me the gig?

So I intentionally muted the click track, changed the tempo, and [created that] whole piano bridge. I was making it up as I went. When she got in that morning. I said, "I have a crazy idea for a bridge. It's a movie." She listens and she says, "This is really different, I like this! How do we write to this?" 

I mean, it was very difficult. [But] we finished the song. She recorded the entire song that day. She recorded the whole song in one take. I've never seen anyone do that in my life — before or since.

Then I didn't hear from her for six months. Because I handed over the files, and Rick Rubin's doing it, so I don't need to check on it. I randomly check on the status of the song — and at this point, if you're a songwriter or producer, you're assuming that they're not keeping the songs. Her manager emails my manager, "Hey, good news — she's keeping both songs they did, and she wants Ryan to finish 'Rumour Has It' production and mix it." 

When I finally asked her, months later — probably at the GRAMMYs — I said, "Why didn't [Rick] do it?" She said, "Oh he did. It's that damn bridge! Nobody could figure out what the hell you were doing…It was so problematic that we just gave up on it."

OneRepublic — "Counting Stars," 'Native' (2013)

I was in a Beyoncé camp in the Hamptons writing for the self-titled album. [There were] a bunch of people in the house — me, Greg Kurstin , Sia — it was a fun group of people. I had four days there, and every morning I'd get up an hour and a half before I had to leave, make a coffee, and start prepping for the day. On the third day, I got up, I'm in the basement of this house at like 7 in the morning, and I'm coming up with ideas. I stumble across that chord progression, the guitar and the melody. It was instant shivers up my spine.  

"Lately I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be" is the only line that I had. [My] first thought was, I should play this for Beyoncé , and then I'm listening to it and going, This is not Beyoncé, not even remotely. It'd be a waste. So I tabled it, and I texted the guys in my band, "Hey, I think I have a potentially really big record. I'm going to finish it when I get back to Denver."

I got back the next week, started recording it, did four or five versions of the chorus, bouncing all the versions off my wife, and then eventually landed it. And when I played it for the band, they were like, "This is our favorite song."

Taylor Swift — "Welcome to New York," '1989' (2014)

It was my second session with Taylor. The first one was [ 1989 's] "I Know Places," and she sent me a voice memo. I was looking for a house in Venice [California], because we were spending so much time in L.A. So that whole memory is attached to me migrating back to Los Angeles.  

But I knew what she was talking about, because I lived in New York, and I remember the feeling — endless possibilities, all the different people and races and sexes and loves. That was her New York chapter. She was so excited to be there. If you never lived there, and especially if you get there and you've got a little money in the pocket, it is so exhilarating.

It was me just kind of witnessing her brilliant, fast-paced, lyrical wizardry. [Co-producer] Max [Martin] and I had a conversation nine months later at the GRAMMYs, when we had literally just won for 1989 . He kind of laughed, he pointed to all the other producers on the album, and he's like, "If she had, like, three more hours in the day, she would just figure out what we do and she would do it. And she wouldn't need any of us." 

And I still think that's true. Some people are just forces of nature in and among themselves, and she's one of them. She just blew me away. She's the most talented top liner I've ever been in a room with, bar none. If you're talking lyric and melody, I've never been in a room with anyone faster, more adept, knows more what they want to say, focused, efficient, and just talented.

Jonas Brothers — "Sucker," 'Happiness Begins' (2019)

I had gone through a pretty dry spell mentally, emotionally. I had just burned it at both ends and tapped out, call it end of 2016. So, really, all of 2017 for me was a blur and a wash. I did a bunch of sessions in the first three months of the year, and then I just couldn't get a song out. I kept having, song after song, artists telling me it's the first single, [then] the song was not even on the album. I had never experienced that in my career.

I went six to nine months without finishing a song, which for me is unheard of. Andrew Watt kind of roped me back into working with him. We did "Easier" for 5 Seconds of Summer , and we did some Sam Smith and some Miley Cyrus, and right in that same window, I did this song "Sucker." Two [or] three months later, Wendy Goldstein from Republic [Records] heard the record, I had sent it to her. She'd said, very quietly, "We're relaunching the Jonas Brothers . They want you to be involved in a major way. Do you have anything?" 

She calls me, she goes, "Ryan, do not play this for anybody else. This is their comeback single. It's a No. 1 record. Watch what we're gonna do." And she delivered.

OneRepublic — "I Ain't Worried," 'Top Gun: Maverick' Soundtrack (2022)

My memory is, being in lockdown in COVID, and just being like, Who knows when this is going to end , working out of my Airstream at my house. I had done a lot of songs for movies over the years, and [for] that particular [song] Randy Spendlove, who runs [music at] Paramount, called me.

I end up Zooming with Tom Cruise [and Top Gun: Maverick director] Jerry Bruckheimer — everybody's in lockdown during post-production. The overarching memory was, Holy cow, I'm doing the scene, I'm doing the song for Top Gun . I can't believe this is happening. But the only way I knew how to approach it, rather than to, like, overreact and s— the bed, was, It's just another day.

I do prescription songs for movies, TV, film all the time. I love a brief. It's so antithetical to most writers. I'm either uncontrollably lazy or the most productive person you've ever met. And the dividing line between the two is, if I'm chasing some directive, some motivation, some endpoint, then I can be wildly productive.

I just thought, I'm going to do the absolute best thing I can do for this scene and serve the film. OneRepublic being the performing artist was not on the menu in my mind. I just told them, "I think you need a cool indie band sounding, like, breakbeat." I used adjectives to describe what I heard when I saw the scene, and Tom got really ramped and excited. 

You could argue [it's the biggest song] since the band started. The thing about it is, it's kind of become one of those every summer [hits]. And when it blew up, that's what Tom said. He said, "Mark my words, dude. You're gonna have a hit with this every summer for, like, the next 20 years or more." 

And that's what happened. The moment Memorial Day happened, "I Ain't Worried" got defrosted and marched itself back into the top 100.

Tate McRae — "Greedy," 'THINK LATER' (2023)

We had "10:35" [with Tiësto ] the previous year that had been, like, a No. 1 in the UK and across Europe and Australia. So we were coming off the back of that, and the one thing she was clear about was, "That is not the direction of what I want to do."

If my memory serves me correct, "greedy" was the next to last session we had. Everything we had done up to that point was kind of dark, midtempo, emotional. So "greedy" was the weirdo outlier. I kept pushing her to do a dance record. I was like, "Tate, there's a lot of people that have great voices, and there's a lot of people who can write, but none of those people are professional dancers like you are. Your secret weapon is the thing you're not using. In this game and this career, you've got to use every asset that you have and exploit it."

There was a lot of cajoling. On that day, we did it, and I thought it was badass, and loved it. And she was like, "Ugh, what do we just do? What is this?"

So then it was just, like, months, months and months of me constantly bringing that song back up, and playing it for her, and annoying the s— out of her. And she came around on it. 

She has very specific taste. So much of the music with Tate, it really is her steering. I'll do what I think is like a finished version of a song, and then she will push everyone for weeks, if not months, to extract every ounce of everything out of them, to push the song harder, further, edgier — 19 versions of a song, until finally she goes, "Okay, this is the one." She's a perfectionist.

OneRepublic — "Last Holiday," 'Artificial Paradise' (2024)

I love [our latest single] "Hurt," but my favorite song on the album is called "Last Holiday." I probably started the beginning of that lyric, I'm not joking, seven, eight years ago. But I didn't finish it 'til this past year.

The verses are little maxims and words of advice that I've been given throughout the years. It's almost cynical in a way, the song. When I wrote the chorus, I was definitely in kind of a down place. So the opening line is, "So I don't believe in the stars anymore/ They never gave me what I wished for." And it's, obviously, a very not-so-slight reference to "Counting Stars." But it's also hopeful — "We've got some problems, okay, but this isn't our last holiday." 

It's very simple sentiments. Press pause. Take some moments. Find God before it all ends. All these things with this big, soaring chorus. Musically and emotionally and sonically, that song — and "Hurt," for sure — but "Last Holiday" is extremely us-sounding. 

The biggest enemy that we've had over the course of 18 years, I'll be the first to volunteer, is, this ever-evolving, undulating sound. No one's gonna accuse me of making these super complex concept albums, because that's just not how my brain's wired. I grew up listening to the radio. I didn't grow up hanging out in the Bowery in CBGBs listening to Nick Cave . So for us, the downside to that, and for me doing all these songs for all these other people, is the constant push and pull of "What is their sound? What genre is it?" 

I couldn't put a pin in exactly what the sound is, but what I would say is, if you look at the last 18 years, a song like "Last Holiday" really encompasses, sonically, what this band is about. It's very moving, and emotional, and dynamic. It takes me to a place — that's the best way for me to put it. And hopefully the listener finds the same.

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"Let Yourself Be Idiosyncratic": Moby Talks New Album 'Always Centered At Night' & 25 Years Of 'Play'

"We're not writing for a pop audience, we don't need to dumb it down," Moby says of creating his new record. In an interview, the multiple-GRAMMY nominee reflects on his latest album and how it contrasts with his legendary release from 1999.

Moby ’s past and present are converging in a serendipitous way. The multiple-GRAMMY nominee is celebrating the 25th anniversary of his seminal work, Play , the best-selling electronic dance music album of all time, and the release of his latest album, always centered at night .  

Where Play was a solitary creation experience for Moby, always centered at night is wholly collaborative. Recognizable names on the album are Lady Blackbird on the blues-drenched "dark days" and serpentwithfeet on the emotive "on air." But always centered at night ’s features are mainly lesser-known artists, such as the late Benjamin Zephaniah on the liquid jungle sounds of "where is your pride?" and Choklate on the slow grooves of "sweet moon."  

Moby’s music proves to have staying power: His early ‘90s dance hits "Go" and "Next is the E" still rip up dancefloors ; the songs on Play are met with instant emotional reactions from millennials who heard them growing up. Moby is even experiencing a resurgence of sorts with Gen Z. In 2023, Australian drum ‘n’ bass DJ/producer Luude and UK vocalist Issey Cross reimagined Moby’s classic "Porcelain" into "Oh My." Earlier this year, Moby released "You and Me" with Italian DJ/producer Anfisa Letyago .  

Music is just one of Moby’s many creative ventures. He wrote and directed Punk Rock Vegan Movie as well as writing and starring in his homemade documentary, Moby Doc . The two films are produced by his production company, Little Walnut , which also makes music videos, shorts and the podcast "Moby Pod ." Moby and co-host Lindsay Hicks have an eclectic array of guests, from actor Joe Manganiello to Ed Begley, Jr., Steve-O and Hunter Biden. The podcast interviews have led to "some of the most meaningful interpersonal experiences," Moby tells GRAMMY.com.  

A upcoming episode of "Moby Pod" dedicated to Play was taped live over two evenings at Los Angeles’ Masonic Lodge at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. The episode focuses on Moby recounting his singular experiences around the unexpected success of that album — particularly considering the abject failure of his previous album, Animal Rights . The narrative was broken up by acoustic performances of songs from Play , as well as material from Always Centered at Night (which arrives June 14) with special guest Lady Blackbird. Prior to the taping, Moby spoke to GRAMMY.com about both albums.  

'Always centered at night' started as a label imprint then became the title of your latest album. How did that happen?  

I realized pretty quickly that I just wanted to make music and not necessarily worry about being a label boss. Why make more busy work for myself ?

The first few songs were this pandemic process of going to SoundCloud, Spotify, YouTube and asking people for recommendations to find voices that I wasn’t familiar with, and then figuring out how to get in touch with them. The vast majority of the time, they would take the music I sent them and write something phenomenal.

That's the most interesting part of working with singers you've never met: You don't know what you're going to get. My only guidance was: Let yourself be creative, let yourself be idiosyncratic, let the lyrics be poetic. We're not writing for a pop audience, we don't need to dumb it down. Although, apparently Lady Blackbird is one of Taylor Swift 's favorite singers .   

Guiding the collaborators away from pop music is an unusual directive, although perhaps not for you?  

What is both sad and interesting is pop has come to dominate the musical landscape to such an extent that it seems a lot of musicians don't know they're allowed to do anything else. Some younger people have grown up with nothing but pop music. Danaé Wellington, who sings "Wild Flame," her first pass of lyrics were pop. I went back to her and said, "Please be yourself, be poetic." And she said, "Well, that’s interesting because I’m the poet laureate of Manchester." So getting her to disregard pop lyrics and write something much more personal and idiosyncratic was actually easy and really special .  

You certainly weren’t going in the pop direction when making 'Play,' but it ended up being an extremely popular album. Did you have a feeling it was going to blow up the way it did?

I have a funny story. I had a date in January 1999 in New York. We went out drinking and I had just gotten back the mastered version of   Play . We're back at my apartment, and before our date became "grown up," we listened to the record from start to finish.   She actually liked it.   And I thought,   Huh, that's interesting. I didn't think anyone was going to like this record .  

You didn’t feel anything different during the making of 'Play?'

I knew to the core of my being that   Play   was going to be a complete, abject failure. There was no doubt in my mind whatsoever. It was going to be my last record and it was going to fail. That was the time of people going into studios and spending half a million dollars. It was   Backstreet Boys   and   Limp Bizkit   and   NSYNC ; big major label records that were flawlessly produced.   Play   was made literally in my bedroom. 

I slept under the stairs like Harry Potter in my loft on Mott Street. I had one bedroom and that's where I made the record on the cheapest of cheap equipment held up literally on milk crates. Two of the songs were recorded to cassette, that's how cheap the record was. It was this weird record made by a has-been, a footnote from the early rave days. There was no world where I thought it was going to be even slightly successful. Daniel Miller from Mute said — and I remember this very clearly — "I think this record might sell over 50,000 copies." And I said, "That’s kind of you to say but let's admit that this is going to be a failure. Thank you for releasing my last record."   

Was your approach in making  'Play'  different from other albums?  

The record I had made before   Play ,   Animal Rights , was this weird, noisy metal punk industrial record that almost everybody hated. I remember this moment so vividly: I was playing Glastonbury in 1998 and it was one of those miserable Glastonbury years.   When it's good, it's paradise; it's really special.   But the first time I played, it was disgusting, truly. A foot and a half of mud everywhere, incessant rain and cold. I was telling my manager that I wanted to make another punk rock metal record. And he said the   most gentle   thing, "I know you enjoy making punk rock and metal. People really   enjoy   when you make electronic music." 

The way he said it, he wasn't saying, "You would help your career by making electronic music." He simply said, "People enjoy it." If I had been my manager, I would have said, "You're a f— ing   idiot. Everyone hated that record. What sort of mental illness and masochism is compelling you to do it again?" Like Freud said, the definition of mental illness is doing the same thing and expecting different results.   But his response was very emotional and gentle and sweet, and that got through to me.   I had this moment where I realized,   I can make music that potentially people will   enjoy   that will make them happy.   Why not pursue that?  

That was what made me not spend my time in ‘98 making an album inspired by Sepultura and   Pantera   and   instead make something more melodic and electronic.  

After years of swearing off touring, what’s making you hit stages this summer?  

I love playing live music. If you asked me to come over and play Neil Young songs in your backyard, I would say yes happily, in a second. But going on tour, the hotels and airports and everything, I really dislike it.   

My manager tricked me. He found strategically the only way to get me to go on tour was to give the money to animal rights charities. My philanthropic Achilles heel. The only thing that would get me to go on tour. It's a brief tour of Europe, pretty big venues, which is interesting for an old guy, but when the tour ends, I will have less money than when the tour begins.  

Your DJ sets are great fun. Would you consider doing DJ dates locally?  

Every now and then I’ll do something. But there’s two problems. As I've become very old and very sober, I go to sleep at 9 p.m. This young guy I was helping who was newly sober, he's a DJ. He was doing a DJ set in L.A. and he said, "You should come down. There's this cool underground scene." I said, "Great! What time are you playing?" And he said "I’m going on at 1 a.m." By that point I've been asleep for almost five hours.

I got invited to a dinner party recently that started at 8 p.m. and I was like, "What are you on? Cocaine in Ibiza? You're having dinner at 8 p.m .  What craziness is that? That’s when you're putting on your soft clothes and watching a '30 Rock' rerun before bed. That's not going out time." And the other thing is, unfortunately, like a lot of middle aged or elderly musicians, I have a little bit of tinnitus so I have to be very cautious around loud music.

Are you going to write a third memoir at any point?  

Only when I figure out something to write. It's definitely not going to be anecdotes about sobriety because my anecdotes are: woke up at 5 a.m., had a smoothie, read The New York Times , lamented the fact that people are voting for Trump, went for a hike, worked on music, played with Bagel the dog, worked on music some more went to sleep, good night. It would be so repetitive and boring. 

It has to be something about lived experience and wisdom. But I don't know if I've necessarily gotten to the point where I have good enough lived experience and wisdom to share with anyone. Maybe if I get to that point, I'll probably be wrong, but nonetheless, that would warrant maybe writing another book.

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The Environmental Impact Of Touring: How Scientists, Musicians & Nonprofits Are Trying To Shrink Concerts' Carbon Footprint

"It’s not just [about] a single tour, it’s every tour," singer Brittany Howard says of efforts to make concerts more sustainable. From the nonprofit that partnered with Billie Eilish, to an MIT initiative, the music industry aims to curb climate change.

Beloved by fans around the globe, yet   increasingly unaffordable   for many artists, concert tours are central to the world of entertainment and   local economies . After the pandemic-era   global shuttering of concert venues   large and small, tours are back, and bigger than ever.   

Taylor Swift ’s Eras Tour is   smashing records , selling more than four million tickets and earning more than $1 billion. But that tour made headlines for another reason: as reported in   Business Insider   and other outlets, for a six-month period in 2023, Swift’s two jets spent a combined 166 hours in the air between concerts, shuttling at most a total of 28 passengers.  

Against that backdrop, heightened concerns about the global environmental cost of concert touring have led a number of prominent artists to launch initiatives.   Those efforts seek both to mitigate the negative effects of touring and communicate messages about sustainability to concertgoers.  

A   2023 study   sponsored by Texas-based electricity provider Payless Power found that the carbon footprint of many touring bands was massive. In 2022, concert tours in five genres — country, classic rock, hip-hop/rap, metal and pop — were responsible for CO 2   emissions totaling nearly 45,000 metric tons. A so-called greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide contributes to climate change by radiative forcing; increased levels of CO 2   also contribute to health problems.   

No serious discussion of climate issues suggests a worldwide halt to live music touring, but there exists much room for improvement. Both on their own and with the help of dedicated nonprofit organizations, many artists are taking positive steps toward mitigating the deleterious effects that touring exerts upon the environment.   

Smart tour planning is one way to lessen an artist’s carbon footprint.   Ed Sheeran ’s 2022 European run minimized flights between concert venues, making that leg of his tour the year's most environmentally efficient. Total carbon dioxide emissions (from flights and driving) on Sheeran’s tour came to less than 150 metric tons. In contrast,   Dua Lipa ’s tour during the same period generated 12 times as much — more than 1800 metric tons — of CO 2 .   

In July, singer/songwriter and four-time GRAMMY nominee Jewel will embark on her first major tour in several years, alongside GRAMMY winner Melissa Etheridge . During the planning stage for the 28-city tour, Jewel suggested an idea that could reduce the tour’s carbon footprint.

"I always thought it was so silly and so wasteful — and so carbon footprint-negative — to have separate trucks, separate lighting, separate crews, separate hotel rooms, separate costs," Jewel says. She pitched the idea of sharing a backing band with Etheridge. "I’ve been trying to do this for 25 years," Jewel says with a laugh. "Melissa is the first person who took me up on it! "  

The changes will not only reduce the tour’s carbon footprint, but they’ll also lessen the cost of taking the shows on the road. Acknowledging that there are many opportunities to meet the challenges of touring’s negative impact upon the environment, Jewel emphasizes that “you have to find [solutions] that work for you.”

Sheeran and Jewel aren’t the only popular artists trying to make a difference. A number of   high profile   artists have become actively involved in creating the momentum for positive change. Those artists believe that their work on sustainability issues goes hand in hand with their role as public figures. Their efforts take two primary forms: making changes   themselves, and advocating for action among their fans.   

The Climate Machine  

Norhan   Bayomi   is an Egypt-born environmental scientist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a key member of the   Environmental Solutions Initiative , a program launched to address sustainable climate action. She’s also a recording artist in the trance genre, working under the name   Nourey .   

The ESI   collaborates with industry heavyweights   Live Nation, Warner Music Group and others as well with touring/recording acts like   Coldplay   to examine the carbon footprint of the music industry. A key component of the ESI is the   Climate Machine , a collaborative research group that seeks to help the live music industry reduce carbon emissions. "As a research institution, we bring technologies and analytics to understand, in the best way possible, the actual impact of the music industry upon climate change," says John Fernández, Director of the ESI.   

View this post on Instagram A post shared by MIT Climate Machine (@mitclimatemachine)

"I’m very interested in exploring ways that we can   bridge between   environmental science, climate change and music fans,"   Bayomi   says. She explains that the tools at the ESI’s disposal include "virtual reality, augmented reality and generative AI," media forms that can communicate messages to music fans and concertgoers. Fernández says that those endeavors are aimed at "enlisting, enabling and inspiring people to get engaged in climate change."  

The Environmental Solutions Initiative cites Coldplay as a high-profile success. The band and its management issued an   "Emissions Update" document   in June 2024, outlining   its   success at achieving their goal of reducing direct carbon emissions from show production, freight, band and crew travel.   The established target was a 50 percent cut in emissions compared to Coldplay’s previous tour; the final result was a 59 percent reduction between their 2022-23 tour and 2016-17 tour.   

A significant part of that reduction came as a result of a   renewable-energy   based battery system that powers audio and lights. The emissions data in the update was reviewed and independently validated by MIT’s Fernández.   

Change Is Reverberating  

Guitarist Adam Gardner is a founding member of Massachusetts-based indie rockers   Guster , but he's more than just a singer in a rock band. Gardner is also the co-founder of   REVERB , one of the organizations at the forefront of developing and implementing climate-focused sustainability initiatives.   

Founded in 2004 by Gardner and his wife, environmental activist Lauren Sullivan,   REVERB  began   with a goal of making touring more sustainable; over the years its focus has expanded to promote industry-wide changes. Today, the organization promotes sustainability throughout the   industry  in   partnership with music artists, concert venues and festivals.   

REVERB initiatives have included efforts to eliminate single-use plastics at the California Roots Music & Arts Festival, clean energy projects in cooperation with   Willie Nelson   and   Billie Eilish , and efforts with other major artists. Gardner has seen sustainability efforts grow over two decades  

"It’s really amazing to see the [change] with artists, with venues, with fans," Gardner says. "Today, people are not just giving lip service to sustainable efforts; they really want to do things that are real and measurable."   

The   Music Decarbonization Project   is one tangible example of REVERB’s successes. "Diesel power is one of the dirtiest sources of power," Gardner explains. "And it’s an industry standard to power festival stages with diesel generators." Working with   Willie Nelson , the organization helped switch the power sources at   his   annual Luck Reunion to clean energy. At last year’s festival, Nelson’s headlining stage drew 100 percent of its power from solar-powered batteries. "We set up a temporary solar farm," Gardner says, "and the main stage didn’t have to use any diesel power."   

Billie Eilish was another early supporter of the initiative. "She helped us launch the program," Gardner says. Eilish’s   set at Lollapallooza 2023   drew power from solar batteries, too.   

With such high-profile successes as a backdrop, Gardner believes that REVERB is poised to do even more to foster sustainable concerts and touring. "Our role now," he says, "isn’t just, ‘Hey, think about this stuff.’ It’s more how do we push farther, faster?"   

Adam Gardner believes that musicians are uniquely positioned to help make a difference where issues of sustainability are concerned. "When you’re a musician, you’re connecting with fans heart-to-heart. That’s what moves people. And that’s where the good stuff happens."   

Small-scale, individual changes can make a difference — especially when they’re coordinated and amplified among other concertgoers. Gardner provides real-world examples. "Instead of buying a plastic bottle, I brought my reusable and filled it up. Maybe I carpooled to the show." Conceding that such steps might seem like drops of water in a giant pool, he emphasizes the power of scale. "When you actually multiply [those things for] just one summer tour, it adds up," he says. "And it reminds people, ‘You’re not alone in this;   you’re   part of a community that’s taking action."   

Gardner understands that REVERB’s arguments have to be framed the right way to reach concertgoers.   "Look," he admits, "It’s a concert. We’re not here to be   a buzzkill . Our [aim] now is making sure people don’t lose hope." He says that REVERB and its partners seek to demonstrate that, with collective action and cultural change, there is reason for optimism.   

"There’s a wonderful feedback loop between hope and action," Gardner says with a smile. "You can’t really have one without the other."   

Sustainable Partnerships  

Tanner Watt is Director of Partnerships at REVERB; he works directly with touring artists to develop, coordinate and implement initiatives that bring together his organization’s objectives and the specific personal concerns of the artists. "I get to come up with all the fun, big ideas," he says with a wide smile.   

Watt acknowledges that like every concertgoer, each touring artist has a certain level of responsibility where sustainability is concerned.   "And everyone can be doing something," he says, noting a number of straightforward actions that artists can put in place while on tour.   "They can eliminate single-use waste. They can donate hotel toiletries that [would otherwise] hit the landfill."   

Watt stresses that artists can lead by example. "Nobody wants to listen to an artist telling them what to do if they’re not doing it themselves," he says. "But we believe that everybody cares about something." He suggests that if an artist has cultivated a following, "Why not use [that platform] to be that change you want to see in the world?"   

Each artist has his or her own specific areas of concern, but Watt says that there’s a base level of "greening" that takes place on every REVERB-affiliated tour. Where things go from there is up to the artist, in coordination with REVERB. Watt mentions Billie Eilish and her tour’s sustainability commitment. "The Venn diagram of food security, community health, access to healthy food, and the impact on the planet is a big cause for her," he says. " So   there’s plant-based catering for her entire crew, across the entire tour."  

Speaking to   Billboard , Eilish's mother Maggie Baird said championing sustainability starts with artists. "If artists are interested, it does really start with them telling their teams that they care and that it’s foremost in their thoughts." In the same conversation, Eilish called the battle for sustainability "a never-ending f–king fight."   

Watt acknowledges that with so many challenges, it’s important for a concerned artist to focus on the issues that move them the most, and where they can make the biggest difference. " Jack Johnson   is   a great example," he says. While Johnson is a vocal advocate for many environmental issues, on tour he focuses on two (in Watt’s words) "cause umbrellas": single-use plastics solutions and sustainable community food systems. Each show on the tour hosts tables representing local nonprofit organizations, presenting concertgoers with real-world, human-scale solutions to those specific challenges.   

Four-time GRAMMY winner   Brittany Howard   is another passionate REVERB partner. "Knowing that I wanted to make my tours more sustainable was a start," she tells GRAMMY.com, "but working with REVERB really helped me bring it to life on the road. REVERB has helped us with guidelines and a green rider to keep our stage, greenrooms and buses more sustainable."  

After listing several other specific ways that her tour supports sustainability, Howard notes, "By supporting these efforts, I am helping ensure future generations have access to clean water, fish, and all that I love about the outdoors." A dollar from every ticket sold to a Brittany Howard concert goes toward support of REVERB’s Music Decarbonization project. "I’m also excited to see industry-wide efforts that are reducing the carbon pollution of live music," Howard continues. "Because it’s not just [about] a single tour, it’s   every   tour."  

There’s a popular aphorism: "You can’t manage what you can’t measure."   From its start, REVERB has sought not only to promote change, but to measure its success.   "As long as I’ve been at REVERB, we’ve issued   impact reports ," says Tanner Watt. "We include data   points, and   give the report to the artists so they understand what we’ve done together." He admits that some successes are more tangible than others, but that it’s helpful to focus on the ones that can be quantified. "We’re very excited that our artists share those with their fans."   

Watt is clear-eyed at the challenges that remain. "Even the word ‘sustainable’ can be misleading," he concedes, suggesting that the only truly sustainable tour is the one that doesn’t happen. "But if folks don’t step it up and change the way we do business in every industry — not just ours — we’re going to get to a place where we’re forced to make sacrifices that   aren’t   painless." Getting that message across is REVERB’s aim. "We can’t stop the world," Watt says. " So   we find ways to approach these things positively."   

Watt says that the fans at concerts featuring Jack Johnson and the   Dave Matthews Band   — both longtime REVERB partners — are already on board with many of the sustainability-focused initiatives which those artists promote. "But there are lots of artists — and lots of fan bases — out there that aren’t messaged to, or have been mis-messaged to," he says.   "I’m really excited to find more ways to expand our reach to them, beyond mainstream pop music.   Because these are conversations that are meaningful for everyone, regardless of political affiliation or other beliefs."   

Reimagining The Planet’s Future  

Singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adam Met does more than front   AJR , the indie pop trio he founded in 2005 with brothers Jack and Ryan. Met has a PhD in sustainable development and is a climate activist; he's also the founder/Executive Director of   Planet Reimagined , a nonprofit that promotes sustainability and activism through its work with businesses, other organizations and musicians.   

"I’ve spent years traveling around the world, seeing the direct impact of climate change," Met says. He cites two recent and stark examples. "When we pulled up to a venue in San Francisco, the band had to wear gas masks going from the bus into the venue, because of forest fires," he says. AJR’s road crew had to contend with a flash flood in Athens, Greece that washed out their hotel. "And in Rome, some of our crew members fainted because of the heat."   

Encouraged by representatives from the United Nations, Met launched Planet Reimagined. Met’s approach focuses on tailored, city-specific actions to empower fans and amplify diverse voices in the climate movement. Through social media and live shows, Met strives to galvanize climate activism among AJR fans. And the methods he has developed can be implemented by other touring artists.   

Met points out that one of the most climate-unfriendly parts of the entire concert tour enterprise is fans traveling to and from the concerts. And that’s something over which the artist has little or no control. What they can do, he says, is   try   to educate and influence. Working closely with Ticketmaster and other stakeholders, Met’s nonprofit initiated a study — conducted from July to December 2023, with   results published in April 2024   — to explore the energy that happens at concerts. "In sociology," he explains, "that energy is called collective effervescence." The study’s goal is to find ways to channel that energy toward advocacy and action.   

Polling a quarter million concertgoers across musical genres, the study collected data on attitudes about climate change. "Seventy-three percent of fans who attend concerts believe that climate change is real, and that we need to be doing more about it," Met says. "Seventy-eight percent have already taken some sort of action in their lives." He believes that if his organization can activate even a fraction of the estimated 250 million people annually who attend concerts around the globe, "that’s the ballgame."   

Met’s goal is to do more than, say, get concertgoers to switch from plastic to paper drinking straws. "At   scale   those things make a difference. But people want to see actions where there’s a track record," he says; a return on investment.   

AJR will be putting a plan into action   on   the second half of their upcoming arena tour.   Part of the initiative is encouraging concertgoers to register to vote, and then actually vote.   Beyond that, Met has specific actions in mind. "At every single stop, we’re putting together materials around specific policies that are being debated at the local level," he explains. "We give people a script right there, so they can call their elected representative and say, ‘I want you to vote [a certain way on this issue].’"   

He believes the initiative will lead to thousands of people contacting – and hopefully influencing – their representatives.   With regard to sustainability issues, Met is convinced that "the most impact that you can have as an artist is when you give fans ways to pick up the mantle themselves."  

Artists Who Are Going On Tour In 2024: The Rolling Stones, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo & More  

• 1 For The Record: How Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' Changed Her Career — And Proved She'll Always Get The Last Word
• 2 How Sabrina Carpenter Became A Pop Queen: Tracing Her Journey To 'Short N' Sweet'
• 3 Behind Ryan Tedder's Hits: Stories From The Studio With OneRepublic, Beyoncé, Taylor Swift & More
• 4 "Let Yourself Be Idiosyncratic": Moby Talks New Album 'Always Centered At Night' & 25 Years Of 'Play'
• 5 The Environmental Impact Of Touring: How Scientists, Musicians & Nonprofits Are Trying To Shrink Concerts' Carbon Footprint

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What Lyrics Are Being Written on Taylor Swift’s Arm?

Football quarterbacks often write plays and schemes on their arms, which makes sense since many complex patterns are hard to remember in order to execute them flawlessly. Singer Taylor Swift doesn't need help remembering her own lyrics on her current North American Speak Now tour, but she has been writing words of other artists who inspire her with a Sharpie along the length of her left arm.

Swift told Z100 radio host Elvis Duran that she has taken to scrawling words that inspire her. The ink may be temporary (thanks to some strong soap), but the sentiments are permanent. Swift has covered Bon Jovi and Justin Bieber on stage, but covers her skin with the words of Sugarland , Matt Nathanson , Eminem , Faith Hill and her bestie, Selena Gomez . Clearly, Swift isn't pledging allegiance to any genre with her declarations, sampling from country, pop, emo and rock genres.

If you want to check out an inventory of lyrics that Swift has etched onto her well toned arms, head over to our sister site Taste of Country . The staff at Taste of Country has been working hard to compile a complete list of lyrics that have graced the arms of Ms. Taylor Swift throughout her tour.

Her most recent lyrics were from emo pop band Jimmy Eat World's 'Mixtape,' and they read: "I was only there to sing your song what were you protecting yourself from."

It's like fans are getting a sneak peak into Swift's iPod with these arm lyrics sentiments. How generous of her to share! Maybe bands should start lobbying to get their lyrics on Swift's arm? She could even rent it as advertising space. Okay, maybe not, but it's a brilliant way for the singer to get people talking about her favorite bands and for her to connect with her fans and others.

Who will Taylor Swift quote next? We're dying to find out!

Watch the Taylor Swift 'Mean' Video

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The Swift Agency

An UNOFFICIAL fan blog for Taylor Swift and The Agency

The Speak Now Tour

The Speak Now Tour (2011-2012)

Long live the walls we crashed through…

It was the second era, and basically the time in which Taylor was cementing herself from a one-album artist into an international phenomenon. The Speak Now album itself was also a transition, where every song was made by Taylor herself and hidden gems that didn’t made it into the mainstream media became fan favorites that only a few people would know. It remains Taylor’s most ambitious tour as well, taking her to countries she had never been before in Asia and Europe. We also get a new member and musical director: the immensely talented David Cook .

This was also the first tour that I covered from start to finish, writing entries for every city and came up with the label of Inside Speak Now whenever I was giving out spoilers for people who had not seen the tour yet. I wrote two personal concert experiences plus a rare treat: Meeting the Agency!

• Inside Speak Now: The Montreal Experience
• Inside Speak Now Nashville: The Main Event
• Meeting The Agency

This tour also brought us the Arm Lyrics, surprise song covers usually relevant to the location where she was performing and duets with secret guests.

• Speak Now Arm Lyrics
• Speak Now Covers
• Speak Now Tour Duets

Speak Now Montreal, July 14, 2011.

Speak Now Montreal

Speak Now Nashville, Sept 2011

Speak Now – Opening Acts

Speak Now – September 16, 2011

Speak Now – September 17, 2011

During the Montreal concert, Taylor grabbed my hand as she walked through the crowd. Long Live the Speak Now Tour!

All the pictures in this section except otherwise noted were taken by me.

Back to the Tours main page

(Source: The Swift Agency)

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Taylor Swift's Speak Now (Taylor's Version) Guide

13 ways to get into your speak now (taylor’s version) era for taylor swift’s new re-record, be your most dramatic, romantic, honest self.

the speak now album prologue will always be famous pic.twitter.com/iRP5QkvNPl — mickelle (@cruelssvmmers) May 6, 2023

Get yourself a journal

Wear purple

Or don your most enchanting princess dress

Get yourself some Speak Now merch

Write your favourite lyrics on your arms and a 13 on your hand

lyrics on taylor swift's arm during the speak now tour — a thread *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ pic.twitter.com/ioSjW4aATk — emily (@NEVERASAlNT) March 2, 2021

Spritz Wonderstruck eau de parfum (or a similar dupe)

Opt for a red lip

Get your cowboy boots on 

Plan your release celebration or listening party

Get ready for 9th July

And get ready to unleash your inner (Sw)emo kid

Get making your friendship bracelets.

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Taylor Swift on Her ‘Speak Now’ Tour

By Austin Scaggs

Austin Scaggs

F or most 21-year-olds, summertime means partying, tanning and hanging with friends. Not so for Taylor Swift , who’s spending the season selling out arenas and stadiums around the country. Her Speak Now tour has packed the NFL homes of the Patriots (twice), Steelers and Lions, with more on the way. “I’m still a little surprised every time we pull into a stadium,” says Swift, checking in from Nashville. “It’s really nuts.” By the time Swift rocks Madison Square Garden for two nights in November, she’ll have logged 98 shows this year. She promises even more in 2012 – and she’ll also be working on her fourth album. Of course, she’s already written enough new songs. “You know me,” she says. “I’ve got lots.”

30 Best Albums of 2010: Taylor Swift, ‘Speak Now’

Your show features aerialists, fireworks and innumerable costume and set changes. Is It hard to remember all those cues? There are so many little details that every night is like a mental challenge. You’re just glad everything worked out.

What’s your greatest memory from the tour so far? On our first night at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, right as I sang a lyric in “Fearless” – “With you I’d dance in a storm in my best dress, fearless” – I felt a drop of rain hit my hand. Then another, then another, then a monsoon broke out. I saw girls with their perfectly curled hair turn sopping wet. I thought, “They’re all gonna leave.” Instead, they went nuts, dancing in the rain, screaming louder. It was awesome.

What inspired all the crazy sets? Videos of musicals like Grease , The Music Man , Bye Bye Birdie . . . I saw Annie Get Your Gun and Wicked on Broadway, and I was captivated. Now we have costumes by the designer from Wicked .

How do you unwind after a show? Well, I have another meet-and-greet afterward. It’s called the T Party, and we have a giant tent with a Moroccan-living-room setup every night. During the show I have people scour the audience for the craziest people out there, the ones that paint their faces or cover themselves in balloons or dress up like a banana or wrap themselves in Christmas lights or dress up like my alter ego [T-Swizzle] from the video I did with T-Pain. Sometimes I’ll say, “Row 14, six seats in – go get that seven-year-old girl who knows all the lyrics to ‘Dear John.'”

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I read that at one show, some of the men’s bathrooms were converted to women’s, because the audience is, like, 80 percent ladies. True? That’s so funny! Someone actually wrote a review and reviewed the bathroom access? Ha! There seem to be lots of boys out there, more than ever.

You tweeted that you had fun at the Museum of Natural History in New York recently. I was going to go to the New-York Historical Society, but it was closed. I almost cried. But we saw the dinosaurs and stuff, which was a close second. Lately, I’ve been obsessed with history: the history of our country, the history of music.

Let’s start with the music. I’ve been obsessed with Fifties and Sixties music, like the Shirelles and the Beach Boys . Like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” – if I ever had a wedding, I’d walk down the aisle to that song.

And American history? I just read a 900-page book called The Kennedy Women , which goes back to the first Kennedy woman coming from Ireland in the 1800s. This morning I bought books about John Adams, Lincoln’s Cabinet, the Founding Fathers and Ellis Island.

You covered “Dancing in the Dark” and “Livin’ on a Prayer” in Jersey recently. Big fan of those guys? Those are two of my heroes, for different reasons. Springsteen made albums that matter. His lyrics are a lot like poetry. With Bon Jovi , there’s just a melodic stickiness to their songs that I’ve always been drawn to. Also, Jon Bon Jovi was the first rocker in the Eighties to smile a lot. I learned that on Behind the Music when I was, like, nine years old.

At shows, you’ve been writing lyrics by artists like Tom Petty on your left arm. How’d that start? One day at rehearsals I was having a rough day, and I wrote a lyric by my friend Selena Gomez on my arm: “You’ve got every right to a beautiful life.” It looked cool, so now I put lyrics on my arm every night. It’s like a mood ring.

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Trump threatens to jail mark zuckerberg for life, trump goes full fascist in truth social posting spree, why isn't anyone asking trump about mark robinson.

What was your first reaction when you heard about Amy Winehouse ? I saw it on Twitter and I didn’t think it was real. I can’t come to terms with anybody dying at 27. That’s not OK. It’s not enough time.

This story is from the August 18th, 2011 issue of Rolling Stone.

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'Speak Now': How Taylor Swift Explained Album's Title and Her Songwriting Process in 2010 (Flashback)

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Taylor Swift has released Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) , the GRAMMY winner’s third re-recorded album, after Fearless and Red in 2021. To celebrate, ET is revisiting Swift’s original interview from 13 years ago, when she explained how the album’s title compliments its central themes and what led to her being the sole songwriter for all 14 tracks.

For the songstress, Speak Now was "more personal than anything" she had put out before at the time, with its release following two "really intense" years for her personally, professionally and everything in between.

"I don't think I would have been happy about this album if I hadn't written about all of it," Swift told ET in 2010. "I tend to include details and the entire story, because, for me, the most fun part about this, and the most intriguing part about music, is the storytelling that's woven into it with the lyrics."

The album’s titular song was inspired by the wedding ceremony staple, which Swift interpreted for track number four as "a metaphor for waiting until it's too late to say something," an experience all too familiar to the then-20-year-old. 

"That's been a habit that I've had in my life… Where I don't know what to say or I don't know what to think about," she admitted. "I just go silent, until I know what to say. And that's usually when I write a song about it. And so this album is called Speak Now , because I'm finally saying all of it."

The track list ran the gamut, boasting love songs ("Mine," "Sparks Fly," "Ours"), breakup anthems ("Last Kiss," "Dear John," "Haunted"), alongside a response to past critics ("Mean") and a tribute to Swifties ("Long Live"). As Swift told it, penning every song for her third studio album was an organic next step.

"I came to Nashville when I was 14, and got a publishing deal, and immediately started co-writing with people. Before that, I had just written by myself in my bedroom," she noted of this career crossroad, adding that she didn’t even know what a "co-writer" was at the time. "On [ Speak Now ], I just found myself getting inspired to write songs at four in the morning or while I was in the middle of a conversation or while I was on tour in Arkansas. And there's no one to call to say, 'Hey, do you want to write this with me?' So, I just wrote all the songs by myself."

When it comes to real-life inspiration, Swift was as coy as ever, offering only that there are "repeat offenders" who she’s written "a few songs about." Of course, "Dear John" is long-presumed to refer to her rumored romance with John Mayer . Meanwhile, Taylor Lautner has confirmed "Back to December" examined their brief relationship in 2009.

That said, Swift reminded ET, "There are a lot of different things that have happened in the last two years that have inspired the concept of this album." One of those being Kanye West’s infamous mic grab at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, which prompted the Best Female Video winner to pen a lyrical response to the rapper that she performed 10 days before this interview at the 2010 ceremony.

"I was really grateful to get the chance to sing a new song, 'Innocent,' on the VMAs," Swift said. "And that really falls under the same theme of the entire record of just saying exactly how you feel when the moment is right."

"A lot of times, I don't know exactly how I feel about something until I write that song about it," she added. "And that's how I know what my opinion is about something; how I feel about something. Music has helped me so much in just getting through life. And that's one of the things I'm very thankful to have discovered songwriting."

In 2023, Swift says of Speak Now (TV) , "It’s here. It’s yours, it’s mine, it’s ours. It’s an album I wrote alone about the whims, fantasies, heartaches, dramas and tragedies I lived out as a young woman between 18 and 20. I remember making track list after track list, obsessing over the right way to tell the story. I had to be ruthless with my choices, and I left behind some songs I am still unfailingly proud of now. Therefore, you have 6 From The Vault tracks! I recorded this album when I was 32 (and still growing up, now) and the memories it brought back filled me with nostalgia and appreciation. For life, for you, for the fact that I get to reclaim my work. Thank you a million times, for the memories that break our fall."

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Taylor Swift’s Dating History, From Joe Jonas to Travis Kelce

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links."

Fans of Taylor Swift are as interested in her love life as they are in her music, in part because so much of her discography is dedicated to what she has learned and experienced in love.

Swift has often sung about previous boyfriends without naming them, along with the public’s reaction to her dating in the spotlight. In music videos, she has included a couple easter eggs that pay homage to her partners that fans and outlets alike have identified and shared.

While Swift has gotten more private about her romantic connections in recent years, particularly during her six years dating Joe Alwyn , people are always curious about the lucky few who have earned a place in her heart—and sometimes in her lyrics, too.

Below is everything we know about who Swift has dated.

Dated in 2008

As pop royalty in the late aughts, Joe Jonas and Taylor Swift crossed paths frequently. While her friend Selena Gomez briefly dated Nick Jonas , Swift paired off with Joe in 2008. They dated for about three months, but Swift was hurt when he broke things off in a phone call that lasted less than 30 seconds in October of that year. She allegedly wrote a number of songs about that relationship that ended up on her second album, Fearless , including “Forever & Always,” “Last Kiss,” “Better Than Revenge,” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine.”

On the Ellen DeGeneres Show a month after their break up, Swift said, “It’s all right, I’m cool...You know what, it’s like, when I find that person that is right for me, he’ll be wonderful. When I look at that person, I’m not even going to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 25 seconds when I was 18.”

She explained, “I looked at the call long—it was like 27 seconds. That’s got to be a record.”

In 2019, Swift was on DeGeneres’ show again and walked back her comments a bit when asked about her “most rebellious” act.

“Probably when I, like, put Joe Jonas on blast on your show,” she told the host. “That was too much. That was too much. I was 18. Yeah. We laugh about it now, but … that was mouthy. Just some teenage stuff there.”

They did indeed seem to have a friendly relationship almost 15 years later, but when the news broke that Joe Jonas was divorcing wife Sophie Turner, Swift offered her support to Turner. The Game of Thrones star reportedly stayed in Swift's NYC apartment as she worked out custody with her former partner.

Dated in 2009

Lucas Till starred as the love interest in Swift’s music video for “You Belong With Me” in 2009, but they’d known one another for a bit. Swift had a cameo in Hannah Montana: The Movie , and Till was in the film as well. They split up after a few months with seemingly no drama.

“We dated for a little bit. But there was no friction because we were too nice,” he told MTV at the time. “We just really both liked each other… [but] most relationships work out ’cause you get along and then you don’t, and then you make up and it’s passionate, and with us, I really just liked her as a friend. That’s the only reason that didn't work out.”

Taylor Lautner

In the film Valentine’s Day , the two Taylors played love interests, and they ended up having real-life chemistry, dating in the fall of 2009. After they broke up, Swift supposedly wrote “Back to December” for Lautner, a song that implies she dumped him. He later said of her writing about their relationship, “That’s just what she does.”

After their breakup, Swift told Glamour , “ He’s one of my best friends. He’s wonderful, and we’ll always be close. I’m so thankful for that.”

They really did maintain a friendship, and in 2023, Lautner starred in the music video for her song “I Can See You,” then appeared on stage at a concert during her Eras Tour.

While on stage, Lautner addressed Swift, saying , “I respect you so much. Not just for the singer you are, the songwriter, the performer—but truly for the human you are. You are gracious, humble, kind, and I’m honored to know you.”

Corey Monteith

Dated in 2010.

Glee 's Corey Monteith and Swift dated for about a month. It’s believed her song “Mine” is about Monteith, and it highlights how little she knew about the late star.

After his passing in July 2013, Swift wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted, “Speechless. And for the worst reason.”

Dated from 2009–2010

Swift and musician John Mayer collaborated on the latter’s song “Half of My Heart” and then dated for a few months. He was 32 years old, and she was 20, and Swift later seemed to comment on their age gap in her song “Dear John.”

“Dear John, I see it all now, it was wrong / don’t you think 19 is too young to be played by your dark twisted games,” Swift says in the lyrics.

Mayer did not respond well to the song.

“It made me feel terrible,” Mayer told Rolling Stone in 2012. “Because I didn’t deserve it. I’m pretty good at taking accountability now, and I never did anything to deserve that. It was a really lousy thing for her to do.”

Mayer himself had been criticized around that time for how he discussed exes Jessica Simpson and Jennifer Aniston in the press, and said he entered a period of self-reflection and felt Swift was “kicking him while he was down.”

“I will say as a songwriter that I think it’s kind of cheap songwriting,” he added. “I know she’s the biggest thing in the world, and I’m not trying to sink anybody’s ship, but I think it’s abusing your talent to rub your hands together and go, ‘Wait ’till he gets a load of this!’ That’s bullshit.”

When the song was re-recorded in 2023 for Speak Now (Taylor's Version) , controversy around these old comments sprang up again, and Swift ended up making a statement to discourage her fans from going after Mayer.

“I'm 33 years old. I don’t care about anything that happened to me when I was 19,” she said while on stage before performing the song. “I'm not putting this album out so that you can go and should feel the need to defend me on the internet against someone you think I might have written a song about 14 billion years ago.”

Jake Gyllenhaal

In another big age gap relationship from 2010, 20-year-old Swift dated actor Jake Gyllenhaal, who was 29 at the time. Gyllenhaal allegedly broke up with her via text, citing the age difference as a problem. But it seemed like he might have been a bit hot-and-cold according to a source speaking with Us Weekly at the time.

“Jake reached out to her and started all of this, but now he’s not acting as interested,” said the insider. “He said he wasn’t feeling it anymore and was uncomfortable with all the attention they got. Taylor is really upset. We told her not to move so fast with this, but she didn’t listen.”

They added, “Jake cares about her, but [the publicity] was a lot for him. He wants to keep his private life private, and that’s hard to do dating Taylor.”

Swift and Gyllenhaal were together for three months, and it’s believed he inspired her songs “We Are Never Getting Back Together,” “State of Grace,” and “The Moment I Knew.”

But, most famously, he appears to be the subject of “All Too Well,” which Swift re-recorded for her re-release of Red (Taylor’s Version) . Swift directed a 10-minute long music video for the song starring Stranger Things’ Sadie Sink as a young woman dating a guy who appears to be a stand-in for the Brokeback Mountain star.

Conor Kennedy

Dated in 2012.

Swift dated Robert F. Kennedy’s grandson, Conor Kennedy, in 2012 for a few months. She also wrote a song released that same year about Robert Kennedy and his wife Ethel called “Starlight.”

While they dated, Swift bought a home near the Kennedy compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, and she befriended Ethel. Their relationship drew strange attention, including a rumor she had “kidnapped” him, according to an interview with Rolling Stone .

“You can't kidnap a grown man!” she refuted the claim. “The way I look at love is, you have to follow it and fall hard, if you fall hard. You have to forget about what everyone else thinks.”

Harry Styles

Dated from 2012–2013.

Harry Styles and Swift were first seen together in November 2012, and fans of One Direction went wild. They broke up after three months, with paparazzi photos showing Swift leaving their vacation in the British Virgin Islands alone on a boat.

An insider speaking with Vanity Fair in 2013 stated that Styles initially pursued Swift and “wore her down.”

“He was all, like, “You’re amazing—I want to be with you. I want to do this,’” the source said.

They then alleged that Swift believed Styles was seeing other people or at least had a wandering eye. They broke up, then got back together.

“But the whole time she says she feels like he’s looking at every girl,” the insider continued. They added that one evening in London, Styles fell off the map, and when they saw each other again, “it was like he just didn’t want to keep going.”

A rep for Styles called the claims “undeniably false” at the time.

Three songs about Styles are supposed to be on her album 1989 , “Out of the Woods,” “Style,” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.” In her music video for the first song, fans believe Swift left a number of easter eggs referencing the relationship, including her choice to wear a blue dress resembling the one she wore in the pics of her island departure.

Calvin Harris

Dated from 2015–2016.

Starting in March 2015, Swift was seen with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris, née Adam Richard Wiles. They went red carpet official at the Billboard Music Awards a few months later and dated for about a year. Harris supposedly broke things off, and they both ended up wiping their social media accounts of evidence of their relationship.

A source told People that Harris was “intimidated” by her success.

“[Harris] said on multiple occasions that he was intimidated by Taylor, which is why he would not attend any events where she was being honored, or any award shows unless he was nominated,” they said.

Another source claimed they were from “different worlds” and the 5-year age gap made it even harder.

“Taylor somewhat lacks real-life experience,” the source explained. “They will not be getting back together.”

A day after their break up came out, Harris wrote in a now deleted tweet, “The only truth here is that a relationship came to an end & what remains is a huge amount of love and respect.”

Swift retweeted it.

Tom Hiddleston

Dated in 2016.

In June, Tom Hiddleston and Swift started dating after rumors swirled following their meet up at the 2016 Met Gala. Hiddleston was seen with Swift and some of her “squad” on Rhode Island soon afte,r and pictures of the day went viral after he wore a T-shirt reading, “I Heart T.S.”

Because of the attention they received and how quickly they got together following her split with Harris, they were accused of creating a PR relationship, which Hiddleston has denied.

“Taylor is an amazing woman. She’s generous and kind and lovely, and we had the best time,” he told GQ in February 2017. “Of course, it was real.”

They split up in September after three months together. A source said Hiddleston was too public for Swift.

“She was the one to put the brakes on the relationship,” they told Us Weekly . “Tom wanted the relationship to be more public than she was comfortable with. Taylor knew the backlash that comes with public displays of affection, but Tom didn’t listen to her concerns when she brought them up.”

They added that Hiddleston was “embarrassed that the relationship fizzled out.”

Dated from 2016–2023

Swift’s longest known relationship followed shortly after. She also met Alwyn at the Met Gala, but no one knew they were together until 2017. She and the actor were fairly private about their relationship throughout it, which might have contributed to its longevity.

In her 2020 documentary Miss Americana , Swift said, “I was falling in love with someone who had a wonderfully normal, balanced life...We decided together we wanted our relationship to be private. I was happy. But I wasn’t happy in the way I was trained to be happy. It was happiness without anyone else’s input. We were just happy.”

A lot of songs are supposed to be about Alwyn, particularly on her albums Reputation and Lover , and he is even credited on her 2020 albums Folklore and Evermore . But before her album Midnights was released, she talked explicitly about him inspiring her song “Lavender Haze.”

“Like my relationship for six years, we've had to dodge weird rumors, tabloid stuff, and we just ignore it,” Swift said at the time. “And so this song is sort of about the act of ignoring that stuff to protect the real stuff.”

The former couple split in early 2023, and soon after Swift released “You're Losing Me,” which seemed to detail the reasons for their breakup. Basically, they grew apart and had different ideas about fame and public life.

But sources said part of the issue was they had grown differently, and there was a huge shift in their relationship when the pandemic lockdown ended, and Swift became for active in public again.

“They had plenty in common and fell in love in a safe bubble while she was retreating from the world during Reputation ,” they said . “Then the pandemic hit, and they were locked down together and able to continue growing their relationship in this insulated way. But he didn’t really ‘know’ her yet outside of that bubble.”

They added, “Joe has struggled with Taylor’s level of fame and the attention from the public. The differences in their personalities have also become harder to ignore after years together. They’ve grown apart.”

Dated in 2014 and 2023

In 2014, rumors circulated that Swift was dating The 1975 frontman Matt Healy, but it quickly petered out. Soon after she and Alwyn split, Healy and Swift started spending a lot of time together with him even making a few appearances at her Eras Tour in Nashville and Philadelphia. The romance seemed to burn bright and hot and burned out in a month.

When they broke up, it seemed like Swift just wasn’t ready for anything serious right after Alwyn.

“She had fun with him, but it was always casual,” a source told People . “They are no longer romantically involved.”

They added, “They were never boyfriend-girlfriend or exclusive and were always just having fun. There is no drama, and who knows what could happen again. It was a good time and ran its course.”

Travis Kelce

Started dating in 2023.

NFL star Travis Kelce shared that he tried to link up with Swift while at her concert in Kansas City, Missouri, in July, and a few months later, it looked like she got the message and made a meetup happen. In September, Swift was seen at a Kansas Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium alongside Kelce’s mother in the VIP box. Photos also circulated of her with her arm around his neck at an after-party.

A source told Entertainment Tonight in late September that they’re just getting to know one another, but it has been a surprisingly fast connection.

“When Taylor and Travis first connected, Taylor was looking to have fun while enjoying some downtime,” the source said. “So far, it’s been a nice change of pace for her. Now, as things progress between Taylor and Travis, they’re both looking to keep it more private. They’re both excited about where things are headed.”

In mid-October, a source told People that Swift and Kelce were giving dating an honest shot. “She’s the biggest star in the world, and it’s no secret dating an athlete is very tough, but they’ve been texting and talking on the phone between the pockets of time they get to spend with each other,” the source said.

“There’s not some looming date like, ‘Oh, she's going back on tour’ and ‘his football schedule is getting crazy.’ They’ll figure it out,” the source continued. “He’s said it himself, he knows what he signed up for with this attention, but they’ve spent time under the radar too. They’re giving things a real try.”

As of August 2024, the couple remains together. A source told Entertainment Tonight on August 15 that “their connection is unlike anything that they've ever experienced before.”

Kelce, for his part, spoke about why he started to fall in love with Swift during a June 2024 interview. “She’s very self-aware,” he said. He brought up the first Chiefs game she attended, saying, “I think that’s why I started to really fall for her, was how genuine she is around friends, family. It can get crazy for somebody with that much attention, and she just keeps it so chill and so cool. And that’s what I can admire for sure.”

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Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Relationship Timeline: From Chiefs Games to Private Date Nights

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are all anyone can talk about.

Swift and Kelce were first linked in July 2023 when the Kansas City Chiefs tight end shared he attempted to ask Swift out after attending her Eras Tour .

“I was a little butthurt I didn’t get to hand her one of the bracelets I made for her,” Travis said on an episode of the “New Heights” podcast, which he cohosts with brother Jason Kelce . Because Swift does not do meet and greets “before or after the show,” he was unable to hand her “[a bracelet] with my [phone] number on it.”

Swift later showed her interest in Travis by accepting an invite to a Chiefs vs. Chicago Bears game in September 2023. According to Kelce, the duo were connected well before that NFL game, thanks to a mysterious person in Swift’s camp.

“There were definitely people she knew that knew who I was, in her corner [who said], ‘Yo! Did you know he was coming?’ I had somebody playing Cupid,” Travis told WSJ. Magazine in November 2023. “She [later] told me exactly what was going on and how I got lucky enough to get her to reach out.”

By October 2023, things were heating up between the pair on a more public level.

“They’re really happy. They’re not saying they’re in love yet. But it’s obvious to her friends they’re heading in that direction,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “Friends think they’re in love.”

Related: Taylor Swift’s Dating History: A Timeline of Her Famous Exes and Flings

Keep scrolling to see how Swift and Travis’ relationship has developed:

Travis attended Swift’s Eras Tour at her Kansas City stop in Missouri.

July 26, 2023

Later that month, Travis opened up about how much he enjoyed her concert on an episode of  the “New Heights” podcast. “It was an unbelievable show. Kansas City showed out … Everybody was dressed in pink and purple, going crazy for her,” he gushed. “I was disappointed that she doesn’t talk before or after her shows because she has to save her voice for the 44 songs that she sings. I wanted to give her [a bracelet] with my number on it.”

In December 2023, Swift revealed that she heard Kelce “very adorably put me on blast” in his “metal as hell” podcast episode and decided to reach out.

September 24, 2023

Shortly after several sports outlets reported that Swift and Travis were seeing each other, Swift fueled romance rumors when she attended her first Kansas City Chiefs game in Travis’ private suite. She supported the NFL star by wearing a Chiefs jacket and cheering him on with his mom, Donna. She even appeared to shout “Let’s f–king go,” following a big play.

After the game, they were spotted leaving the locker room together. For the outing, Travis wore a funky blue and white denim set . The brand, KidSuper Studios, saw Travis wearing the ensemble with Swift and renamed it the “1989 Bedroom Painting Denim Jacket,” as a reference to her album 1989 . (It was originally named the “Bedroom Painting Denim Jacket.”)

The pair were seen getting cozy at a postgame celebration. Swift wrapped her arm around Travis while he sat on a barstool.

In her TIME profile, Swift noted that she and Kelce were already in a relationship when she attended the Chiefs vs. Bears game.

“We actually had a significant amount of time that no one knew, which I’m grateful for, because we got to get to know each other,” she told the magazine. “By the time I went to that first game, we were a couple. I think some people think that they saw our first date at that game? We would never be psychotic enough to hard launch a first date.”

September 26, 2023

Days after Swift attended the game, multiple sources told Us the pair are taking their relationship slow . “They have been on a few dates and Taylor is smitten with him,” the insider said. “It is not serious, and Taylor is having fun right now.” A second source confirmed, “They’re getting closer and closer every day.”

Another insider noted, they are “enjoying each other’s company and getting to know each other.” A fourth source confirmed that they had hung out “twice” so far.

September 27, 2023

Travis reflected on Swift’s appearance at his game, calling her brave for attending . Jason teased on the “New Heights” podcast, “How’s it feel that Taylor Swift has finally put you on the map ?” Travis laughed and responded, “Shout-out to Taylor for pulling up. That was pretty ballsy.”

That same day, Jason made an appearance on SportsRadio 94 WIP and commented on his brother’s budding romance. “It was fun watching the whole world take it in, to be honest with you,” he said. “I would say with this one, it definitely seems like he is going above and beyond to be a gentleman .”

October 1, 2023

Swift rooted for Travis at a Chiefs vs. New York Jets game with BFFs Sophie Turner , Blake Lively , Ryan Reynolds and Sabrina Carpenter . She even hugged Travis’ mom, Donna, during the game.

October 3, 2023

A source revealed in an issue of Us that Swift was “was low-key and low-maintenance” while watching Travis defeat the Jets. The insider added that she “was sweet to everyone and had an amazing time .”

After Travis was seen leaving her New York City apartment , another source told Us , “Taylor’s really enjoying getting to know Travis … They’re taking it day by day, but she has high hopes. She likes that he’s a normal, nice guy. He’s down-to-earth and isn’t affected by fame. She also thinks he’s hot.”

A separate insider gushed, “Travis is completely smitten.”

October 10, 2023

One day after Travis’ 34th birthday, sources told Us Swift flew to Kansas City “to see Travis.” The pair enjoyed a “chill night,” per the insider.

October 12, 2023

Swift supported her man at the Chiefs vs. Denver Broncos game. For the event, she rocked a Chiefs windbreaker — gifted to her by Travis’ friend Erin Andrews from her WEAR clothing line — featuring white stripes, the team’s name in a cursive font and their logo. She again enjoyed the match with Donna, and met Travis’ dad, Ed Kelce .

Donna, for her part, sported Eras Tour -inspired friendship bracelets with colorful letter beads.

October 13, 2023

An insider told Us the duo’s relationship was “going great.”

“It’s still so new, but they really like each other,” the source told Us . “They both want to try to see each other when they can and they’re both understanding of each other’s schedules.”

October 14, 2023

Travis surprised fans with an appearance on Saturday Night Live , appearing in a sketch that took a dig at Swift’s famous ex-boyfriends.

In the skit, which included host Pete Davidson , Kenan Thompson , Curt Menefee , Mikey Day and more, the actors played sports commentators who quickly got sidetracked by Swift’s appearances at NFL games.

The men praised Travis for being a better suitor for Swift than exes Joe Alwyn and Matty Healy were. (Swift and Alwyn dated for six years before Us confirmed their split in April. Following the breakup, she had a brief romance with Healy.)

Thompson then told the group, “Knock it off, people tuned in for football, OK? We are going to speak with someone, who actually wants to talk football.” Cameras then cut to Travis , who was standing on the sideline.

“Yes, me!” he said, before mouthing “come on.”

Travis attended an afterparty while holding hands with Swift. Fans noticed that Travis appeared to have a bit of Swift’s red lipstick on his lips, hinting that the couple were making out before the party.

October 15, 2023

The couple enjoyed their second date night in a row at the Waverly Inn in New York City. For the romantic evening , Swift rocked a sheer Jean Paul Gaultier top featuring floral details and a leather miniskirt.

Related: Celebrities Who Had the Time of Their Lives at Taylor Swift’s ‘Eras Tour’: Selena Gomez, Emma Stone, More

October 18, 2023.

“Travis is different from anybody Taylor has dated before and she is falling for him more and more as the days go by,” a source exclusively told Us . He “goes out of his way to make Taylor feel special in any way he can … Taylor couldn’t believe the massive bouquet of flowers Travis sent to her just because.”

“He makes her feel safe and protected,” the source said, noting that he still lets her feel bejeweled . He “supports her independence and success … things are going really well” for the two, per the source.

October 20, 2023

An insider gushed about Travis and Swift’s budding romance, telling Us,  “They’re really happy. They’re not saying they’re in love yet. But it’s obvious to her friends they’re heading in that direction … Friends think they’re in love .”

The source explained that the pair have already planned how to stay in touch when she returns to her Eras Tour, adding, “He’s going to see her when she’s back on tour. That’s already planned. And when she gets a break, she’ll see him. It’s going so well because it’s easy and nothing is complicated.”

October 22, 2023

Swift enjoyed the Chiefs vs. Los Angeles Chargers game alongside quarterback Patrick Mahomes ’ wife, Brittany Mahomes . For the game, Swift rocked a Chiefs crewneck and pleated black skirt. She teamed it with a friendship bracelet including heart beads and Travis’ jersey number, 87 .

After Travis’ victory, she sweetly gave him a kiss on the cheek .

October 23, 2023

The pair were seen on a romantic dinner date in Kansas City one day after his game. The two reportedly pulled up to the restaurant in a luxurious Rolls Royce and enjoyed their meal for about two hours.

Travis’ dad, Ed, gushed over Swift , calling her “special” in an interview with People : “I’ll tell you something very special that I noticed about Taylor the first time I met her. We’re sitting in the suite, she gets up and in the front room, she gets up to go get a drink or something and she starts picking up empty bottles, cans, plates that are scattered around.”

October 30, 2023

Swift flew to Kansas City after the Chiefs’ winning streak was broken by the Denver Broncos.

“Taylor feels awful for Travis and knows he doesn’t [take] losing lightly,” a source exclusively told Us . “Taylor felt like the least she could do is head to him in Kansas City a day earlier than planned so she could be by his side to comfort and encourage him in any way she could.” She stayed in town to celebrate Halloween with him.

November 3, 2023

Kelce, 34, was pressed about his “status” with Swift during a press conference in Germany ahead of the overseas game. “The latest status is I got to see her last week,” the tight end shared. “That’s the latest status right there.”

The questions were taken a step further when Kelce was asked whether he’s “in love” with Swift , but he quickly turned the inquiry down. “I’m going to keep my personal relationship personal,” he explained.

November 10, 2023

Kelce was seen in Argentina with Swift. They went to dinner at the Elena restaurant, which is located inside Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires. Social media footage showed the two holding hands as they entered and exited and fellow diners even applauded them as they made their way through the restaurant.

“Travis and Taylor are a very real couple, they actually spend a lot of one-on-one time together and have developed a very real connection,” a source exclusively told Us . “They have very detailed plans coming up on how to stay together while she’s on tour and he has games.”

November 11, 2023

Finally, Kelce was in the position to cheer on Swift while she rocked a stadium again. He was spotted in the VIP tent at Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires alongside Swift’s dad, Scott, who wore a Chiefs lanyard.

During the show, Swift even swapped the lyrics to “Karma” to apply to Kelce and the Chiefs. “Karma is the guy on the Chiefs, coming straight home to me,” she sang with a giggle. Kelce blushed at the shout-out, according to social media footage.

After the concert ended, Swift and Kelce shared a passionate kiss backstage.

November 20, 2023

Travis gushed over Swift in his WSJ. Magazine interview.

“I’ve never been a man of words. Being around her, seeing how smart Taylor is, has been f–king mind-blowing,” the football star said of their relationship. “I’m learning every day.”

December 6, 2023

Swift made her first public comments on their relationship to TIME when she was named the outlet’s Person of the Year.

“When you say a relationship is public, that means I’m going to see him do what he loves, we’re showing up for each other, other people are there and we don’t care,” Swift said. “The opposite of that is you have to go to an extreme amount of effort to make sure no one knows that you’re seeing someone. And we’re just proud of each other.”

The musician also gushed about missing out on watching football in years past and not caring about the “dads, Brads and Chads” who get upset about the NFL highlighting her in their game coverage.

December 10, 2023

Swift attended her first the Chiefs game where they lost. She was spotted holding hands with Kelce as they left Arrowhead Stadium after the Buffalo Bills defeated the Kansas City Chiefs. They later headed to a holiday-themed bar to have some festive post-game drinks and pack on the PDA .

December 17, 2023

Swift attended the Chiefs game against the New England Patriots in Boston. She brought along dad Scott as well as pals Ashley Avignone and Alana Haim .

December 25, 2023

Swift spent Christmas Day cheering on Kelce at the Chiefs vs. Las Vegas Raiders game in Kansas City, Missouri. She donned a red sweater and a Santa hat emblazoned with Kelce’s jersey number for the sporting event. Taylor’s parents, Andrea Swift and Scott Swift , were also in attendance.

December 31, 2023

The couple rang in the New Year together at a party that was also attended by their pals Patrick and Brittany. In a photo from the holiday bash that made the rounds on social media, Taylor posed with her arm around Kelce. 

January 2024

The couple’s matchmaker was finally revealed when Danny Frye III revealed he was the one to set up Swift and Kelce.

Meanwhile, Swift attended every post-season Chiefs game to cheer on Kelce and finally met Travis’ brother, Jason Kelce , and sister-in-law Kylie Kelce at the Bills game on January 21. Swift hit the field for the first time after a game when the Chiefs won the AFC Championship on January 28, securing their spot in the Super Bowl. The singer kissed and hugged Travis and was seen hugging his father, Ed, and even seemed to share a sweet moment with head coach Andy Reid .

February 2024

Swift attended the 2024 Super Bowl, one day after playing a concert in Japan, alongside her and Kelce’s families, as well as a group of her A-list friends. The Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers 25-22, and Swift went down to the field to celebrate with Kelce afterward.

“It was unbelievable, unbelievable,” Swift told the NFL star before they shared a kiss .

Swift released her 11th studio album titled The Tortured Poets Department . And while much of the album was rumored to be inspired by her past relationships with Alwyn and Healy, Swift included a handful of nods to Travi s on some of the record’s more uplifting tracks.

“So when I touch down / Call the amateurs and cut ‘em from the team / Ditch the clowns, get the crown / Baby I’m the one to be,” Swift sings in the chorus of “The Alchemy,” appearing to make references to the Chiefs and their Super Bowl LVIII win.

In one of the album’s bonus extended version tracks, “So High School,” Swift seemingly compares her and the athlete’s relationship to that of a high school power couple. “Truth, dare, spin bottles / You know how to ball, I know Aristotle ,” she sings in the song’s bridge.

Swifties were quick to notice the “So Long High School” lyrics included an apparent reference to Travis’ dad, Ed. “I feel like laughing in the middle of practice / To that impression you did of your dad again / I’m hearing voices like a madman,” she states in the second verse. (Travis impersonated his father several times on his and Jason’s “New Heights” podcast.)

Swift blushed while singing the “Fifteen” song lyric, “In your life, you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team,” during an Eras Tour stop in Lyon, France. She also tuned in to an Instagram Live of the Chiefs Super Bowl ring ceremony in between shows in Liverpool, England.

Travis, Jason and Kylie were among dozens of celebrity attendees at Swift’s London Eras Tour shows. In addition to being spotted busting out the choreography to numbers such as “So High School” and “Karma,” Travis made his debut on Swift’s Instagram in a backstage selfie with Prince William , Prince George and Princess Charlotte.

During the tour’s third night at Wembley Stadium, Travis surprised fans by joining Swift on stage during the TTPD set, participating in a skit in which two of her dancers help a reluctant Swift get ready to perform “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart.” Matching the dancers, Travis sported a black morning suit and top hat as he did a jig and pretended to fix Swift’s makeup.

Swift included photos from Travis’s performance in her London Eras Toru recap Instagram post , writing, “I’m still cracking up/swooning over @killatrav’s Eras Tour debut 🥰 Never going to forget these shows.”

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Travis continued to attend more of Swift’s international Eras Tour performances. The two were spotted holding hands and packing on PDA after her concerts in Amsterdam and Germany , which marked the last shows Travis attended before beginning Chiefs training camp for the 2024/2025 NFL season.

While away from the Eras Tour , Travis continued to show his love for Taylor by dancing to her music at a golf event and dedicating a karaoke competition win to her.

August 2024

The couple kicked off Swift’s two-month break from The Eras Tour by throwing a star-studded bash at her Rhode Island home. Attendees included Jason and Kylie, Blake and Ryan, Patrick and Brittany, Gigi Hadid and Bradley Cooper and Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum .

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The 100 Most Iconic Guitars of All Time: Complete List Revealed

As chosen by a panel of ace guitarists across a variety of genres, as well as experts and journalists.

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From the blues to jazz to rock to folk to country, the guitar is probably the most pivotal instrument of the 20th century, serving as a centerpiece for a variety of genres that changed the course of culture in America and around the world.

In honor of the stringed instrument that has amped up audiences for centuries, we present Billboard ’s complete list of the 100 Greatest Guitars of All Time — updated this week in full after revealing the first half (100-51) last week.

No, that’s not a typo. This is not a list of 100 guitarists – though each item on this list is associated with a particular guitar slinger. And it’s not a list of guitar brands or companies. This is a list of actual guitars, played by great guitarists. It puts the shine on guitars throughout modern history that have been a part of the evolution of popular music. Instead of focusing on guitar playing style, we’re looking at the instrument itself as handled by various luminaries across everything from bluegrass to heavy metal.

What is “the greatest”? Iconic, influential, inventive, famous, game changing? Unusual, oddball, beautiful, even whimsical? Just plain cool? It’s all of that and more. Some of the guitars that follow are standard models with minimal modifications; others are one-of-a-kind pieces that have been endlessly tinkered with. Some are technical and auditory wonders; others have been beaten to hell over the years by overzealous owners. But all are important to the guitar’s history and ongoing evolution.

This was a big undertaking that we didn’t want to do alone. We invited a panel of ace guitarists across a variety of genres, as well as journalists and experts, to peruse a lengthy list of guitars, compiled by Billboard, and vote on them. We invited our voters to submit their own picks. After tallying their responses, we sent it back to the voting panel, solicited additional feedback and incorporated that into a final list of the 100 Greatest Guitars of All Time.

In addition to a few voters who wished to remain anonymous, the voting panel included: Duane Betts, Nick Bowcott of Sweetwater, Carl Broemel of My Morning Jacket, Larry Campbell, Joanna Connor, Michael Doyle of Guitar Center, Alejandro Escovedo, Pete Evick of Bret Michaels Band, Damian Fanelli of Guitar World , Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Slim Gambill who plays for Lady A, Kirk Hammett of Metallica, Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge and Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators, J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr, Dave Mason, Scott Metzger, Bob Mould, Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, Orianthi, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Joe Satriani, Chris Scapelliti of Guitar Player , Peter Stroud of Sheryl Crow’s band, Matthew Sweet, Mark Tremonti of Creed and Alter Bridge, Seth Walker, Erika Wennerstrom of Heartless Bastards, Jack White, Nancy Wilson, Andy Wood and Oliver Wood.

This list is far from exhaustive. There are so many legendary guitars that even a list of 100 fails to encompass all of them. Regardless, we hope what follows spurs some excitement, debate, discovery and even, perhaps, someone to pick up a guitar and start playing.

Johnny Thunders - ca. 1959 Les Paul Junior TV Model

The band was the New York Dolls. The attitude was punk rock. And the color was TV Yellow — which guitar manufacturer Gibson at one point marketed for budding rock stars to stand out on black-and-white broadcasts. “Me and Johnny Thunders basically put the Les Paul Junior on the map,” the Dolls’ other guitarist, Sylvain Sylvain, said in 2009 . “It was the perfect guitar for the New York Dolls because it was stripped down — like the band was and like our songs were.” Guitar World called the circa-1959 Junior “minimal, direct and cut-through with the essence of rock ’n’ roll – basically the blueprint for Thunders’ own ethos.”

Talk of the Town: “I lusted after his TV yellow Les Paul Junior,” The Cult’s Billy Duffy told Guitar World. “ I finally picked up my own Les Paul Junior in 1979, though it was a wine red one. I couldn’t find a yellow one in England at that time.” 

On Display: The Punk Rock Museum in Las Vegas has shown Thunders’ guitar for several years.  – STEVE KNOPPER

Brittany Howard - 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom

Howard never used to like Les Pauls, which she found heavy and unfamiliar, until she borrowed an SG from Heath Fogg, the guitarist from her band Alabama Shakes. She eventually found her own, a 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG Custom in Inverness Green. It’s battered but beautiful — a reissue from the early ‘80s, she has suggested — with three pickups. Howard soon had a collection of SGs (at least five, at one point), which she has been known to play through Orange amps, which offer a warmer, vintage-y sound. She played the SG during the Alabama Shakes’ star-making appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2013.

Strange But True: The SG (short for “solid guitar”) was popularized by blues legend Sister Rosetta Tharpe, who played a white one. Howard inducted Tharpe into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.

Six-String Stories: “My number one thing for my guitar techs is: Do not clean the pickups,” Howard told The Guardian in 2020. “I like the sound of pickups that are worn down and kind of degraded – it’s just more interesting-sounding. That is why my SG is so unique, because of how the pickups were wound, and how long it has been since they were cleaned up.” – ALLISON STEWART

John Mayer - PRS Silver Sky

When PRS Guitars and John Mayer introduced their first collaborative model in 2018, it was something that looked familiar — and also alien — to the guitar community. Combining a Strat-like body (or “S-style,” as they say in the business) with PRS’ sleek, more contemporary aesthetic, the Silver Sky, like Mayer himself, immediately became a hot-button topic amongst purists and newer players alike. The fact that Mayer had spent much of his career as a staunch Strat man only added to the curiosity of why he had opted to develop the instrument with PRS. His explanation? His desire to make a guitar that was “sort of the future of the classic design.” Just a few years later, it’s one of the more popular signature models on the market.

Shop Talk: According to Mayer, the Silver Sky’s initial finishes were inspired by Tesla car colors. “If you look at materials that were available in the 1950s and ’60s, they’re still being used all the time, only for guitars,” he said in a Guitar Center video . “Things that are sunburst, things that are mother-of-pearl. I wanted to really move it more into this modern period of Tesla, Apple, Leica.”

Specs: Alder body, 25.5 scale length, maple neck with 635JM fretboard shape, trio of 635JM single-coil pickups, “reverse” PRS trademark headstock shape

Sound Decision: The “635” designation in the custom-designed pickups is believed to reference the fact that tonally they sound somewhere in between Mayer’s favored 1963-1964-era Strats, hence “63.5.” – RICHARD BIENSTOCK

Adam Jones - 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Silverburst”

The Gibson Les Paul has several famous finishes, among them the red-orange-yellow Sunburst and the elegant ebony that adorns the “Black Beauty” model. Thanks to Tool guitarist Adam Jones, the considerably rarer Silverburst has now joined the ranks of coveted LP colorways. Reportedly conceived to commemorate the Les Paul’s silver anniversary in 1979, and initially produced only from 1978 until 1982, the Silverburst seemed lost to history until Jones made a ’79 Les Paul Custom in the unique finish – a silver center giving way to darker hues around the body’s border, with the silver taking on a greenish hue over time due to nitrocellulose lacquer aging – his main guitar with Tool. Its stunning appearance, combined with Tool’s fervid fanbase, led Gibson to partner with Jones on a period-correct Custom Shop recreation, and eventually a full line of Jones-inspired Silverburst models.

Rarity Factor: Between just 150 and 200 Silverbursts were reportedly produced during the model’s original run. Jones has stated he owns six of these, including two 1979 examples.

Strange But True: Gibson originally employed metal-flake paint for the finish, and Jones has said he believes the “particular metallic paint does something to the tone or the resonance or the polarity” of the instrument.

Signature Style: Gibson sister brand Epiphone unveiled the Adam Jones Art Collection in 2024, featuring seven Silverburst models emblazoned with artwork from some of the Jones’ favorite visual artists, among them fantasy legend Frank Frazetta and pop-surrealist Mark Ryden. – R. BIENSTOCK

Jimmy Page - 1959 Telecaster “Dragon”

Like any mythical beast, Jimmy Page’s dragon-painted 1959 Telecaster boasts an epic backstory. Used almost exclusively on Led Zeppelin’s debut album and for the solo on “Stairway to Heaven,” this guitar’s origins trace back to Jeff Beck. Beck, who used it on such Yardbirds hits like “Shapes of Things” and “Heart Full of Soul,” gifted it to Page in 1965 as a token of esteem. Originally featuring a White Blonde finish, maple neck and slab rosewood fingerboard, Page initially personalized it by adding eight circular mirrors to the body. Shortly after, he stripped the finish and repainted it himself, creating a psychedelic dragon in a vaguely Japanese style. “I painted it in one go over the course of an evening, finishing it the next day,” Page said in his autobiography, Jimmy Page: The Anthology . “Once it was created and painted, it became like the legendary Excalibur.”

Specs: Page replaced the Telecaster’s original black pickguard with a transparent acrylic one, inserting a sheet of diffraction grating film to create a spectrum of colors when hit by light.

Retirement Party: In 1969, Page switched from the Telecaster to a Les Paul because the Tele’s single-coil pickup caused it to squeal at the volumes needed for live performances in bigger concert halls. – BRAD TOLINSKI

Lzzy Hale - Gibson Explorer

The Gibson Explorer’s angular shape was seen as futuristic when it debuted in the late ‘50s, but by the time Halestorm lead singer and guitarist Lzzy Hale began rocking out with the model onstage, it was deliciously retro, evoking the ‘80s metal bands she grew up idolizing. From her signature Epiphone Explorer with an “Alpine White” finish to her Gibson Explorerbird that rocks a “Cardinal Red” colorway, Hale is, in turn, converting a new generation of shredders to the hard-rocking church of the Explorer.

As Seen On: Hale flaunts her Alpine White Explorer in the music videos “Freak Like Me” and “The Steeple,” both of which are Billboard Mainstream Rock Airplays No. 1s.

Six-String Stories: “That’s pretty much my go-to guitar,” Hale told Harmony Central of her white Explorer in 2018. “Honestly, that guitar, I don’t know what voodoo happened with that one, but it works in any situation.” — JOE LYNCH

Rory Gallagher - 1961 Fender Stratocaster

Rumored to be the first Fender Stratocaster to grace Ireland, its original owner, Jim Conlon, had ordered a red Stratocaster from the U.S. but received this sunburst model by mistake. When the intended red Strat finally arrived six months later, Conlon sold the sunburst model, which was promptly snapped up by Gallagher for just £100 in 1963.

For the next three decades, this guitar was a central piece of Gallagher’s career until his untimely death in 1995 at age 47. Over the years, the guitar’s finish was nearly stripped away, which Gallagher’s brother attributes to Rory’s highly acidic sweat, which aged the paintwork prematurely.

Strange But True: Dublin’s Temple Bar hosts Rory Gallagher Corner at Meeting House Square, marked with a full-sized bronze recreation of his legendary Stratocaster.

As Heard On: Rory Gallagher may not be as universally known as Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, but he made a significant impact, selling over 30 million records worldwide. His 1973 album, Blueprint , which features the ’61 Strat, is often considered his best work.

Shop Talk: In a 1984 interview with Vintage Classic , Gallagher shared, “After a while, the original neck went bad on me. That was about 10 years ago, but I took it off and hung it up. After a few months it dried out and was fine again.” – B. TOLINSKI

Lou Reed - Gretsch Country Gentleman

Late-’60s photos show Reed’s primary guitar in his Velvet Underground days was a Gretsch, which he confirmed to Guitar World in 1998. A San Francisco “electronics guy” built in an echo, he said, “so I could seem to play faster than I really could.” He tinkered relentlessly, making it stereo, adding batteries, until “eventually it just ruined the guitar.” Another key Reed VU guitar: a Kent Copa, purchased for about $150 from a catalog, according to Premier Guitar. As 2021’s documentary The Velvet Underground shows, Reed and co-VU axeman Sterling Morrison took turns playing it.

Specs: The Kent Copa, made by Japanese company Guyatone, had three pickups, three volume controls, a tone control and a rotary selector switch.

Six-String Stories: “I’d been listening to [avant-garde jazz artists] Cecil Taylor and Ornette Coleman. Of course I was not trained to play like them. I couldn’t read and write music. I couldn’t even begin to think of having technique like that. But I certainly had the energy—and a good ear,” Reed told Guitar World. “ So that’s what I was listening to, along with guitar players like James Burton and Steve Cropper.”  – S. KNOPPER

J Mascis - 1958 Fender Jazzmaster

Before they were re-discovered by ‘80s alt-rock hopefuls with no money, Jazzmasters were best known for their appeal to surf-rock and jazz aficionados. Mascis bought his ‘58 Jazzmaster in a Vermont, or possibly Connecticut, trailer park. He covered its gold hardware with more gold hardware, and made it the engine of Dinosaur Jr.’s lumpy, distorted, magisterial sound. It’s also the primary inspiration for his one of Mascis’ own Signature Jazzmasters, an atypically affordable, much-desired model by Squier that has gone in and out of production.

Strange But True: Mascis went to the trailer park with the hope of buying a Stratocaster, but it was too expensive.

Strange But True, Part 2: Mascis learned how to play guitar on a Jazzmaster, his first guitar.

As Heard On: Though Jazzmasters are thought of as foundational to the band’s sound, Mascis doesn’t actually record with them. “There’s hardly ever a Jazzmaster or a Big Muff on any studio recording,” he told Reverb . – A. STEWART

Jimmie Rodgers - 1927 Martin 00-18

Before he became “The Father of Country Music,” Rodgers was a tubercular young crooner, yodeler, former brakeman and guitar player known for his signature Martins. He used an unadorned spruce-and-mahogany Martin 00-18 to make his first recordings during the legendary Bristol Sessions in 1927. Once he had money, he used a custom Martin 00-45 (from either 1927 or ‘28) with a pearlized nameplate, and, for the audience, the word “THANKS” printed on the back.

As Heard On: Rodgers used the 00-18 to record “The Soldier’s Sweetheart” and “Sleep Baby Sleep.” Both from the Bristol Sessions, they would be the rocket fuel that powered Rodgers’ ascent when they were released two months after the sessions.

As Heard On, Part 2: Rodgers used another model, the 00-45, to record his signature hit, “Blue Yodel.”

Strange But True: Rodgers actually had an endorsement deal — when such things were unheard of — with the Philadelphia-based Weymann company. Its circa-1931 “Jimmie Rodgers Special Model 890” sold for $90, a fortune during the Great Depression. – A. STEWART

Ron Wood - Zemaitis Metal Front

Tony Zemaitis, a London-born luthier, initially made waves in the ’60s by crafting distinctive acoustic guitars for legends like Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Donovan. However, in the ’70s, he shifted his focus to electric guitars, creating designs that drew even more attention. His exploration into the properties of aluminum on guitars began after a 1969 conversation with Clapton. Zemaitis discovered that incorporating an aluminum front enhanced the guitar by reducing feedback and improving tuning and intonation—plus, it looked incredibly cool.

One of his most famous electric models was commissioned by Faces and eventual Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Of the two guitars Zemaitis made for Wood, it was the second—with its black body and striking central metal plate—that became iconic. The design sparked a craze, drawing clients like Keith Richards, Bob Dylan, Marc Bolan, David Gilmour and Pretenders’ James Honeyman-Scott.

Specs: Many of Zemaitis’ metal plates were intricately tooled by shotgun engraver Danny O’Brien.

Stage Debut: Zemaitis built his first electric guitar for Tony McPhee of the Groundhogs.

Sold!: Zemaitis crafted only eight to 10 guitars annually. He retired in 2000 and died in 2002. These days, some of his original pieces can fetch upwards of $50,000. – B. TOLINSKI

Jerry Garcia - Doug Irwin Custom 1979 “Tiger”

Delighted with the craftsmanship of his custom Doug Irwin “Wolf” guitar, Jerry Garcia commissioned another instrument from Irwin, urging the luthier to “not hold back.” Irwin rose to the challenge, creating a guitar known as “Tiger,” distinguished by its “hippie sandwich” construction—a lamination of several layers of wood. This unique guitar also featured a tiger inlay near the tailpiece, and its solid brass binding and hardware contributed to its substantial weight of about 14 pounds.

Irwin crafted two more guitars for Garcia, “Rosebud” and “Headless.” But following Garcia’s death, a dispute ensued between Irwin and the Grateful Dead over the ownership of Jerry’s four custom guitars. The conflict was resolved in 2001, granting Irwin possession of both “Tiger” and “Wolf.”

Stage Debut: Garcia first played Tiger live at a concert in Oakland, Calif., on Aug. 4, 1979.

Retirement Party: Tiger was the last guitar Garcia used in public with the Grateful Dead, during a performance on July 9, 1995.

Sold!: Tiger was purchased by Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts, for $957,500 in 2002. – B. TOLINSKI

Zakk Wylde - 1981 Gibson Les Paul Custom “The Grail”

When Zakk Wylde joined Ozzy Osbourne’s band in 1987, he sought a distinctive guitar to mark his new role. His choice fell on a white 1981 Les Paul Custom equipped with EMG pickups, which he eventually obtained by trading a double-neck Gibson EDS-1275 with a friend. But Wylde faced a challenge: the legendary Randy Rhoads was famously associated with a similar white Les Paul during his time with Ozzy. Seeking to carve out his own identity, Zakk opted to have his refinished in a unique oblong “vertigo” pattern. The customization resulted in a simpler, yet iconic, black and white bullseye pattern instead. Wylde embraced this unexpected design, which soon became his signature “The Grail.”

As Heard On: Wylde composed “Miracle Man,” his first song for Ozzy, on the Grail.

Strange But True: In 2000, the Grail temporarily vanished after accidently falling out of a truck on the way to a Texas gig. Fortunately, it survived its ordeal and was recovered.

Retirement Party: In recent years, Zakk has favored instruments from his own Wylde Audio guitar line. – B. TOLINSKI

H.E.R. - Signature Chrome Glow Stratocaster

H.E.R. is the first Black woman to receive a signature Fender model, and it’s a doozy – a chrome-covered Strat that flashes iridescent in the light (reportedly in tribute to a nail-polish color she likes). There’s footage on YouTube of H.E.R. playing her first Strat when she was a kid, and her trademark guitar combines that same classic feel (its vintage vibe includes a mid-’60s C-shaped neck) with modern touches (a pearlescent glow finish).

Stage Debut: At the 2020 Primetime Emmys, playing “Nothing Compares 2 U” during the In Memoriam segment, as a tribute to the late Sinéad O’Connor.

Specs: The Strat has three Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups, meant to ensure a cleaner tone.

Strange But True: H.E.R. famously played a see-through Strat at the 2019 Grammy Awards. Crafted out of acrylic and entirely clear, it was custom built by Fender in a week. – A. STEWART

Billy Gibbons – Dean Z "Fur" Guitar

By 1984, ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill weren’t lacking for woolliness. But they turned the hirsute quotient up to 11 with the Dean Z “fur” guitar and bass they brandished in that year’s “Legs” video. Gibbons had played a Dean ML model on the accompanying album, 1983’s Eliminator , and Dean Guitars founder Dean Zelinsky offered to build custom instruments for the band for the supporting tour. Gibbons had one request: incorporate some sheepskins he had purchased in Scotland into the design. Up for the challenge, Zelinsky delivered a white guitar and bass, the Eliminator logo emblazoned on the fretboards, and (as requested) matching sheepskin finishes. The results even upstaged the video’s star attraction – the various pairs of legs showcased throughout the clip.

Strange But True: After covering the guitar and bass with sheepskin, Zelinsky used electric horse shears to shave a path down the center of the bodies to make room for the pickups, tailpiece and strings.

Strange But True, Part 2: The build stretched into the 11th hour. “I remember we were still gluing the fur on the tuning keys when the FedEx driver showed up to pick up the guitars,” Zelinsky recalled. “He waited while we boxed them up; they had to make it to the video shoot the very next day.”

Strange But True, Part 3: The instruments featured an attachment that enabled them to be spun 360 degrees from Gibbons and Hill’s waists while being played. – R. BIENSTOCK

Kurt Cobain - 1959 Martin D-18E

A bungled attempt by acoustic guitar manufacturer Martin to make inroads into the growing electric guitar market of the late ’50s, the D-18E — essentially a D-18 dreadnought guitar fitted with two DeArmond pickups, two tone controls and a volume control — was produced for only one year and would have been nothing more than a seldom-discussed oddity if Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain hadn’t purchased one from Voltage Guitars in Los Angeles in the fall of 1993. When Nirvana came to New York to record their unforgettable MTV Unplugged performance on Nov. 18 of that year, Cobain played the guitar (which, much to the show’s producer’s dismay was plugged into two effects pedals and a Fender Twin amplifier) for the entire epochal performance, giving the much-maligned D-18E a belated star turn.

Middleman: Cobain was not happy with the sound produced by the D-18E’s DeArmond pickups and had a Bartolini 3AV pickup installed in the sound hole between them, which he used exclusively for Unplugged .

Sold!: Cobain reportedly paid $5,000 for his Martin in 1993. In 2022, it sold at auction for more than five million dollars.

Lucky 7: Martin production records indicate that Cobain’s guitar, serial number 166854, was the seventh D-18E produced. – TOM BEAUJOUR

Wayne Kramer - American Flag Stratocaster

Inspired by Pete Townshend and The Who’s British-flag pop-art iconography, the guitarist motivated his protopunk band, Detroit’s MC5, to hang American flags over their guitar amps . It was a way of reflecting the counterculture in general and protesting the Vietnam War specifically: “The idea was, it’s my flag, too. It’s not just the right-wing flag,” Kramer told guitar.com in 2022, two years before his death. “I decided to have my guitar painted with that motif.” Kramer initially painted his white Strat with red stripes, then added the blue-and-white stars pattern to the pickguard. He also added a humbucker to make his solos louder.

Strange But True: In the ’70s, Kramer was an addict and offered the guitar to a Detroit music store to raise cash — only to be told he’d ruined it with the stars and stripes. To sell it, Kramer had to repaint it. “I suspect somewhere in Michigan there’s a Stratocaster in a case under the bed that nobody’s seen in 50 years,” he said.

Talk of the Town: “I’m a guitar-rock guy,” Kramer once told Detroit Artists Workshop. “I love loud guitars and that’s the way I still play.” – S. KNOPPER

Dave Grohl - 1967 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard

In the swinging ’60s, Trini Lopez made his mark as Gibson’s premier signature artist, captivating audiences with uptempo folk-rock hits like “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree.” Although Lopez’s popularity has faded, Dave Grohl has significantly helped in keeping his legacy alive by using his signature Gibson guitars during his performances with Foo Fighters in some of the world’s most famed venues.

Grohl acquired his first Trini Lopez guitar in 1992 from a guitar shop in Bethesda, Maryland, using his earnings from his tenure as Nirvana’s drummer. He was searching for a guitar that was versatile enough to play acoustically at home and powerful enough to electrify audiences in large venues like Madison Square Garden. The guitar’s distinctive diamond-shaped F-holes and elegant headstock particularly drew Grohl’s attention, leading him to develop a deep appreciation for Lopez’s design and become an avid collector of other Trini guitars.

Shop Talk: Dave Grohl once remarked , “I didn’t really know anything about Trini Lopez when I bought the guitar. I thought it was unusual.”

Specs: Trini Lopez specifically requested that Gibson incorporate a unique Fender-style six-on-a-side headstock in his design.

Specs: In 2024 Epiphone released the Dave Grohl DG-335, designed in conjunction with Grohl and boasting diamond-shape f-holes and other distinctive features from his beloved ’67 Trini. – B. TOLINSKI

Nancy Wilson - Gibson SG Junior with Bigsby

One of Wilson’s most beloved guitars, she reportedly purchased the then-burgundy woodgrain Gibson at a used guitar store and modified it with a Bigsby Vibramate and a single Kent Armstrong P-90 pickup that gives the guitar its down-and-dirty sound.

As Heard On: The SG was Wilson’s go-to guitar for live versions of Heart’s “Barracuda.”

Signature Specs: The back of the SG is emblazoned with a large sticker of the U.S. Marine Corps logo — a tribute to Wilson’s father, who was in the military.

Sold! : In 2022, Wilson put a number of guitars from her collection on sale through the Reverb.com website, including the SG, which was listed for $100,000. It’s unclear who purchased it. — FRANK DIGIACOMO

Waylon Jennings - "No. 1" Leather-Covered Fender Telecaster

Of the five guitars that Jennings used onstage, “No. 1” and “No. 2” were mid-’50s Telecasters. (They’ve been referred to as both 1953 and 1954 models in descriptions.) The first was a gift from his band the Waylors in the early ‘60s when they were playing the Phoenix club scene: a Butterscotch Blonde Tele that they had covered in black leather decorated with a cream-colored floral pattern and spiral stitching around the perimeter of the guitar.

Strange But True: According to Waylon’s son Shooter Jennings, the band paid around $40 for the Telecaster. Other accounts say the band shelled out another pittance to either a janitor or bartender at the club they were playing to add the hand-tooled leather sheath.

Signature Specs: Jennings used a banjo key on the low E string with a 1:1 ratio — the number of turns required to change the pitch from, say, an E to a D (the average is 18 turns). The key made the change instant.

Sold!: No. 1 remains with Jennings family, but Nicole Kidman dropped close to $100,000 to buy “No. 3” — a 1950 Fender Broadcaster — at auction for her husband Keith Urban. Keith Richards acquired the ’67 Telecaster that was one of the Jennings five. — F. DIGIACOMO

Jeff Beck - "Wired" Fender Stratocaster

Jazz fusion great John McLaughlin often praised Jeff Beck as the “best guitarist alive.” The feeling was mutual, with Beck raving that McLaughlin’s playing was “unequaled.” Their respect for each other was evident when they toured together in 1975. During this time, Beck smashed his beloved ’62 Stratocaster. As a kind gesture, McLaughlin bought Beck a replacement—a white Stratocaster from Norman’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, California. Tragically, this guitar, which graced the cover of Beck’s 1976 album Wired , was stolen soon after it was acquired. Unfazed, McLaughlin stepped in once more, purchasing another white Strat for Beck. It is believed that this guitar, alongside the repaired ’62 Strat, were the ones Beck played on Wired , an album that showcased his mastery and innovation on the electric guitar.

Shop Talk: Jeff Beck expressed his straightforward view on instruments to Guitar World in 2014: “When it comes to guitars, I don’t really give a damn about ‘custom this’ and ‘custom that.’ Most of what I need is in my fingers. You know, let’s hear it for the fingers!”

Talk of the Town: While Beck’s album Wired is hailed as a seminal work in jazz fusion, Beck himself did not identify as a jazz musician. However, he felt a deep honor when jazz legend Charles Mingus commended him for his sensitive rendition of Mingus’s own “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”

Chart a Course: Wired peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard 200 and was also released in a special four-channel quadraphonic edition. – B. TOLINSKI

Prince - Auerswald Symbol Guitar

Prince employed a futuristic-looking Jerry Auerswald guitar – the Model C – on late ’80s efforts like Sign o’ the Times and Lovesexy . In 1993, in the midst of a contract dispute with his label, Warner Bros., he changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and recruited the German luthier to build him a guitar in the same shape. Known as the Auerswald Symbol (or Love Symbol) guitar, Prince played the gold creation during the period surrounding his 1995 album The Gold Experience . He later used models in various colors, including black and white, and capped his 2007 Super Bowl XLI Halftime Show performance by playing “Purple Rain” with a Schecter-built version – finished, of course, in purple.

Specs: Carved maple body and neck, “arrow” headstock, gold-plated heart-shaped tuning knobs, EMG pickups (single coil and humbucker).

As Seen On: Prince plays the original Auerswald in the official music videos for The Gold Experience ’s “Endorphinmachine” and “Gold.”

Rarity: The gold Auerswald, reportedly the only Prince-owned Symbol model still in existence, resides in the collection housed at Paisley Park, Prince’s home and studio in Chanhassen, Minn. – R. BIENSTOCK

Elvis Presley - 1942 Martin D-18 "Sun Sessions"

Known as the “Sun Sessions” guitar, Presley used this Martin on his early classics at Sam Phillips’ studio between 1954 and 1956. It’s unclear exactly which songs he played the guitar on, but among the songs from these sessions were “That’s All Right,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky” and “Mystery Train.” Presley affixed the letters from his first name on the body, but the “S” has disappeared over time, so it still reads: “ELVI.” Presley purchased the guitar at Houck’s Piano Store in Memphis, trading in his Martin 000-18 as part of the price. “There is also extensive wear visible on the guitar due to Presley’s hard strumming,” observed Guitar World before the Martin went up for auction.

Sold!: In 2020, the guitar sold for $1.32 million to an undisclosed buyer through auction house Gotta Have Rock and Roll.

On Display: New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art included the Martin in its “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” exhibition in 2019. – S. KNOPPER

Clarence White - Martin D-28 Herringbone

For an instrument sometimes hailed as “the Holy Grail of bluegrass guitars,” Clarence White’s Martin D-28 had an inauspicious start. In 1959, a teenaged White bought a heavily damaged, 20-some-year-old acoustic guitar, which was soon fixed up by a Los Angeles luthier named Milt Owen , who admitted the result was far from perfect. But the guitar isn’t famous for being beautiful: It’s the instrument on which the dexterous White – as part of the folk revival outfit Kentucky Colonels — helped popularize the acoustic guitar as a lead instrument in bluegrass (acoustics were mainly seen as rhythm instruments prior to the innovations of White and Doc Watson, among others). By the time White began playing with the Byrds, the Martin D-28 was out of his life – but its influence on future generations of bluegrass players was set. In fact, Tony Rice – a disciple of White’s – owned and played the guitar for years.

Battle Scars: For whatever reason, someone had carved away at the Martin D-28’s sound hole before White bought it. Perhaps deciding a knife wasn’t enough, White upped the ante and shot it with a BB gun before parting ways with the guitar in 1965.

Talk of the Town: When Tony Rice bought White’s Martin D-28 in the ‘70s, he could barely believe his good fortune. “I kept waiting to wake up,” Rice told Fretboard Journal . “For days I was thinking, ‘It couldn’t possibly have been this easy.’” – J. LYNCH

Allen Collins - 1958 Gibson Explorer

The Lynyrd Skynyrd guitarist went through a series of instruments during his time with the band, but in 1976 switched to the Explorer, in its original form one of the rarest and most coveted guitars Gibson has ever made. According to Ultimate Guitar , the company made just a handful of them during their initial run in 1958, and Collins’ Korina wood edition — replicated by Gibson with a 100-axe run in 2003 — became iconic.

Strange But True: According to his guitar tech , while playing in the Skynyrd successor Rossington-Collins Band in 1980, Collins tripped while running out onstage and broke the tip of the headstock off, then glued it back on with Elmer’s glue; when Gibson issued its signature, they recreated that aspect on purpose.

As Heard On: Street Survivors, the final album with Skynyrd’s classic lineup, which was released three days before the plane crash that killed three members of the band and almost claimed the life of Collins. — DAN RYS

Memphis Minnie - 1941 National New Yorker

One of the first electric guitars on the market, the 1941 National New Yorker Electric Spanish was the guitar of choice for Memphis Minnie when she went electric in the early ‘40s. The Queen of Country Blues’ playing on this hollow, sound hole-free guitar helped the blues evolve into early rock n’ roll and inspired artists from Jefferson Airplane to Bonnie Raitt.

Rarity Factor: One of the few hollow guitars with no sound holes, the National New Yorker is additionally rare because America’s entrance into World War II necessitated the reallocation of resources used to make that model. The one Minnie wielded featured a sunburst finish.

Talk of the Town: None other than 20th century poetry giant Langston Hughes had this to say about Minnie’s guitar playing: “Louisiana bayous, muddy old swamps, Mississippi dust and sun, cotton fields, lonesome roads, train whistles in the night, mosquitoes at dawn, and the Rural Free Delivery, that never brings the right letter. All these things cry through the strings on Memphis Minnie’s electric guitar, amplified to machine proportions — a musical version of electric welders plus a rolling mill.” — J. LYNCH

Joe Satriani - 1990 Ibanez JS Special "Chrome Boy"

Joe Satriani, known for his fluid playing technique and his distinctive bald look, has always mirrored the sleek and polished style he embodies. His breakout album, 1987’s Surfing with the Alien , notably features Marvel’s Silver Surfer on the cover, embodying the same smooth aesthetic. It’s no surprise that Satriani’s most iconic guitar, the 1990 Ibanez JS-2 Chrome Boy, boasts a brilliantly reflective silver finish that complements this theme perfectly. Although the original “Chrome Boy” offered exceptional sound, its finish was prone to peeling due to Ibanez’s then-unperfected chroming technique. Ironically, Satriani observed that each time the guitar was refinished, its sound improved, eventually making it one of his favorite instruments.

Specs: Since its inception in 1990, Ibanez has created five different versions of the Chrome Boy.

Strange But True: Satriani notes that it wasn’t until the fourth iteration, the JS1CR30, that Ibanez finally perfected the chroming process, joking, “They figured it out…it only took 30 years!”

As Heard On: Chrome Boy’s distinctive sound can be fully appreciated on the 2001 album Live in San Francisco . – B. TOLINSKI

Ace Frehley - 1974 Gibson Les Paul Custom “Budokan”

The Spaceman has said he purchased the Cherry-burst guitar in 1976 at Manny’s Music on West 48th Street — once part of Manhattan’s much-mourned Music Row. He later modified it with three DiMarzio humbuckers, including a Super Distortion at the bridge — the Les Paul originally had just two pickups — which helped give KISS its distinctive roar.

As Heard On: Alive II

Retirement Party: According to acefrehleylespaul.com, although the Custom is most associated with Frehley and KISS, it was his primary guitar for the shortest period — 17 months between 1976 and 1978.

Sold!: Frehley’s axe was purchased by rare guitar collector Matt Swanson who licensed it to Gibson to create faithful replicas. — F. DIGIACOMO

Buck Owens -  Mosrite Red, White and Blue Acoustic

Bakersfield, Calif., was not only the home of “Act Naturally” writer and country superstar Buck Owens but of Semie Moseley, the luthier behind Mosrite Guitars, favored by the Ventures’ Nokie Edwards and the Ramones’ Johnny Ramone. In 1966, Owens was against the Vietnam War, but also against protesters burning the American flag, and he wanted a (relatively) subtle way to show his reaction. Together, he and Moseley designed a red, white and blue acoustic — and Owens convinced his fiddle and bass players to paint their instruments the same colors. When Owens starred on Hee Haw a few years later, he said in his autobiography, Buck ‘Em! , “It seems like everybody wanted to know where they could get one.”

Mass Distribution: Owens licensed the red, white and blue model to Chicago Musical Instruments, which sold each model for $82.95, often through the Sears catalog. Owens’ first check was for $15,000.

Six-String Stories: Rev. Ray Boatwright helped fund Moseley’s forays into the guitar-building business, co-signing on a band saw, tabletop drill press, air compressor and other tools, which Moseley used to build Mosrite #1 in the reverend’s one-car garage in 1954, according to Bakersfield Guitars: An Early History. Among the first to use his models: Lorrie and Larry Collins of the Collins Kids, a ’50s rockabilly duo. – S. KNOPPER

Mark Knopfler - 1937 National Style "O" 14 Fret

Mark Knopfler stuck primarily to Strats and Les Pauls in Dire Straits, but the most indelible guitar image connected to the band is that of his 1937 National Style “O” resonator, famously depicted floating in the blue sky, storm clouds gathering in the background, on the cover of their Billboard 200-topping 1985 album Brothers In Arms. Knopfler purchased the National from guitarist and friend Steve Phillips in the ‘70s and used it extensively in the studio and onstage with Dire Straits and in his solo career. He has described its tone as “somewhere between the guitar and a piano,” which is pretty much exactly how it sounds on his most famous performance with it – the beautifully fingerpicked melody that leads the 1980 classic “Romeo and Juliet.”

As Seen On: The guitar also appears on the back cover of Brothers In Arms , this time as a painting by German artist Thomas Steyer.

Specs: National manufactured the first resonator guitars in 1927, designed with a metal body and interior speaker-like cones to produce more volume than acoustics in the pre-amplification days. Three years later, the brand introduced the Style O, boasting a nickel-plated brass body, with a “chickenfoot” coverplate on the front and an etched Hawaiian island scene on the back.

Strange But True: In 1973 Knopfler briefly played with an English pub rock band named Brewers Droop (slang for alcohol-induced erectile dysfunction). Sixteen years later some of these recordings were released on the album The Booze Brothers , the cover of which parodied the Brothers In Arms art — this time with the neck of Knopfler’s National experiencing the dreaded “droop.” – R. BIENSTOCK

Brian Jones - Vox Mark III "Teardrop"

Although Rolling Stones co-founder Brian Jones played many guitars during his tenure with the band, he is most closely associated with the teardrop-shaped white Vox Mark III presented to him by Tom Jennings (of Vox’s parent company, Jennings Musical Industries) in 1964. The guitar, which was a one-of-a-kind prototype built for Jones by Mick Bennett, featured two single coil pickups, a chrome pickguard, and ebony fretboard with a zero fret and a round vinyl cover that buttoned to the back of the guitar. Jones would first appear in public with the guitar on July 11 in Bridlington, Yorkshire, and he then used it for subsequent television appearances promoting the Stones’ then-new single “It’s All Over Now.”

Numbers Game: Once in production, the “teardrop” Mark III was rechristened the Vox Mark VI.

Fender Blender: When assembling Jones’ Mark III, Mick Bennett repurposed a Fender Stratocaster bridge that had been sawed off on one side to remove the hole for the tremolo arm.

Twin Tone: Vox built a companion 12-string Teardrop that was used during the Stones’ July 1964 appearances on the television show Ready Steady Go! – T. BEAUJOUR

Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks - 1993 American Standard Telecaster & Gibson Custom Dickey Betts SG

Both husband and wife are known for their playing prowess, though they come at it from very different directions. Trucks has long played his red SG — in fact, he’s rarely seen without it — in open E tuning with a classic thick glass slide, a nod to his guitar hero and Allman Brothers predecessor Duane Allman. Tedeschi, meanwhile, is less dogmatic and uses a rotation of guitars, but has become most known for her Telecaster, which Fender enshrined with a signature version modeled on her 1993 Caribbean Mist original.

As Heard On: Tedeschi’s 1998 album Just Won’t Burn features her original on the cover; Trucks has played his SG on more than a dozen albums across his solo band, three Allman Brothers records (and countless live albums) and a slew of Tedeschi Trucks Band releases.

Strange But True: Trucks’ custom SG was modeled on Gibson’s Dickey Betts SG, which itself is a replica of a 1961 SG that Dickey gave to Duane Allman, which Allman’s daughter then gave to Trucks. Got all that? — D. RYS

Rick Nielsen - 1981 Hamer Five-Neck

Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen is a guitarist given to eccentricities both sartorial and musical. One of his favorite absurdist acts of the late ’70s was to don up to five guitars at once, among them a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul Junior , for his unaccompanied guitar solo, playing each and then discarding it to reveal the next guitar underneath. Wishing to one-up himself, Nielsen originally approached his friends at Hamer guitars with the idea of a six-necked instrument that would twirl like a roulette wheel. He abandoned that idea in favor of a five-necked behemoth that included a 12-string at the top, three standard guitar necks in the middle and a fretless neck at the bottom.

Three’s Company: Nielsen commissioned two additional five-necks from Hamer after the original 1981 example: one a Korina wood hollow body, and one in his trademark checkerboard finish that he still brings on the road.

Chop Shop: The five-neck was constructed by modifying the bodies of five double-cutaway Hamer Sunbursts and attaching them together.

Early Adopter: Nielsen worked with Hamer from its inception and owns a Hamer guitar with the serial number #0000 – T. BEAUJOUR

Prince - Hohner HG-490 “Mad Cat”

His Purple Majesty played some one-of-a-kind axes, such as his custom-made “Cloud” and “Love Symbol” guitars, but his flamed maple top Hohner Mad Cat Telecaster knockoff was his primary guitar in the studio and onstage. Hohner, known for its harmonicas, began producing the Japanese-made Mad Cats in the 1970s until it was sued by Fender because its headstock was allegedly indistinguishable from Fender’s Tele.

Rarity Factor: Prince hired world-class luthier Roger Sadowsky to build six Mad Cat replicas for him.

As Heard On: Prince acquired the original in the late ‘70s — it is said that he liked the leopard-print pick guard because it jibed with his fashion sense — and used it for the recording of Purple Rain , among many other classic albums. He also played a Mad Cat during his mind-blowing solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” at the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Strange But True: Two of the Mad Cat replicas Sadowsky built were equipped with tubing to spray Ivory Liquid during the guitar masturbation scene in the Purple Rain movie. Sadowsky told Ultimate Guitar.com that he dubbed them the “Ejacucasters.” – F. DIGIACOMO

Dimebag Darrell - Dean ML “Dean From Hell”

One of the most iconic guitars in heavy metal has a pretty heartwarming origin story. A 14-year-old Darrell Abbott (chaperoned by his mom) won a Dean ML after smoking the competition at a guitar contest in Dallas. The future Dimebag Darrell sold the guitar to a friend, but it soon fell into the hands of his pal Buddy Blaze, a talented luthier who began toying around with it. Among other changes, Blaze tweaked the neck to emphasize the V shape, added a Floyd Rose bridge, moved the stock pickup to the neck, repainted the maroon axe a dark shade of aqua and applied a bitchin’ lightning bolt design. Not long after Phil Anselmo joined Pantera as its singer, Blaze put the guitar back in Dimebag’s hands, who fell in love with the guitar without realizing it was the same one he won as a kid. When Blaze revealed the fateful full-circle moment to him, the guitarist was ecstatic – and metal would never be the same.

As Seen On: An energized Dime sports the Dean From Hell (words that were scrawled on the guitar in marker) on the cover of Pantera’s iconic 1990 breakthrough, Cowboys From Hell.

Retirement Party: The well-loved guitar got knocked around onstage so much that Dime retired it in the mid ‘90s, bringing it out only on occasion. Fittingly, his beloved Dean From Hell was on display at his funeral after his murder in 2004. – J. LYNCH

Hank Williams - 1941 Martin D-28

The Shakespeare of country music made “nearly all his popular recordings with his Martin,” a 1940s acoustic that had an ebony fretboard, diamond-shaped inlays and the serial number 87422, according to Dick Boak’s Martin Guitar Masterpieces . Not much is known about the guitar’s origins, other than Hank Sr. purchased it from Tut Taylor, the dobro player who owned a Nashville guitar store, and recorded most of his classic recordings — from “Lost Highway” to “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” — with it. Hank Jr. is said to have inherited the guitar, which he reportedly sold for some shotguns.

Where It Is Now: Neil Young eventually wound up with the 1941 model and has played it regularly for years, telling crowds: “This is Hank’s old guitar,” sometimes introducing his song about it, “This Old Guitar.” Another model, circa 1944, was on display for years at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. Boak called it “one of the most valuable guitars ever made.”

Talk of the Town: Nils Lofgren, who plays with Young and Bruce Springsteen, told guitar.com in 2022: “I think it was on ‘Walking on the Road.’ [Neil] was on an electric piano and he said, ‘Why don’t you try an acoustic guitar?’ and he just happened to have his Hank Williams guitar, ‘Hank.’ So now I’m playing acoustic rhythm on a guitar Hank Williams played. That was a beautiful thing.” – S. KNOPPER

Vernon Reid - ESP Custom

Reid had just formed Living Colour when he connected with the guys behind ESP, the Japanese guitar brand that had just launched in the U.S., and commissioned a custom model inspired by one he saw in the ESP offices that reminded him of Marvel’s Silver Surfer. The final version was, in a way, a bit of a collage of other inspirations: the swirl design he saw in the office; a guitar he had been using up to that point that was painted by graffiti-inspired artist Keith Haring; and a V-neck inspired by a ’63 Fender he had played in the past, with EMG active pickups, which were new at the time.

Six-String Stories: “The ESP coming into my life at that point was a shift,” Reid told the ESP site . “It was specifically for the band Living Colour. It was a colorful band name; I thought I should have a colorful guitar, right?”

As Heard On: Reid most famously used the guitar in writing “Cult of Personality,” the Grammy-winning first song off Living Colour’s 1988 debut Vivid . — D. RYS

Jack White - 1964 Valco Airline Res-O-Glas

Jack White has never been one to follow the beaten path, and his taste in guitars illustrates that. Those idiosyncrasies were especially evident during his years with The White Stripes, a period where White was often seen wielding a striking red-and-white 1964 Valco Airline Res-O-Glas. The angular guitar, crafted from fiberglass, was originally marketed through Montgomery Ward department store catalogs. The guitar was challenging to play, but it produced a uniquely jagged tone that resonated with White’s contrarian aesthetics. “If you want it easy, buy a new Les Paul or a new Stratocaster,” White once quipped , emphasizing his preference for instruments with character over ease of play.

Specs: The Valco Airline guitars lack truss rods; instead, their necks are reinforced with steel to maintain sturdiness.

Sold!: The price for a Valco Airline in 1964 was $99. These days they can fetch up to $3,000.

Under the Influence: During his time with the White Stripes, White also played a 1950s-era Kay Hollowbody, favored by bluesman Howlin’ Wolf, and a Gibson L-1 acoustic, known for its association with blues legend Robert Johnson. – B. TOLINSKI

Carlos Santana - Custom 1980 Paul Reed Smith

Before Paul Reed Smith established PRS Guitars, now one of the premier electric guitar and amplifier manufacturers globally, he was a modest luthier in Maryland. Smith had already crafted guitars for musicians like Peter Frampton and Ted Nugent when he targeted Carlos Santana, celebrated for his exceptional sound and selective choice in instruments. In 1980, Smith managed to secure a meeting with Santana, who was immediately impressed with a custom guitar Smith presented. The endorsement from Santana not only put Paul Reed Smith on the map but also kickstarted a lasting collaborative friendship.

Shop Talk: Carlos Santana initially remarked that the first guitar Paul Reed Smith crafted for him was so exceptional it must have been an “act of God,” and challenged Smith to replicate the feat. “After the fifth instrument, which was a doubleneck, he called me up and said, ‘Okay, you’re a guitar maker,'” Smith recalled to Premier Guitar in 2023.

Strange But True: In the early 2000s, Santana challenged PRS to design a high-quality yet affordable guitar, leading to the creation of the Santana SE (Student Edition) in 2001.

Specs: At Santana’s behest, Paul Reed Smith designed a revolutionary new tremolo system that incorporated miniature rollers on each string to reduce friction. – B. TOLINSKI

Courtney Love - 1994 Fender Venus

Love’s trademark guitar, built for her in the Fender Custom Shop, takes its cues from a Rickenbacker and a vintage green Mercury she used to play. The Venus (in Surf Green, with a matching headstock and a single pickup) was later replicated and sold as the Squier Venus.

Rarity Factor: It was custom built for Love by master luthier Larry Brooks, who had previously collaborated with Kurt Cobain. According to Brooks , Love’s “ballsy-toned” Venus was built without a volume knob at her manager’s request, so it couldn’t be damaged or grabbed when crowdsurfing.

Sold!: The Venus sold on online instrument marketplace Reverb for $68,289.95 in 2022. – A. STEWART

Bruce Springsteen – ca. 1953 Fender Esquire-Telecaster Composite

Springsteen was 22 when he bought this Frankensteined Fender from New Jersey luthier Phil Petillo for $185, which he later called “the best deal of my life.” An early-’50s composite of an Esquire (the neck) and a Telecaster (the body) housed in honeyed blonde wood, it had been heavily refashioned with four pickups and a wooden chunk behind the black pickguard removed. It was a “mutt,” Springsteen said, but he learned how to make it talk, and the guitar has accompanied him on his storied ascent from Jersey clubs to stadiums, even making an appearance on the Born to Run album cover.

Six-String Stories: “This feels like my arm,” Springsteen told Stephen Colbert in 2021. “If I have this guitar, I don’t have anything on. This became an extension of my actual body.”

Strange But True: To ensure the guitar made it through a typical sweat-a-thon Springsteen concert, Petillo had it waterproofed.

Retirement Party: Springsteen hasn’t brought the now-fragile guitar on the road in years, preferring to use dupes instead, though he still records with it, and played it during his 2009 Super Bowl halftime show. It has also been on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. – A. STEWART

Pete Townshend - 1976 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe “#5”

Some of the most classic-Who-ish photos of Townshend performing live in the late ’70s — windmilling, leaping, sneering — involved this wine-red guitar stamped with a large white “5.” Although Townshend was known in the ’60s for his Gibson SGs, he shifted to Les Pauls in the ’70s for a heavier sound, and played a variety of them, sticking numbered decals on the bodies so he could quickly select one with distinctive capo settings during live shows. He had one problem with the model: its neck. “Under the rough treatment I give them, they don’t seem to last very long,” he told Sound International in 1980.

As Seen On: The Who’s performances in The Kids Are Alright documentary, including “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” from Shepperton Studios, U.K., in 1978.

Talk of the Town: Townshend switched from the SG to the Les Paul Deluxe after Gibson took the SG of the market, which caused logistical problems for the destructive guitarist. “I don’t break them deliberately anymore, but when I spin them around, when I’ve had a few drinks, I bang them and they crack and they break.” Eventually, he contacted Gibson for custom models, and the company responded with four, at $3,000 a pop. He was displeased with them and picked up the Deluxe instead. – S. KNOPPER

Eric Clapton - Gibson Les Paul Standard “Beano”

Clapton was a 21-year-old British guitar phenom when he recorded Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. The 1966 album (nicknamed “Beano” because Clapton is reading a Beano comic book on its cover) kickstarted a worldwide blues-rock revolution. Throughout, Clapton played a ‘59 or ‘60 (probably a ‘60, due to the shape of its neck) Les Paul Standard with a sunburst finish, also nicknamed Beano, plugged into a topped-out Marshall amp , a sound that would change history. The Burst disappeared from a church basement in London during rehearsals for the first gig by Clapton’s next group, Cream, further cementing its journey into myth. Beano’s whereabouts remain unknown.

Strange But True: According to Clapton, whoever stole Beano came back to steal its case a few weeks later.

Six-String Stories: Few clear pictures of Beano exist, which will make authentication difficult if it ever turns up. Clapton has described it as red-gold in color, with one cutaway and cigarette marks pocking the front. “Just magnificent,” he told Guitar Player in 1985. “I never really found one as good as that. I do miss that one.” – A. STEWART

Lead Belly - ca. 1930 Stella 12-String

The guitar that changed the world was a workmanlike 12-string Stella, canonized by Louisiana blues and folk artist Huddie Ledbetter, known as Lead Belly. Writer Ross Altman once called Ledbetter, whose music would prove foundational to the development of rock n’ roll, a “one-man heavy metal band.” Everything about the Stella was heavy (the weight of its strings and body) and rumbly (Ledbetter probably used a lower version of standard tuning, but no one really knows for sure). The Stella was large and long-scaled, its strings widely spaced, in order to accompany Lead Belly’s large hands.

Sold!: On Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged performance, Kurt Cobain describes being approached by the Lead Belly estate to buy the Stella for $500,000, which even Cobain couldn’t afford. (Would David Geffen buy it for him? Cobain wondered. He would not.) According to representatives from the bluesman’s estate, Lead Belly’s niece wanted to sell the guitar to Cobain, but asked to meet him first, so he could reassure her he wasn’t going to smash it. The meeting never took place.

As Heard On: Lead Belly used the Stella on some of the best-known versions of now-standards including “Goodnight Irene,” “The Midnight Special” and “Where Did You Sleep Last Night” (though many versions of each song exist). – A. STEWART

Buddy Holly - 1954 Fender Stratocaster

Holly was struggling in geometry, and responded to this problem by trading his acoustic Les Paul (and a borrowed $1,000) for a new Fender model called the Stratocaster, changing the trajectory of rock n’ roll forever. (OK, fellow Strat aficionado Carl Perkins, and others, had something to do with it, too.) Holly used the axe he purchased at Adair Music, in his hometown of Lubbock, Texas, to play those famous downstrokes on mid-’50s classics “That’ll Be the Day,” “Peggy Sue” and the rest. Holly lost this model after a tour-bus theft in Michigan — so the guitar did not die with him in the fatal plane crash of 1959 that claimed the lives of Richie Valens and the Big Bopper, too.

Where Is It Now?: Nobody knows, but a 2019 documentary, The ’54, suggests an Australian producer and collector purchased it by random chance in Lubbock in 1979.

Talk of the Town: Fender called him “the first high-profile rock n’ roller to adopt the Fender Stratocaster as his guitar of choice.” Holly-inspired Strat forebears include George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck. – S. KNOPPER

Bob Marley - 1958 Les Paul Special

In May 1973, Bob Marley poked his head into Top Gear, a funky music shop in London known for its second-hand guitars. Among the odds and ends, he noticed an unusual Les Paul Special heavily modified by its previous owner, Dan Armstrong, the inventor of the famous Ampeg Dan Armstrong Lucite acrylic guitar. Armstrong put fingerboard markers where dots had been and a white plastic binding around the headstock. Captivated, Marley bought the guitar and used it as his primary stage and studio instrument for the rest of his career.

Yet, the modifications didn’t end there. Marley admired Jimi Hendrix and reached out to his tech, Roger Mayer, to see if he could create something that would make the Les Paul distinctly his own. Mayer told Reverb in 2021 that he suggested an elliptical aluminum plate under his pickup switch that would “be like a third eye looking out from the guitar,” and adding a matching brushed aluminum pickguard. Marley used it until his death in 1981.

Strange But True: Before Marley acquired it, the guitar was briefly owned by Marc Bolan of T. Rex, who exchanged it back to Top Gear for a Les Paul equipped with humbucking pickups.

Icon Status: Following Marley’s death, his Les Paul Special was declared a national treasure by the Jamaican government.

Retirement Party: The Bob Marley Les Paul Special is currently on display at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston, Jamaica. – B. TOLINSKI

Jerry Cantrell - 1984 G&L Rampage "Blue Dress"

Jerry Cantrell’s 1984 G&L Rampage, affectionately nicknamed “Blue Dress,” is a seminal piece from the grunge era. With Alice in Chains, Cantrell has wielded this guitar since he purchased it in Dallas in 1985, and it has featured on nearly all his recordings, including iconic tracks like “Man In the Box” and “Would.” The guitar’s design, inspired by Eddie Van Halen’s iconic Frankenstein, includes a distinctive circle and square pattern. Notably, it features a pinup girl in a blue dress—a sticker designed by the renowned French painter Alain Aslan, sourced from the adult magazine, which gives the guitar its nickname.

Strange But True: G&L was the creation of former Fender masterminds Leo Fender and George Fullerton (“G” for George and “L” for Leo).

Rarity Factor: The Rampage was introduced in 1984 and was one of G&L’s earliest models.

Shop Talk: “It’s nothing fancy,” Cantrell told Total Guitar in 2014. “There’s plenty of fancier, cooler guitars, but it’s always felt comfortable for me to play from the get-go.”

Missing In Action: Cantrell’s Rampage was thought to be stolen in 2024, but it was simply misplaced while in transit between a photo shoot and his recording studio. – B. TOLINSKI

Buddy Guy – Fender Stratocaster “Polka Dot”

For someone whose career dates back to the 1950s, it’s notable that the guitar most commonly associated with the Chicago blues legend wasn’t created until four decades later. Guy had been playing Strats since the ‘60s — he claims that Clapton and Jeff Beck picked them up because of him — but the polka dot design was crafted by his request in the early 1990s, as a tribute to his late mother; it first appeared on the album cover of 1994’s Slippin’ In , and he’s played it in concert ever since.

Six-String Stories: “I promised [my mother] that I was going to buy her a polka dot Cadillac to make her feel better, because she had had a stroke and she never saw me play … I was going to get famous and drive back to Louisiana in a polka dot Cadillac to show her I’d made it,” he told Guitar World in a 2015 interview. “So I finally got the guitar company, Fender, to make me a guitar with the polka dots, and they’ve made quite a few of them now.”

As Heard On: Guy played Strats for years, but the polka dot motif shows up on Slippin’ In, Heavy Love, Rhythm & Blues and The Blues Is Alive and Well. — D. RYS

Peter Frampton - 1954 Les Paul Custom “Phenix”

Gifted to him in 1970 at a Humble Pie gig in San Francisco, “Phenix,” a heavily modified 1954 Gibson Les Paul, would become Peter Frampton’s go-to guitar for a decade. Appearing on albums like Humble Pie’s Rock On and Performance Rockin’ the Fillmore , the black Les Paul would become lodged in the popular culture firmament in 1976, when it was pictured with the guitarist on the cover of his eight-times platinum Frampton Comes Alive! double album. The guitar was presumed destroyed in 1980, when a plane carrying Frampton’s equipment crashed during takeoff on the island of Curaçao, but it had in fact been recovered from the wreckage by a customs agent. Spotted by a local luthier, the guitar was returned to Frampton in 2012. As it had truly risen from the ashes, it was dubbed “Phenix” by its rightful owner.

Triple Threat: When it left the Gibson factory in 1954, Phenix was originally equipped with one P-90 and one “staple” pickup, but it had been carved out to fit three humbucking pickups before Frampton acquired it.

Less Is More: In their literature of the period, Gibson referred to Les Paul Customs as “Fretless Wonders.”

Hiding In Plain Sight: During the almost quarter century that Phenix was MIA, it was seen being played by a local guitarist in Curaçao. – T. BEAUJOUR

Eric Clapton - 1964 Gibson SG “The Fool”

Eric Clapton’s 1964 Gibson SG, dubbed “The Fool,” is a vibrant testament to the psychedelic era. Painted by Marijke Koger and Simon Posthuma of the Dutch design collective The Fool, this guitar became synonymous with Clapton during his time with Cream. The artwork on the SG was commissioned by Robert Stigwood, the band’s manager, as part of a broader project (that also included custom designs for Ginger Baker’s drum kit and Jack Bruce’s Fender Bass VI) in preparation for Cream’s debut U.S. tour.

The Fool was more than just a showpiece; it played a crucial role in the production of Cream’s second album, Disraeli Gears , contributing to iconic tracks such as “Sunshine of Your Love” and “Strange Brew.” The guitar’s journey didn’t end with Clapton. After Cream disbanded, he passed the SG to George Harrison, who subsequently handed it down to Apple Records artist Jackie Lomax. Later, it found its way to Todd Rundgren.

Specs: The Fool was painted with oil-based enamel paint, in the gaudy DayGlo of the day.

Lookin’ Good: The centerpiece on the face of the guitar is a cherub whose curly hair was inspired by Clapton’s hairstyle at the time.

Strange But True: The original design extended onto the fretboard, which Clapton later had cleaned to avoid interference with his playability. – B. TOLINSKI

Robbie Robertson - 1954 Stratocaster 'The Last Waltz'

The Band guitarist Robbie Robertson purchased his 1954 Fender Stratocaster, then sporting a red finish, from Norman’s Rare Guitars in Tarzana, Calif., in 1973. Accustomed to playing Telecasters equipped with only two pickups, Robertson found that the Strat’s middle pickup often impeded his picking, and had it removed, opting instead to add a third pickup next to the bridge unit. As The Band was preparing to film the farewell concert that would be immortalized in Martin Scorsese’s 1978 documentary The Last Waltz , Robertson decided to mark the occasion by having the guitar’s body dipped in bronze, which is how it appears in the film and is etched into guitar history.

Dating Game: Robertson thought that his guitar dated to 1958, until he sent it to Fender’s Custom Shop to be duplicated for a limited edition run of exact recreations and it was completely disassembled and properly identified.

What About Bob?: Robertson used his Stratocaster extensively when he and the Band backed Bob Dylan on his 1974 Planet Waves album.

Heavy Metal: The process of bronzing the guitar’s body more than doubled the instrument’s weight. – T. BEAUJOUR

Joe Strummer - 1966 Fender Telecaster

Then frontman for the pub-rock band the 101ers, Joe Strummer purchased his 1966 Telecaster in 1975 with £100 that he had received for marrying a South African woman in need of a green card. At the time, the guitar still sported its original sunburst finish, but when Strummer joined The Clash in 1976, the Tele, deemed insufficiently punk, was sprayed over with black car paint. The word “noise,” long since worn off, was stenciled onto the guitar’s upper bout, and a now legendary “Ignore Alien Orders” sticker was affixed closer to the bridge. Strummer would use the increasingly worn guitar for his entire career, turning it into one of punk rock’s most powerful talismans.

Specs: Strummer would replace his Telecaster’s three-saddle bridge with a six-saddle version in the late ’70s, and the original Kluson tuners were at some point swapped out for sturdier Schaller M6 Mini Tuners.

Far Out: Although it’s difficult to place the exact source of “ignore alien orders,” the phrase was used by hippies in the 1960s and can be found on the inside of promotional Grateful Dead matchbooks from the early ’70s.

Sticker Shock: A limited edition, meticulous recreation of Strummer’s Telecaster was created by Fender’s Custom Shop in 2024. – T. BEAUJOUR

St. Vincent – Ernie Ball Music Man St. Vincent

Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent, has always had a flair for the unconventional. So it’s hardly surprising that she opted to go her own way with her signature guitar. “I could have revamped one of [Ernie Ball’s] existing models,” she told Guitar World . “I ended up just starting from scratch.” That meant something that took inspiration from everything from German synthpop artist Klaus Nomi to the ’80s Italian postmodern design movement Memphis Group. And to make it “sympathetic to the female form,” she kept the body light, and tapered in the center. The St. Vincent also sounds like a beast. For proof beyond Clark’s own body of work, just ask Jack White, who played one on Saturday Night Live in 2018, or Olivia Rodrigo, who rocked a purple St. Vincent “Goldie” on her Guts World Tour.

Specs: Lightweight Okoume body, roasted figured maple neck, rosewood fingerboard with custom St. Vincent inlays, three custom mini humbuckers.

Stage Debut: Aug. 25, 2015, during Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour at L.A.’s Staples Center. Clark and Beck joined Swift for a cover of Beck’s “Dreams.”

Strange But True: Clark’s guitar had not been publicly revealed when she debuted it on stage. When Swift later posted a photo of their performance on her socials, Ernie Ball’s website “nearly crashed,” CEO Sterling Ball recalled . “It was crazy.” – R. BIENSTOCK

Jimi Hendrix - Fender Stratocaster “Woodstock”

Although he didn’t iconically light it on fire, Hendrix’ white 1968 Olympic Strat, which he dubbed Izabella, was his guitar of choice for his historic Woodstock rewrite of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which biographer Philip Norman described as “punctuated by drawn-out vibrato, flights into double time and long dying falls erupting into a feedback cacophony that somehow mimicked the war’s sounds.” Other songs Hendrix and his Band of Gypsys played in their two-hour August 18, 1969, set: “Foxey Lady,” “Fire,” “Spanish Castle Magic,” a 14-minute “Voodoo Child” and, of course, “Izabella.” Hendrix bought it at Manny’s Music in New York; it’s the final guitar he played in concert before his death at age 27 in 1970.

Specs: The Strat had an alder body, a two-piece maple neck and a Strat headstock that appeared upside down in Hendrix’s left-handed style.

On Display: Izabella hangs at MoPOP, the rock n’ roll history museum in Seattle. – S. KNOPPER

Randy Rhoads – Karl Sandoval Custom 1979 V

The Hollywood Sunset Strip was a breeding ground for guitar heroes in the 1970s, and having a custom guitar was a rite of passage. After spotting George Lynch, who would come to fame with Dokken, wielding a unique tiger-striped V at a local club, Randy Rhoads was determined to commission his own distinct version. Rhoads’ quest led him to Karl Sandoval’s workshop in Rosemead, just outside Los Angeles.

Randy desired a V-shaped guitar akin to Lynch’s but with specifications that mirrored his personal style—combining Gibson’s body with a Fender-style tremolo. In an interview with DiMarzio , Sandoval recalled, “Randy wanted it to feature 3/4-inch white dots on its black finish and bowtie-inlaid fret markers that matched his signature stage outfit.” After meticulous crafting, the guitar was completed at a cost of $740. “He wasn’t rich and famous yet, so it was a lot of money to him, but he was totally stoked.”

Strange But True: Sandoval never witnessed Rhoads perform live.

As Seen On: Randy Rhoads was famously filmed performing “Mr. Crowley” with this guitar during an appearance on the television show After Hours with Ozzy Osbourne’s band.

Rarity Factor: Besides Randy Rhoads and George Lynch, guitar legends like Eddie Van Halen also turned to Sandoval for their custom needs, underscoring the luthier’s impact on the rock scene. – B. TOLINSKI

Jerry Garcia - Doug Irwin Custom 1973 “Wolf”

Jerry Garcia cherished his collection of custom guitars, each christened with a singular nickname like “Alligator,” “Tiger,” “Rosebud” and “Lighting Bolt.” Among these, “Wolf” stands out as a masterpiece crafted by luthier Doug Irwin. Dubbed by Garcia as “twelve guitars in one,” Wolf’s advanced electronics provided an unparalleled range of tonal possibilities, making it central to recordings like the Grateful Dead’s Wake of the Flood (1973) and Terrapin Station (1977), and a fixture in countless live performances throughout the ’70s. The guitar’s name comes from its distinctive inlay—a whimsical cartoon wolf positioned below the bridge, which adds a touch of fun to this profound instrument.

Stage Debut: “Wolf” made its debut at a New York City performance for the Hells Angels in 1973 shortly after being delivered to Garcia.

As Seen On: It is prominently featured in 1977’s The Grateful Dead Movie , directed by Garcia, showcasing live stage footage.

Strange But True: Garcia played Wolf during the Grateful Dead’s historic 1978 concert in front of Egypt’s Great Pyramids.

Sold!: In 2017, Wolf fetched $1.9 million at a charity auction, underscoring its significant cultural and historical value. – B. TOLINSKI

Maybelle Carter - 1928 Gibson L-5

Mother Maybelle was a teenager in 1928 when she bought the guitar that would forever change country music. It had F-holes that resembled a violin’s and was an arch top in a world of flattops. Maybelle, a member of the nascent country trio the Carter Family, bought it because it was the fanciest one in the store. Until this moment, the flattop had primacy, but Carter’s L-5 was loud, elbowing its way to the forefront of the group’s sound. It made Maybelle country music’s earliest guitar hero and enabled her “Carter Scratch,” which gave the impression she was playing both rhythm and melody. It also made the Carter Family superstars, transformed the guitar into the central instrument in country music, helped the genre’s growth and influenced later greats like Chet Atkins and Johnny Cash, who would marry Maybelle’s daughter, June.

As Heard On: The Gibson was Carter’s lifelong companion, appearing on iconic Carter Family recordings “Wildwood Flower” and “Keep on the Sunny Side,” as well as her performance on the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1972 release, Will the Circle Be Unbroken.

Sold!: Carter bought her L-5 for $275, a fortune during the Depression. She never sold it, even later on when she was strapped for cash. In 2004, the L-5 sold for $575,000, then landed at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. – A. STEWART

Joan Jett - 1977 Gibson Melody Maker

Melody Makers are known for being journeyman guitars, reliable if inelegant beaters that are light but solid, inexpensive and near impossible to destroy. Jett acquired her model near the end of her time in the Runaways. Made of mahogany and rosewood, it’s painted white, covered with stickers (“Girls Kick Ass”) and beat to hell. According to Jett, she added a killswitch and one Red Rhodes Velvet Hammer humbucker. She played it on her early solo hits “Bad Reputation,” “Crimson and Clover,” and “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll.”

Strange But True: Jett bought the guitar from Eric Carmen, of Raspberries fame, who had used it for years.

Six-String Stories: “I don’t even need to use it to record anymore, because I have a guitar that sounds pretty much like it,” Jett told Guitar World in 2017. “I’m actually kind of afraid to bring out the original. It’s got a great heritage. It’s a guitar full of hits.” – A. STEWART

Charlie Christian - Gibson ES-150

Christian manned a Gibson ES-150 when he joined Benny Goodman’s big band in 1939. Until then, “amplified” acoustic guitars were standard in big bands, playing mostly rhythm, but Christian “established the electric guitar as an instrument with its own voice and personality,” writes Walter Carter in The Gibson Electric Guitar Book . Soon Christian was performing at a Gibson guitar clinic in New York along with Les Paul — but unlike Goodman’s progressive bands, the clinics were segregated, and Paul appeared with white musicians while Christian could play only with his Black colleagues. Before his 1942 death of tuberculosis at just 25 years old, Christian switched to an ES-250.

Specs: A certain kind of Gibson single-blade pickup, with a hexagonal bobbin top, was known as the “Charlie Christian pickup,” or “CC pickup,” according to The Gibson Electric Guitar Book .

Talk of the Town: Jazz guitarist Mary Osborne referred to Christian’s sound as a “distorted saxophone.”

As Heard On: It’s not documented which guitar Christian played on which sessions during his brief career, but his most famous solos include those on Benny Goodman & His Orchestra’s “Air Mail Special” and “Solo Flight.” – S. KNOPPER

Tony Iommi - 1964 Gibson SG Special “Monkey”

Tony Iommi’s 1964 Gibson SG Special got its nickname from a whimsical sticker on its body showing a cartoon primate playing a fiddle. But make no mistake – “Monkey” is a seriously heavy instrument. It is the sound of Iommi, which makes it the sound of Black Sabbath, which makes it the sound of heavy metal itself. That Iommi began playing the guitar at all was a happy accident: In the earliest days of Sabbath, he favored a white Fender Stratocaster. But when the Strat’s pickup failed during recording sessions for the band’s 1970 debut, Iommi grabbed his backup – a cherry red, left-handed SG Special – and rock n’ roll hasn’t sounded the same since.

As Heard On: The Monkey was Iommi’s main guitar through much of the 1970s; it’s the axe powering everything from “Paranoid,” “Iron Man” and “War Pigs” to “Sweet Leaf,” “Supernaut” and “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath.”

Specs: It boasts a custom John Birch designed neck pickup, as well as a neck coated in poly lacquer to make it easier for Iommi to navigate the frets with his middle and ring fingers – both of which he covered with thimbles after losing the tips in an accident at a sheet metal factory.

Signature Style: In 2020 the Gibson Custom Shop released the limited-edition Tony Iommi “Monkey” 1964 SG Special Replica, with each one hand-signed and numbered by Iommi himself. – R. BIENSTOCK

Prince - Dave Rusan Custom “Cloud”

Prince was known to be uncompromising in his music and career. But when it came to his iconic “Cloud” guitar, he left much of the design up to its builder, Dave Rusan. “His instructions were sketchy at best,” Rusan, then a luthier at Knut Koupee music shop in south Minneapolis, recalled to Guitar Player in 2022. Prince was a frequent customer, and when he needed a custom-built guitar for a movie he was working on called Purple Rain , Rusan took on the project. Armed with a few directives from Prince – long horn on the body similar to a Sardonyx bass he owned; white finish; gold hardware; EMG pickups – Rusan let his imagination do the rest. “I felt that the best plan was to make a guitar I would enjoy playing and hope that we both had the same taste.” The result, like almost everything Prince touched in the ’80s, was instantly iconic.

Stage Debut: Prince plays the Cloud in the climactic final scene of 1984’s Purple Rain , performing the titular track at Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue.

Rarity Factor: Rusan constructed two additional white Cloud guitars for Prince to use on the Purple Rain Tour, as well as one for a Warner Bros. Records giveaway. Cloud replicas from other luthiers and the Schecter guitar company came later. Rusan currently takes custom orders for the model via his own company, Rusan Original.

Strange But True: The original Cloud had a body of hard rock maple, a heavy wood. According to Rusan, this wasn’t a problem: “Prince was small, but he was very fit,” he told Premier Guitar . “A couple of times I wanted to speak to him, and [his people would] say, ‘Well, he’s working out in the back room.’ So he could handle it.” – R. BIENSTOCK

Joni Mitchell - 1956 Martin D-28

The guitar Joni Mitchell calls “my beloved” was a ‘56 Martin D-28 acoustic, given to her in 1966 by a U.S. Marine captain who had rescued it from an enemy attack in Vietnam. As if in some folk-rock version of Final Destination , the Martin would also barely survive being damaged in an airplane cargo hold. “When they cleared the wreckage, all that survived was this guitar,” she told writer Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers . “I don’t know whether the explosion did something to the modules in the wood, but that guitar was a trouper, man… I’ve never found an acoustic that could compare with it.” Eventually it was stolen from a luggage carousel, never to be seen again.

As Heard On: Much of Mitchell’s classic early work, ending with 1972’s For the Roses .

Strange But True: Childhood polio permanently weakened Mitchell’s left hand. Alternate tunings — which the Martin helped to enable — were less difficult for her to play. – A. STEWART

Steve Vai - Ibanez Jem

By 1987, Steve Vai was a bona fide guitar superstar. He had played with Frank Zappa, stepped into the unimaginably big shoes of Eddie Van Halen in David Lee Roth’s solo band and portrayed the devil’s own guitarist in the 1986 Ralph Macchio vehicle Crossroads . But he had yet to create his own signature instrument. After calling on a several manufacturers to submit prototypes, Vai settled on Japanese company Ibanez. His new guitar, the Jem, incorporated wild neon and floral finishes, fanciful fretboard inlays and several design innovations like a “monkey grip” handle in the upper bout, and a “bear claw” cavity behind the tremolo that allowed for wild ascending squeals.

That’s What Friends Are For: The Jem is named after Vai’s high school buddy Joe “Jem” Despagni, who built many of the guitarist’s early instruments.

Curtain Call: The floral-pattern material used on the late ’80s Jem 77-FP was chosen because Vai had it on curtains in his home.

One Louder: Vai’s second Ibanez signature guitar, a seven-string Jem (sans monkey grip) dubbed the Universe, was introduced in 1990. Used by him both solo and with Whitesnake, its extra-low B string allowed for new depths of heavy chugging and would later be embraced by nü-metal bands like Korn and Limp Bizkit. – T. BEAUJOUR

Slash - Kris Derrig Les Paul Replica

Few, if any, guitarists are more closely associated with the Gibson Les Paul than Slash. But the one he first came to prominence with is not a Les Paul at all – in fact, it’s not even a Gibson. Rather, it’s an LP copy made by Kris Derrig, a luthier who was connected to L.A.-based repair shop Music Works. When Guns N’ Roses were recording their soon-to-be-massive debut, 1987’s Appetite for Destruction , Slash — armed with a Jackson and a B.C. Rich, among other guitars — was struggling to get a decent tone in the studio. The band’s manager, Alan Niven, stopped into Music Works to find something that could help, and the owner showed him Derrig’s creation. Call it a gift or a last-ditch act of desperation, but Niven delivered the sunburst ’59 replica to the guitarist. “It just sounded f–kin’ perfect, man… like a gift from on high,” Slash told Guitar World in 2023.

Strange But True: Niven knew Slash was having guitar troubles when he showed up at the Appetite sessions and “there was a f–king [Gibson] SG though the windscreen, neck-first,” he told L.A. Weekly in a 2016 interview. “That’s a message that even I can understand.”

Shop Talk: Slash only played the Derrig live for a short period in 1987-1988, but it’s been with him in the studio his entire career. “For the Conspirators, Snakepit, Guns N’ Roses, and Velvet Revolver, it’s always been my main recording guitar,” he recalled in the 2022 book The Collection: Slash . “If I was on a desert island it would probably still be the one – it’s become sort of a part of me.”

Signature Style: In 2020 Gibson released the Slash Collection of guitars, which included a signature Les Paul with an “Appetite Burst” finish, a nod to the Derrig. – R. BIENSTOCK

Johnny Winter - 1964 Gibson Firebird V

During the psychedelic ’60s, when musicians competed to look more bizarre than the next, few could hold a candle to Johnny Winter, the wild blues-rocker from Beaumont, Texas. Signed to Columbia Records for a whopping $600,000 in 1968, Winter — with his long white hair and high-energy stage show — was outrageous, and he played an unusual guitar to match: an angular Polaris White 1964 Gibson Firebird V.

Appearing on the cover of Winter’s 1976 album, Captured Live! , the guitar was not only as distinctive looking as its owner, but also sounded different. As Winter explained , “The Firebird is the best of all worlds. It feels like a Gibson, but it sounds closer to a Fender. I have six of them, but the 1963 is the first one I ever bought, and it sounds the best. There’s nothing it can’t do!”

Legacy: In 2008, the Gibson Custom Shop honored Winter by releasing a signature Johnny Winter Firebird V, presented by Slash in a Nashville ceremony.

Rarity Factor: With fewer than 500 Firebird V models shipped in 1964, this guitar remains a prized possession among collectors.

Strange But True: The Firebird was designed by automobile designer Ray Dietrich, inspired by the sleek tailfins of mid-’50s cars. – B. TOLINSKI

Bob Dylan - 1964 Fender Stratocaster

When Dylan played the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, he had already released the Bringing It All Back Home album and a subsequent single, “Like a Rolling Stone,” both of which signaled a turn away from political folk and toward an electrified rock approach. But it was his performance there on July 25 that truly riled folk purists, when he appeared onstage with (gasp!) an electric guitar for the first time in his career. Dylan played just three songs with the instrument, a 1964 sunburst Fender Stratocaster, but the moment was as electric as the guitar slung around his shoulder, eliciting boos from the outraged Newport Folk audience (although some observers claim this was more in response to poor sound quality and his truncated set). Either way, the act was a milestone moment in Dylan’s career and music in general, kicking off the folk-rock movement in earnest.

Stage Debut: Newport, but it almost didn’t happen. Reportedly, Dylan only decided to “go electric” the night before his performance, after being annoyed by the treatment electric blues group the Paul Butterfield Blues Band received at the hands of festival organizers.

Strange But True: Not long after Newport, the guitar was left aboard a private plane. Pilot Victor Quinto attempted to return it but received no response, and it remained in his family’s attic for decades.

Sold!: In 2011 Quinto’s daughter, Dawn Peterson, had it positively ID’d as the Newport Strat via the PBS show History Detectives . Two years later, it was auctioned at Christie’s for $965,000, replacing Clapton’s “Blackie” as the most expensive guitar to date. – R. BIENSTOCK

Bonnie Raitt - 1965 Fender Stratocaster “Brownie”

Raitt bought her beloved ‘65 Strat for $120 in 1969 on the street at 3 a.m. It was unpainted, with the body of a ‘65 Strat and a neck from who-knows-when. She brought it home, named it “Brownie,” and hasn’t been separated from it since. (Except for raising the action, she has hardly modified it, either.) “For portability, sexiness, and the way it feels on your body, nothing beats a Strat,” Raitt told The Los Angeles Times in 2014. “When you strap on a Stratocaster, you feel just like your heroes. I don’t think you can separate how it makes you feel from the memory of other people playing it.”

Stage Debut: According to Raitt, she has played “Brownie” at every single show since they met.

Good Cause: Raitt was one of the first women to have a signature Fender named after her, circa 1995-96. She donated proceeds from the line to the Bonnie Raitt Guitar Project, an organization that helps underprivileged children. – A. STEWART

Malcolm Young - 1963 Gretsch 6131 Jet Firebird

Yes, we all know Angus’ Gibson SG. But just as indispensable to AC/DC’s six-string legacy – and maybe even more foundational to their trademark crunchy rhythms and riffs – is his brother Malcolm’s mainstay 1963 Gretsch Jet Firebird. Nicknamed, quite fittingly, “The Beast,” Malcolm began using the instrument with AC/DC in the early 1970s — and didn’t stop until he retired from the band in 2014. By that point, Malcolm, a primary architect of AC/DC’s sound and style, had helped write and record some of rock’s most well-known and beloved anthems – “Highway to Hell,” “Back in Black,” “You Shook Me All Night Long,” “Thunderstruck,” and about a million others, give or take. Malcolm passed away in 2017 after a years-long battle with dementia, but his legacy in AC/DC is carried on by his nephew Stevie Young, who assumed his place in the band and, like his uncle, proudly plays a Gretsch Jet Firebird onstage.

Origin Story: “The Beast” came to Malcolm via his older brother, George Young, and Harry Vanda, both of whom were members of Australian rock band the Easybeats and later became AC/DC’s producers.

Specs: Originally red, the guitar’s paint was stripped away in the late ‘70s to expose the wood beneath. Malcolm also replaced the bridge and removed two of the three pickups entirely, leaving two empty cavities in the body where they were once housed.

Signature Style: In 2014, Gretsch honored Malcolm with the G6131MY-CS Custom Shop Malcolm Young “Salute” Jet, a note-perfect recreation of “The Beast,” “accurate down to every last nick, scratch and dent.” – R. BIENSTOCK

Billy Gibbons - 1959 Gibson Les Paul “Pearly Gates"

Billy Gibbons became infatuated with the sunburst Gibson Les Paul after seeing Eric Clapton holding one on the back cover of the Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton album. How he came upon his own ’burst is a story of epic proportions, even for a master yarn spinner like Gibbons: In a nutshell, Gibbons lent his car, a 1939 Packard, to an aspiring actress who drove it from Houston to Hollywood for an audition. After nailing the part, she sold the car and gave $250 in proceeds to the guitarist, who used it to procure a mint condition ’59 burst that had been gathering dust under a Texas rancher’s bed. Gibbons then took that guitar nationwide: Pearly Gates has played a central role on each and every ZZ Top album, from 1971’s ZZ Top’s First Album to 2012’s La Futura . Now it’s one of the most famous ’bursts in music history.

Name Game: Gibbons named his Les Paul after the 1939 Packard, telling Guitar Player in 2020, “We didn’t think the car would make it past El Paso. But it brought [the actress] all the way to Hollywood, and she got the part. We figured the car must have divine connections, so we named it Pearly Gates.”

Strange But True: Gibbons found an extra set of strings inside Pearly Gate’s case, and also a love note from a girlfriend of the original owner. It read: “I like what you do. Meet me later. You might like what I can do.”

Rarity Factor: The ’59 burst is considered the Holy Grail of electric guitars due to its top-notch construction, premium woods and stunning finish. With less than 650 shipped, it’s also incredibly rare, making the model among the most coveted in guitardom. – R. BIENSTOCK

Wes Montgomery - 1963 Gibson L-5-CES

A self-taught jazz guitar virtuoso with a smooth sound, Wes Montgomery was renowned for his distinct technique of plucking strings with the side of his thumb. He often played on a variety of Gibson models, but he was most closely associated with this 1963 Gibson L-5 CES (Cutaway Electric Spanish). Gibson later crafted three custom L-5s for Montgomery, tailored with single inverted pickups at the neck to enhance the sweetness of his sound. His prolific career ended with his untimely death from a heart attack in 1968 at just 45.

As Heard On: Stevie Wonder wrote two tributes to Montgomery: “Bye Bye World,” which appeared on his 1968 album Eivets Rednow , and “We All Remember Wes,” which George Benson recorded for his 1978 live album Weekend in L.A.

Strange But True: Montgomery’s thumb was double-jointed; he could bend it all the way back to his wrist.

Tricks of the Trade: Montgomery tried using a pick for several weeks. Although it enabled him to play faster compared to his thumb, it didn’t produce a sound he liked. – B. TOLINSKI

Woody Guthrie - Gibson L-00

The machine that kills fascists was designated by its maker, Gibson, as “parlor size,” meaning it’s smaller and (usually) shorter in scale — but still comfortable to play, worn-in and homey-sounding. Guthrie’s Gibson L-00 wasn’t much to look at, necessarily; its original color was probably black (it had been painted and repainted) with a fire stripe pickguard and 14 frets. Guthrie wasn’t sentimental about guitars – his or anybody else’s. They were merely utilitarian objects, tools of the song. He was quick to bang up his own, slow to return those he had borrowed, tended to leave them places and often didn’t use a case.

Strange But True: Guthrie’s “This Machine Kills Fascists” slogan, stickered or painted on this and numerous guitars, was actually co-opted from the U.S. War Department.

Sold!: It’s estimated that Guthrie owned, gave away, lost or forgot about hundreds of guitars. The whereabouts of most of them, including the Gibson L-00, are unknown. Billionaire Paul Allen (who co-founded Microsoft Corporation) had one. Another was allegedly found in a Seattle secondhand shop in the 1960s and sold for $2. – A. STEWART

Duane Allman - 1961 Gibson SG

In the early days of the Allman Brothers Band, Duane Allman relied on a single guitar, frequently retuning it to play slide—his specialty. Dickey Betts, his fellow guitarist and bandmate, admired Allman’s skill but found the constant tuning adjustments during performances annoying. To streamline their live shows, Betts handed over his cherry red 1961 Gibson SG to Allman, saying , “Here, take this guitar, tune it to your open E slide tuning, and leave it tuned!”

The gesture proved pivotal. Duane Allman’s use of the SG became legendary, particularly on tracks like “Statesboro Blues” and “Whipping Post” from the band’s classic 1971 live album, At Fillmore East . “He loved that guitar,” recalled Betts with a chuckle, recognizing that he had made the right decision.

As Heard On: Initially a practitioner of bottleneck slide guitar in standard tuning, Allman eventually gravitated to playing in the open E tuning heard on “Statesboro Blues” and “Trouble No More.”

Tricks of the Trade: Allman used a glass Coricidin cold medication bottle on his ring finger to create his fluid sound.

Under the Influence: Duane drew significant inspiration for his slide technique from blues harmonica greats like Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, adapting their expressive bends and vibrato to his guitar work. – B. TOLINSKI

Kurt Cobain - 1969 Fender Mustang “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

A budget Fender made between 1964 and 1982, the Mustang was “cheap and plentiful” throughout Nirvana’s career, according to Kurt Cobain and Nirvana — a key attraction for Cobain, who played a left-handed model with a racing stripe down the middle in the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video and another for “In Bloom.” “They sound like crap and are very small,” he told Guitar World in 1991, as Nevermind was breaking. “They also don’t stay in tune, and when you want to raise the string action on the fretboard, you have to loosen all the strings and completely remove the bridge.” Later, master guitar-maker Danny Ferrington helped him transform the Mustang into a more sophisticated Jaguar-and-Mustang hybrid.

Six-String Stories: Complaining about the Mustang, Cobain told Guitar World : “Whoever invented that guitar was a dork.” The interviewer responded, “It was Leo Fender.” To which Cobain said: “I guess I’m calling Leo Fender, the dead guy, a dork. Now I’ll never get an endorsement.”

Sold!: In 2022, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay purchased Cobain’s instrument for $4.5 million in an auction by Julien’s, which had predicted it would go for $800,000. – S. KNOPPER

James Burton - 1969 Fender Telecaster, Paisley Red

Famed sideman and master of the playing style known as “chicken pickin,'” Burton has worked with everyone from Ricky Nelson to Phil Spector to Gram Parsons, though he’s best known as a member of Elvis Presley’s rhythm section, the TCB band. He used his bright paisley Tele, acquired in 1969, during his years with the King, and in thousands of studio sessions since. According to Burton, it has been frequently modified, with the bridge, hardware, neck and pickups all undergoing renovation. The paisley pattern was made using stick-on wallpaper known as cling-foil. Fender bought out the pattern’s stock, and later resorted to silk-screening.

Talk of the Town: Burton had been playing a ‘52 Tele when Fender offered to replace it with a bright pink and paisley ‘69 Tele that looked like something a hippie would play. When Burton first saw it, he was alarmed. “It shocked me,” he told the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum. “I said ‘No, no, that’s not for me’… took it and played it, and it played really nice.”

Stage Debut: It took two weeks for Burton to work up the nerve to break out the guitar on stage in front of Elvis, because the Tele was flashy, and Presley could get upset about such things. But the King loved it. – A. STEWART

Les Paul - “The Log”

Disappointed with the Gibson electrics on the market throughout the ’30s, Les Paul, 26, spent his Sundays in 1940 sculpting pine planks at an Epiphone stringed-instrument factory in Manhattan. He came up with what Ian S. Port, in The Birth of Loud: Leo Fender, Les Paul and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock ‘n’ Roll , called, “a lumberyard mutant, a stick bound with steel cables, a wood shop project.” It took Gibson years — and intense competition from Fender, whose Telecaster was gaining popularity — to introduce the Les Paul model. It took off, becoming one of the most recognizable electric guitars in music history, the instrument of choice for Pete Townshend, Bob Marley, Slash and Eric Clapton.

Specs: The Log was a two-foot-long, four-by-four-inch piece of pine, to which Paul affixed a Spanish neck, a vibrato tailpiece, a bridge, electrical pickups and a fretboard.

Six-String Stories: “I took it to the bar out in Sunnyside [New York], and when I sat in with just the four-by-four, they laughed at me. When I put the wings on [the body], they thought it was a guitar and everything was fine,” Paul told The Guitar Magazine.

On Display: The Log is at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville. “It had this great sustain and this great tone that you couldn’t get with acoustic guitars,” museum editor Michael McCall told The Tennessean . – S. KNOPPER

Chet Atkins - Gretsch Country Gentleman

When Gretsch approached prolific session guitarist Chet Atkins to propose a branding deal in the ’50s, “I was on the Opry, I was playing on network radio shows, and I think I was already on national television,” Atkins said in Tony Bacon’s 50 Years of Gretsch Electrics . Atkins, who would become a superstar producer and help create the Nashville sound, soon received a prototype for the Chet Atkins Hollow Body 6120. He went back and forth with Gretsch, landing in 1957 on the Country Gentleman, named for his recent solo instrumental hit. “I started to use the Country Gentleman on my records continually,” Atkins said.

Notable Fan: George Harrison, who owned two models and played them with the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964, instantly boosting Gretsch’s sales and production — and, says Guitar Center senior VP of merchandising Michael Doyle, “changing the course of popular music.”

Evolution of an Instrument: In 1981, Atkins had Gibson build him another Country Gentleman: “Rather than having to convince them about certain details of the guitar’s design, like I always had to do with Gretsch,” he later wrote in his autobiography Me and My Guitars , “the Gibson crew went all out to make sure I was happy.” – S. KNOPPER

Eric Clapton - Stratocaster "Blackie"

During his legend-making days with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and Cream, Eric Clapton was an avowed Gibson man. But after seeing his future Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood play a Stratocaster, an intrigued Clapton walked into Nashville’s Sho-Bud guitar shop in 1970 and bought one – six, actually – Strats of his own, giving three away and keeping the others for himself. A few years later, he had Nashville luthier Ted Newman-Jones combine the best aspects from each – the black lacquer-finished alder body from a 1956 example; the one-piece maple neck from a ‘57; single-coil pickups from the third model – and “Blackie,” one of the most iconic “mongrel” electric guitars in rock history, was born.

Stage Debut: January 1973, London’s Rainbow Theatre. The concert was organized by Pete Townshend, who received one of the six Sho-Bud-purchased Strats.

Retirement Party: Clapton retired it after his tour for 1985’s Behind the Sun due to wear and tear on the neck. Shortly after, he worked with Fender to design a custom Stratocaster based on it.

Talk of the Town: Seth Walker tells Billboard that “Blackie” was one of the “first heavies that influenced my playing and truly inspired me to lean into this beautiful and mad affair. My first electric guitar was a black Fender ‘Squire’ Strat, trying to emulate Clapton with all of my young and clumsy might.”

Sold!: Guitar Center paid $959,500 for it in 2004, setting a new record for world’s most expensive guitar. Proceeds went to Clapton’s rehab facility, the Crossroads Centre. – R. BIENSTOCK

Johnny Ramone - 1965 Mosrite Ventures II

The Mosrite Ventures guitar was originally designed for (who else?) instrumental surf-rock band the Ventures, but it came to greater fame when Johnny Ramone picked up a Ventures II model a decade later. In Ramone’s hands, the streamlined, entry-level axe – lightweight basswood “slab” body, thin, easy-playing neck, high-output pickups – became a weapon. He employed a blue Ventures II in the earliest days of the Ramones, but after that guitar was stolen, he picked up the 1965 white example that became as fundamental to his being as his black leather jacket and ripped blue jeans. How do we know? When the Ventures II was later auctioned, it was with the inscription “Johnny Ramone, My Main Guitar, 1977-1996” scrawled in pen on the back on the body.

Talk of the Town: “The first concert I ever bought myself a ticket to was the Ramones at City Gardens in Trenton, NJ,” Scott Metzger tells Billboard . “I still remember Johnny Ramone marching across the stage, forcefully picking up his Mosrite Ventures model guitar, strapping it on, and launching into ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ like it was last week. There was so much power and attitude in the way that guitar looked on him, the way he attacked it, and the way it sounded playing those songs… any other guitar wouldn’t work. It HAD to be that Mosrite for Johnny… hanging down practically at his knees of course!”

Retirement Party: Ramone reportedly played the white Ventures II at every Ramones show from November 1977 through August 1996, when the band gave their final performance.

As Heard On: The guitar appeared on all Ramones studio albums from this period, and Ramone can also be seen playing it in the 1979 cult classic film, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School .

Sold!: In 2022, musician and producer Daniel Rey, then the owner of the Ventures II, sold the guitar through RR Auction, where an anonymous bidder purchased it for $937,500. – R. BIENSTOCK

Bo Diddley - Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird

When early rock n’ roll pioneer Bo Diddley performed with Norma-Jean Wofford, known as The Duchess, during the ’60s, they wore matching 1959-era Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbirds. Diddley favored Gretsches, from the Duo Jet and Jet Firebird he used for his ’50s hits to the rectangular guitar he commissioned for himself and The Duchess to this Thunderbird with the Filter’Tron humbucking pickups. Diddley gave the model to ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, who lost track of it until a recording session when “the engineering crew and I snaked through the guitar vault searching for that ‘certain-something’ guitar and there it was,” according to Robert Shaw’s Hand Made, Hand Played: The Art & Craft of Contemporary Guitars.

Updated: Gretsch sells the Jupiter Thunderbird today as the Billy-Bo, a tribute to both Gibbons and Diddley.

Talk of the Town: Jack White built his own tribute model, the Gretsch G6199 Bill-Bo Jupiter Thunderbird, and told Guitar Player : “This guitar was inspired by seeing Billy Gibbons play one of Bo Diddley’s original Gretsch Jupiter Thunderbird guitars, which Bo had given to Billy. When I was working on the theme song for the James Bond movie [ Quantum of Solace ] with Alicia Keys, my idea was that we’d play live at some point, and I’d outfit Alicia and myself and the entire band with these guitars, sort of like how Bo and his guitarist The Duchess did back in the day.” – S. KNOPPER

Keith Richards - 1954 Fender Telecaster “Micawber”

According to legend, Eric Clapton gave Keith Richards this ‘54 butterscotch blackguard Tele, which would become his most prized guitar, as a gift for his 27th birthday. This could be true. Clapton liked to give people guitars, and there are pictures of Richards in his villa on the French Riviera a few months later, circa the Exile on Main St. sessions, holding the guitar and looking impossibly louche. Another fact lost to myth: whether the Tele is a ‘53 (as Richards once told Guitar World ) or a ‘54 (as described elsewhere). “If I had to have just one, I would take the Telecaster,” Richards told an interviewer, “Because we’re kind of married.”

Strange But True: Richards, a Charles Dickens fan, named the guitar Micawber, after a David Copperfield character who is optimistic without reason.

Rarity Factor: Micawber has been heavily modified. During the Stones’ 1972 Exile tour, Micawber’s neck pickup was replaced with a ‘50s era Gibson PAF humbucker, placed backwards. It’s a five-string (Richards removes the low E string and uses it in open G tuning) and a pedal-steel pickup was added to the guitar’s bridge. – A. STEWART

John Lennon - 1965 Epiphone Casino

At one point, all the guitarists in the Beatles had Casinos: Paul McCartney acquired his first, and John Lennon and George Harrison got theirs during the Revolver recording sessions in 1966. The Casino is a versatile but not particularly fancy guitar, a thinline, true hollow body that is a solid songwriter’s guitar; its semi-acoustic nature means it’s loud enough to play without plugging in an amp. Lennon would play the Casino throughout the rest of the Beatles’ run, and into his solo career. It remains part of his estate.

Stage Debut: It’s believed Lennon’s Casino made its first public appearance at Wembley’s Empire Pool on May 1, 1966, during an NME Annual Poll Winners All-Star concert. It was not televised.

As Seen On: Lennon played it during the Beatles’ last public performance on Jan. 30, 1969, on a London rooftop, as shown in the 1970 documentary Let It Be and the 2021 documentary Get Back.

Rarity Factor: The Casino used to have a sunburst painted on its body, but Lennon sanded off the finish at the suggestion of folk singer Donovan. It was believed that stripping down to the natural wood would increase the Casino’s resonance. According to Harrison, it worked. – A. STEWART

George Harrison - 1963 Rickenbacker 360-12

When it was announced that the Beatles were coming to America in February 1964, Rickenbacker president and owner Francis Hall was already aware that the Fab Four were playing his company’s guitars. Hall wrote to Beatles manager Brian Epstein and secured a meeting with the group in New York at the Savoy Hilton hotel after their arrival in the States. One of the guitars that Hall brought to the encounter was a Fireglo-finished example of the company’s brand new 360-12 12-string. George Harrison was too ill to attend the event, but John Lennon, after playing the guitar, convinced Hall to bring it to the guitarist’s hotel room across town. Harrison was immediately smitten with the instrument, and the jingle-jangly sound of the 12-string Rickenbacker would become not just synonymous with the Beatles, but ’60s rock in general.

Birthday: Harrison’s 360-12 carries the serial number of CM107, dating its manufacture to December 1963.

Go Low: Unlike other 12-strings, Rickenbacker put the lower octave string above the high ones for the E, A, D and G string pairs.

Two for One: The 360 features a traditional mono output jack, but also boasts a stereo and a (rarely used) “Ric-O-Sound” output on the same mounting plate. – T. BEAUJOUR

Django Reinhardt - Selmer Maccaferri 503

Mario Maccaferri was an Italian-born luthier who worked in the Paris factory of Selmer, then a European saxophone company, and his early, flat-topped models had unusual quirks like D-shaped sound holes. It wasn’t until Maccaferri left Selmer that Django Reinhardt, the French jazz-guitar pioneer, picked up his instrument with the serial number 503. That was in 1940, and Reinhardt played the Selmer until his death in 1953, ensuring the instrument would forever be associated with the style of improvisational music known as gypsy jazz. “Mon frere, all the Americans will wish they could play on this guitar!” Reinhardt once said, according to Dave Hunter’s Star Guitars: 101 Guitars That Rocked the World . “Don’t talk to me anymore about their tinpot guitars. Listen to this, it speaks like a cathedral.”

Talk of the Town: “Django can play one note and make it sound like a whole orchestra,” Jeff Beck said, according to Stanley Ayeroff’s Music of Django Reinhardt. And Willie Nelson’s famous “Trigger,” a Martin acoustic that famously survived a fire at his Nashville home, was directly inspired by Reinhardt’s Selmer. “I knew that was the sound I was trying to get, that Django sound,” Nelson told Texas Monthly .

Specs: By 1936, Reinhardt’s revised Selmer contained a “small oval soundhole and a longer neck with 14 frets to the body, offering him an even greater array of notes,” according to Michael Dregni’s Django: The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend . Reinhardt had a deal with Selmer that he received an endless supply of guitars as a quid pro quo for an endorsement, and he once was said to have visited a company shop, trying out every instrument, taking the best ones for himself. – S. KNOPPER

Jimmy Page - ca.1959-1960 Les Paul Standard “Number One”

Page once described his “Number One” Les Paul Standard as “my mistress and my wife – and I don’t have to worry about paying any alimony.” Makes sense, as the two have never separated. Page purchased the guitar from Joe Walsh during a 1969 Led Zeppelin U.S. tour; a few months later, the band went into the studio to make Led Zeppelin II . In a 2023 Instagram post , Page recalled, “I played the Les Paul on ‘Whole Lotta Love’ and ‘What Is and What Should Never Be’ and that decided it for me: it was definitely going to be the Les Paul from then on.” Indeed it was. It became his go-to throughout his entire career with Zeppelin and beyond, and he still owns and plays it today.

Talk of the Town: “I’m six years old, watching The Song Remains The Same with my dad,” Duane Betts tells Billboard . “What could be cooler? Jimmy Page and his Les Paul. MSG. 1973.”

Specs: Page relied heavily on a Fender Telecaster with single-coil pickups for Zeppelin’s first album and tours, but as the band’s shows got bigger and louder, he regarded the Les Paul’s humbuckers as better suited to handle the increase in volume.

Strange But True: Despite being one of the most famous Les Pauls in history, the year of production remains unknown. Before Page obtained the guitar, the neck had been shaved down and the serial number rendered unreadable; experts have dated it to 1959 or 1960. – R. BIENSTOCK

Neil Young - 1953 Gibson Les Paul “Old Black” 

Beginning life as a gold top 1953 Gibson Les Paul, “Old Black” came to Neil Young by way of a trade (Young gave up a ’58 Gretsch 6120) with Jim Messina, his bandmate in Buffalo Springfield. By then, the gold finish had already been painted over. Young, an endless tinkerer and sonic obsessive, along with his guitar tech Larry Cragg, enacted additional mods over the ensuing years: adding a metal pickguard, installing a “very microphonic” Firebird bridge pickup and a toggle switch that sends its signal directly to an amp. On record, “Old Black” is the source of the gritty, gnarled tones that fuel many Crazy Horse classics; onstage more than 50 years later, it’s the instrument that Young still turns to when unleashing ear-blistering riffs and solos, not to mention waves of trance-like, nausea-inducing feedback.

As Heard On: “Cinnamon Girl,” “Down by the River,” “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” and many others.

Strange But True: Recalling one of the many modifications, Young told Guitar World in 2009 that the bridge pickup “had a really bad buzz, and I sent the guitar to a shop to be fixed. When I went to get it, it was gone. And by that I mean the store was gone. The whole place just wasn’t there anymore.” – R. BIENSTOCK

Jimmy Page - 1969 Gibson EDS-1275 Doubleneck

By now, it’s legend: Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page recorded “Stairway to Heaven” on both acoustic and electric guitars. To play “Stairway” live without having to change guitars, he adopted this Gibson, with 12 strings and six strings on its respective necks. For years, Page played it pretty much the way it came out of the box, though he eventually switched out the six-string humbuckers for Seymour Duncans without covers. “It’s an impressive instrument,” Page told Telerama in 2014. “It looks great. It’s a sexy woman with two necks.”

Strange But True: Gibson’s doublenecks had been around in one form or another since the ‘50s. While they’ve always been more impressive looking than actually popular, sales improved once they became easier to play and more comfortable in the early ‘60s. Naturally, “Stairway” elevated sales, too.

Sold!: Gibson has produced a Jimmy Page 1969 EDS-1275 Doubleneck Collector’s Edition, in collaboration with Page, and signed by the artist. Page’s used pick is included. – A. STEWART

Brian May - The Red Special

The Red Special is the rare guitar to have been constructed – literally, from raw materials – by the player who made it famous. Unable to afford an electric, the then-16-year-old May and his father, an electronics engineer, decided to build one themselves using materials in and around the family home in Middlesex, England. The mahogany neck came from an old fireplace, the body was fashioned from blockboard and topped with a mahogany veneer. Electronics, plastics and metals were hand-tooled or purchased as needed. The homemade result, dubbed the Red Special due to its reddish-brown color, is the instrument heard on every Queen album beginning with their 1973 self-titled debut, and has been May’s constant companion onstage ever since. Not bad for an instrument with a tremolo arm made from a bicycle saddlebag holder.

Strange But True: May’s dad helped him build the Red Special, but a rift developed between father and son after May opted to pursue music with Queen over completing a PhD in astrophysics; they didn’t speak for two years.

As Heard On: In 2002, May used the Red Special to perform on the roof of Buckingham Palace during Britain’s Golden Jubilee celebration for Elizabeth II. The song he played? “God Save the Queen.”

Signature Style: May co-founded Brian May Guitars in 2004 and issued the BMG Special, a tribute model based on his original Red Special. Today, the brand offers a full line of guitars, amps, pedals, accessories and other products. – R. BIENSTOCK

Albert King - “Lucy” Erlewine V

One of the blues’ true giants, Albert King was associated with V-shaped instruments since the beginning of his career in the 1950s, likely gravitating towards the design because its symmetrical body shape lent itself to being easily played upside down and backwards by the left-handed guitarist. In 1971, after seeing him perform in Ann Arbor, Mich., luthier Dan Erlewine approached King about building him a bespoke, truly left-handed model. King accepted, and when he visited Erlewine’s workshop the next day, requested that his name be inlaid in the fretboard. The guitar’s name, Lucy, was put on the headstock of the now-legendary instrument.

Good Wood: “Lucy” was crafted out of a 150-year-old piece of walnut.

Second Coming: The Erlewine-constructed Lucy was actually King’s second guitar given that name. The first, a 1959 Gibson Flying V that was the inspiration for King’s 1966 hit “I Love Lucy,” was stolen, although eventually recovered.

Super Soaker: In the ’80s, Lucy was submerged for 24 hours in the aftermath of a tornado, but successfully resuscitated. – T. BEAUJOUR

Jeff Beck - 1954 Les Paul aka “Oxblood”

Few rock n’ roll paintings are as iconic as the portrait of Jeff Beck on the cover of his 1975 solo album, Blow by Blow . The illustration not only immortalized Beck, but also the 1954 Les Paul in his hands. Acquired in November 1972 while Jeff was passing through Memphis on tour with Beck, Bogert & Appice, this guitar started as a 1954 Les Paul Gold Top. Its owner, Robert “Butch” Johnson, had it refinished in a deep oxblood burgundy and equipped it with two humbucking pickups. Dissatisfied with the color, Johnson traded it in at Strings & Things in Memphis, where it caught the eye of Beck’s acquaintance, Buddy Davis. When Davis shared his find with Beck, it was love at first sight.

Strange But True: The “Oxblood” guitar was Beck’s third Les Paul. The first was a 1958 model ruined by a repairman, and the second was a 1960 model bought from Cheap Trick’s Rick Nielsen.

Rarity Factor: Approximately 1,500 Les Pauls were produced in 1954. Now, they are worth anywhere from $35,000 to $45,000.

As Heard On: Beck can be seen demonstrating this guitar in the 1974 BBC special Five Faces of the Guitar . – B. TOLINSKI

Peter Green / Gary Moore / Kirk Hammett - 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard “Greeny”

The 1959 Gibson Les Paul, affectionately known as Greeny, has connections to not one, not two, but three legendary guitarists. It was originally owned by British musician Peter Green, who purchased it from a London shop in the mid ‘60s and used it extensively during his time with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and the band he formed subsequently, Fleetwood Mac. Early in the following decade, Green sold the guitar to Gary Moore, who played the Les Paul throughout his solo career and in his time with Thin Lizzy before unloading it in 2006 due to financial troubles. After making its way through the hands of several dealers and collectors (it is a ’59 ‘burst, after all) Greeny was ultimately purchased by Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, who has played it onstage and in the studio with Metallica. In a full circle moment, Hammett played “Greeny” at 2020’s Peter Green tribute concert in London.

As Heard On: The list is long and deep: Fleetwood Mac’s “Black Magic Woman,” “Oh Well” and “Albatross”; Thin Lizzy’s Black Rose: A Rock Legend ; Gary Moore’s “Parisienne Walkways”; and Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, among many others.

Specs: During Green’s ownership the guitar’s neck pickup was removed and then reinstalled backward. This results in a distinct “nasal” tone when both pickups are in use together.

Specs, Part 2: In 2022, Gibson and Hammett unveiled a limited-edition Custom Shop “Greeny” Les Paul replica and have since introduced several additional Greeny models. – R. BIENSTOCK

Stevie Ray Vaughan - ca. 1963 Fender Stratocaster aka “Number One”

Stevie Ray Vaughan acquired his legendary road-worn “Number One” Fender Stratocaster in 1974 at Ray Henning’s Heart of Texas Music in Austin. Sometimes referred to as “First Wife,” or just “The Wife,” this guitar features a 1963 body fitted with pickups from a ’59 Strat, and an unusually thick D-profile 1962 neck. The original white pickguard was replaced with a black one, and a left-handed vibrato system, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush, was installed. But perhaps the guitar’s most distinctive features are its least expensive: Vaughan picked up some stickers at a truck stop and placed a holographic “custom” sticker across the bottom of the bridge to cover a hole, and applied his initials, SRV, to the scratch plate.

Strange But True: Stevie’s ’63 Strat was originally owned by Texas singer-songwriter Christopher Cross, composer of mellow hits such as “Sailing” and “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).”

Specs: Because of frequent re-fretting, the original neck became unplayable in the late 1980s and was swapped with the neck of another guitar in Vaughan’s collection.

Retirement Party: A month before Vaughan’s death in 1990 at age 35, a piece of stage rigging fell on “Number One” and snapped the neck at the headstock. – B. TOLINSKI

Sister Rosetta Tharpe - ca. 1961 White Les Paul

The pioneering gospel singer and underrated guitar hero used this white Les Paul model that Gibson redesigned in 1961, rebranding it as an “SG,” for solid guitar, with a thin body, flat top and other features. Although the Arkansas-born singer played a National Triolian, then a Gibson L-5, in her early recordings and club dates in the ’30s and ’40s, she settled on this custom electric in the early ’60s. Tharpe played the SG — which biographer Gayle F. Wald said “set [Tharpe] back $750” in her book Shout, Sister, Shout! — when she hosted TV Gospel Time in the early ’60s, pulling off a pre-duckwalk move on “Down by the Riverside” that is said to have inspired Chuck Berry.

Talk of the Town : “I don’t think Chuck Berry or Elvis or even Hendrix would play like they did without her influence,” Oliver Wood tells Billboard . “She’s been called the Godmother of Rock n’ Roll – title she got long after her death (when she was still barely known). Anyone who’s seen YouTube footage of her playing ‘Up Above My Head’ can hear and see that she was a rock n’ roll virtuoso before any of the rockers on this list.”

Specs: Tharpe’s Gibson model had “three humbuckers and all the trimmings: a five-piece split diamond headstock inlay, pearl block markers on an ebony fingerboard and gold-plated hardware including a Tune-O-Matic bridge,” according to Rick Batey’s The American Blues Guitar: An Illustrated History (2003). She wore a custom Gucci strap displaying “SISTER” in red studs.

On Display: The guitar has been part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” exhibit since 2019. – S. KNOPPER

Robert Johnson - Gibson L-1

Like everything about the ghostly bluesman who created “Sweet Home Chicago,” “Cross Road Blues” and dozens of other classics and was said to have sold his soul to the devil at the crossroads in the Mississippi Delta, Robert Johnson’s guitar is shrouded in mystery. The only documentation that Johnson played a Gibson L-1, a no-frills flat-top acoustic introduced in 1926 to compete with C.F. Martin, comes from the two verified photos of him. In one, taken at a Hooks Brothers Photography studio in Memphis around 1935, Johnson wears a fedora and pin-striped suit and sits on a stool, cradling the L-1.

As Heard On: Nobody knows whether Johnson actually played the L-1 on his only recordings, the 29 songs and 12 alternate takes that make up the 1990 box set Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings . The sessions were in 1936 and 1937 in San Antonio and Dallas, but little else is known about them.

Strange But True: It’s unknown how Johnson learned to play, but his stepsister, Annye C. Anderson, wrote in her book Brother Robert: Growing Up With Robert Johnson : “Sister Carrie ordered his first guitar from Sears & Roebuck and paid for it. … He didn’t have any money, so he had to get it from somebody. In front of our house, he would sit there and play his guitar.” – S. KNOPPER

David Gilmour - 1969 Fender Stratocaster “The Black Strat”

During a U.S. tour with Pink Floyd in early 1970, David Gilmour’s black Fender Stratocaster was stolen in New Orleans. A few months later, he stopped by Manny’s Music in New York City and purchased another one. In Gilmour’s hands, this instrument – a sunburst-finished model that had been sprayed black – became the iconic Black Strat (even more so after Gilmour replaced the white pickguard with a custom all-black one). Heavily modified over the years (multiple necks, for one), it was a mainstay in Pink Floyd’s sound, and central to the recording of their stunning run of ‘70s albums – The Dark Side of the Moon , Wish You Were Here , Animals and The Wall . The screaming licks in “Money”? The Black Strat. The lone four-note arpeggio that introduces “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”? The Black Strat. The soaring solos in “Comfortably Numb?” The Black Strat, again. It was, Gilmour told Christie’s in 2019, “The one I used pretty much on everything.”

Stage Debut: June 28, 1970, the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music, Somerset, England, on a bill with Led Zeppelin and others.

Retirement Party: London’s Royal Albert Hall, September 2016, for the final five shows of Gilmour’s Rattle That Lock tour.

Sold!: In 2019 it sold at a charity auction through Christie’s. The Black Strat was purchased by Indianapolis Colts owner and guitar collector Jim Irsay for $3,975,000, a record at the time. – R. BIENSTOCK

Angus Young - Gibson SG

It’s appropriate that the guy wearing devil horns on AC/DC’s 1979 classic Highway to Hell favors a guitar with barbed cutouts that complement the look. In interviews, Young has said that he likes the SG because it’s light — all the better to duckwalk onstage like his hero Chuck Berry — and has a thin neck. He has also said , “I tried Fenders, but they were too heavy, and they just didn’t have the balls.”

He fell in love with the SG — his first was a ca. 1967 SG Standard — in the earliest days of AC/DC, and you can hear the guitar on every album and every show since the Aussie rockers’ debut, High Voltage (although not always the original early ‘70s model he purchased). He stopped using it for concerts around 1978 and limited it mostly to studio use. He has said that he has “hundreds” of SGs in his collection.

Six-String Stories: One reason Young is reluctant to use the original SG onstage: “In the early days that guitar would get broken in two, or I’d bang the headstock off,” he explained to Guitar World in 2003 . “Nowadays, I do my best to look after it.”

Strange But True: Young’s first instrument was a banjo that he converted into a guitar by adding a sixth string. — F. DIGIACOMO

Chuck Berry - 1955 Gibson ES-350T

Berry’s blonde, voluptuously pear-shaped, thinline Gibson — that’s what the “T” stands for — has defined what rock n’ roll looks and sounds from the start. He played the model (designed for big-band jazz guitarists) on his first hit “Maybelline,” and kept on playing it on “Johnny B. Goode,” “Roll Over Beethoven” and everything else until he switched to the ES-330 and the ES-355 by the early ’60s. When Berry suggested to his friend, Joe Edwards, that he might donate a guitar for display in his Blueberry Hill restaurant, Edwards recalled to the Los Angeles Times in 1987, “I assumed it would just be some old guitar — the kind every guitar player has laying around. But when he brought out the case, I knew right away that it was the guitar. … A lot of rock n’ roll began in that guitar.”

On Display: The original ES-350T has been shown at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art — as part of its “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll” exhibit in 2019 — and outside hamburger joint Blueberry Hill in Berry’s hometown of St. Louis, where he performed regularly in the Duck Room for years.

Talk of the Town: “The big band era is my era,” Berry told the Los Angeles Times in 1987. “People say, where did you get your style from. I did the big band era on guitar. That’s the best way I could explain it. – S. KNOPPER

B.B. King - "Lucille"

The story of B.B. King’s legendary guitar begins in Twist, Ark., in 1949. It seems the Mississippi bluesman was playing a winter dance when two fans knocked over a kerosene stove during a fight and set the hall on fire. King made it to safety, but when he figured out he’d left his $30 guitar inside, he returned to rescue it. Later, he learned the fight had been over a woman named Lucille — which became the name of this guitar, and every one of the trademark Gibsons he played thereafter. “When I sing, I play in my mind; the minute I stop singing orally, I start to sing by playing Lucille,” King said of his wailing yet somehow perfectly crisp and precise style, the response to his vocal call.

Talk of the Town: In an unpublished 2005 interview with the late Bobby “Blue” Bland, he explained: “Him and Lucille have a different way of doing things. The flavor he has when he plays Lucille — they’re together, period, and he knows what he wants to hear.”

Specs: King loved Gibsons, particularly semi-hollow “ES,” or “electric Spanish,” models — such as the ES-335 he used on his 1965 classic Live at the Regal . By 2005, King was on his 16th version of Lucille — and rode in a tour bus with Lucille’s picture painted on the side. The name of the bus? Lucille, of course. – S. KNOPPER

Eddie Van Halen - Homemade “Frankenstein”

Few, if any, guitars in rock n’ roll have inspired more adulation and imitation than Eddie Van Halen’s red, white and black “Frankenstein.” With it, Eddie revolutionized not only how people played the guitar but also the very guitars they played. Soon after Van Halen’s emergence, Frankenstein-inspired “Super Strats,” featuring similarly brash color schemes, hot-rodded electronics and high-impact locking tremolo systems, became de rigueur for guitarists in hard rock circles and beyond. Van Halen, who built Frankenstein himself, modified the guitar many times before it assumed its current guise. It appears with a white body in photos from before the band’s signing to Warner Bros.; with black stripes on the cover of their 1978 self-titled debut; and then eventually in its most recognizable, red, white and black guise on Van Halen’s 1979 tour supporting their sophomore album, Van Halen II.

Pickup Line: “Frankenstein” featured many different pickups in its bridge position, but Van Halen eventually settled on a “Patent Number” humbucker removed from his 1964 Gibson ES-335.

Double Whammy: Although it began its life with a traditional Fender Stratocaster bridge, Frankenstein would eventually be fitted with a double-locking Floyd Rose tremolo that allowed Van Halen to perform his signature “dive bombs” without going out of tune.

Coin Operated: At some point, Van Halen screwed a 1971 quarter onto the face of the guitar. – T. BEAUJOUR

Willie Nelson - 1969 Martin N-20 “Trigger”

The most noticeable feature on Trigger, Willie Nelson’s Martin N-20 nylon-string acoustic, is the thing that’s not there: the gaping hole above the bridge where some of the guitar’s top used to reside. Given that Nelson has been playing Trigger consistently since 1969, on countless recordings and at thousands of shows, it’s no surprise that it has endured some wear. The hole is a result of Nelson’s forceful picking style, with his plectrum constantly scuffing the guitar’s body (nylon-string, or classical, guitars are traditionally played fingerstyle, and as such the N-20 didn’t come with a pickguard). Elsewhere, Trigger has been scratched, scraped, broken apart, glued back together, braced, lacquered, repaired, modified, even autographed by dozens of other artists. And then there’s the tone: In addition to playing with a pick, Nelson, also against convention, amplifies the nylon-string instrument. Combined with his distinctive playing style, the result is a sound that — like Nelson’s voice — has been instantly recognizable to music fans worldwide for more than a half century.

Specs: Trigger boasts a Sitka spruce top (what’s left of it), Brazilian rosewood back and sides, a mahogany neck and ebony fretboard and bridge.

Origin Story: At a 1969 gig Nelson’s main guitar, a Baldwin, was damaged after being stepped on by a drunk patron. The repairman, Shot Jackson, deemed it unsalvageable and suggested he replace it with a new Martin D-20 he had on hand. Nelson had Jackson transfer the Baldwin’s pickup to his new guitar, paying $750 for the instrument.

Name Game: Nelson didn’t actually christen the guitar until after he had been playing it for decades. When he did, he took inspiration from one of his childhood idols. “Roy Rogers had a horse named Trigger,” he told Texas Monthly in 2012. “I figured, this is my horse!” – R. BIENSTOCK

Jimi Hendrix - ca. 1965 Fender Stratocaster “Monterey”

“This is for everybody,” Jimi Hendrix said at the end of his cover of the Troggs’ “Wild Thing” before falling to his knees on stage at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, writhing on his Strat, dousing it with lighter fluid, setting it on fire and spectacularly smashing it, one-upping The Who’s Pete Townshend in destructive, sensual fashion. The moment is frozen in rock history, surviving for generations in film, dorm-room posters and a limited-edition Fender replica. Before the gig, Hendrix partially repainted the fiesta-red model white and added flower images.

Rarity Factor: Jimi Hendrix had yet to become a GOAT legend when he played Monterey Pop, so little is known about this (destroyed) Strat, other than he favored Strats made after 1965. Some have theorized that this was because their weaker single-coil pickups, when fed into Marshall stacks, made for a heavier sound.

Talk of the Town: After Townshend witnessed Hendrix’ performance, Mama Cass turned to him in the audience and asked: “Pete, aren’t you supposed to be the guy that smashes the guitars?” Townshend responded, “Everything that I do, everything that I’ve done, everything that I am, everything that I could ever come up with, is his now.”

Talk of the Town, Part 2: “Everybody was talking about how Jimi Hendrix burned his Strat and broke it onstage and How could he? ” Carlos Santana wrote in his 2014 autobiography, The Universal Tone . – S. KNOPPER

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