Devastated rocker reveals horrifying robbery as he appeals to fans for help
BRIT music star James Bay has been left devastated after two of his vintage guitars were stolen from his car.
The singer-songwriter, 34, appealed to fans for help finding the 1960s Silvertone sunburst acoustic and cherry red, double P90 1969 Epiphone Al Caiola, which were taken on July 1.
He wrote on Instagram: “Hey everyone, this is my first experience of this (lucky to have avoided it until now). Tuesday 1st July, I had 2 guitars stolen from my car in North London.
“These are two vintage instruments of great sentimental value.
“If you see them or hear of them anywhere, please message me or email info@closerartists.com as I’d really love to get them back.
“Please ask any guitar players/collectors you know, or local or online stores. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks x.”
He then shared pictures of both instruments in the hope it will lead to their return.
Bay, who lives in North London, is best known for his breakout hit Hold Back The River.
He’s won two Brit Awards, an Ivor Novello and been nominated for three Grammys.
His latest album, last year’s Changes All The Time, featured collaborations with big names like Noah Kahan, The Lumineers and The Killers’ Brandon Flowers.
The latter came to be through a mutual friend, and Bay found himself hanging out at a ski lodge in Utah that the band had turned into a studio.
He told us: “It had this double height hallway where they put drums in that sort of Led Zeppelin way — it’s wonderful. It was very informal and we’d go for breakfast in the morning and Brandon would drive us there.
“When I first played the track, some people would say, ‘I can hear a bit of Killers in it’ meaning they hear Brandon’s writing input.
“But as much as I wanted it to sound ‘Killersy’, because I’m a fan, I’m proud to say that the germ of the idea that started that song is the verse and melody that I took in. That was my homework. I took it in, and I said, ‘What do you think of this?’
“And Brandon had a listen and went, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s give that a go. Let’s see if we can put some lyrics to it.’ And he jumps up on a microphone and gets his phone out and jotted down all his lyric ideas. It was very prolific and unbelievable.”
Meanwhile, Kahan, who shares the same A&R person as Bay, hasn’t forgotten days spent supporting the Let It Go star earlier in his career.
Now a huge arena and stadium filling artist, he invited Bay out on his Stick Season tour last year including a date at Fenway Park (Boston’s baseball stadium).
