Rock icon Tom Petty has taken to Twitter and Facebook in an effort to find five vintage, unique guitars that were stolen last week. Thus far, he has received an outpouring of response from his fans but, as of press time, the guitars remain missing. They were stolen from a soundstage in Culver City, CA, while Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers rehearsed for their U.S. tour that began in Colorado on Wednesday.
“The show will go on,” Petty said via Twitter in response to questions about the tour.
The missing guitars include Petty’s legendary vintage Rickenbacker 12 string electric. Also stolen were a 1967 Epiphone Sheridan, a 1965 Gibson SG TV Junior, a vintage Fender Broadcaster and a one of a kind, handmade, distinctive blue Dusenberg.
Petty was offering a $7,500 no-questions-asked reward for the return of the guitars. For further information and photos of all five guitars, visit the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tompetty.
Culver City Police recovered the guitars on Tuesday. Petty returned to his Facebook and Twitter pages to thank fans for their support and offered free tickets to his upcoming shows.
Petty, a 61-year-old rock ’n roll legend and Florida native, has appeared taken aback by the outpouring of support from fans via Twitter and Facebook, and has responded with gratitude and repeated messages of thanks to his followers. His U.S. tour began Wednesday in suburban Denver and currently includes two shows in Florida, May 1 at Germain Arena in Estero and May 3 at Amway Center in Orlando.
He can be found on Twitter at twitter.com/tompetty or on the web at www.tompetty.com.