Here's a lesson, kids (of all ages): Don't take things that don't belong to you. In the case of the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Heart, don't take their guitars. This is what a man did last weekend before the band was set to play a show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
According to the Associated Press, a 57-year-old Pleasantville, New Jersey man somehow got his mitts on a custom-built, purple sparkle baritone Telecaster guitar with a hand-painted headstock that belonged to Nancy Wilson, as well as a vintage 1966 Gibson EM-50 mandolin that belonged to Paul Moak.
The instruments are worth a lot of money, but more importantly, Heart says the instruments are an extension of their musical souls. How the man found his way to being able to take the instruments and leave the premises is not yet known.
Arrest made in Heart's stolen instruments crime but guitar or mandolin is still missing
The sad part is that one of the instruments the man managed to sell (there was no mention from AP about whether the instrument had been recovered), while the other was still missing. This might make some recall a Jerry Seinfeld bit about capturing a convict, and all the police need to do is question the person and not let them go.
Just ask the man where the other instrument is.
The confusing part is that if the man did not sell the other instrument, where is it? He would know, right?
And perhaps the police do know where the instrument is and are just not releasing that information to the general public. That makes sense if they can't put their hands on the guitar or mandolin, but are working to recover it.
Let's just hope there is no damage to the instruments. If they can't be played in concert, fine, but they mean something to the musicians. Those aren't tools to use, but parts of their, well...for lack of a better word, hearts.
Heart's first album, Dreamboat Annie, was released in 1975. The band has had six top-10 albums in the United States, as well as 13 top-10 singles.