Bryan Adams reveals the real story behind his first guitar

Legendary singer-songwriter Bryan Adams, best known for his timeless hit Summer of ’69, recently opened up about the real story behind his first guitar—and it turns out, it wasn’t bought at a local discount store like the song suggests.

During an appearance on the I Never Thought It Would Happen podcast, the 65-year-old musician set the record straight. He recalled receiving his first electric guitar, an Italian imitation Stratocaster, when he was just 12 years old during a visit to his uncle in Reading, England. Contrary to the lyrics of his 1985 breakout track, Adams revealed, “I told my uncle that I wanted to buy an electric guitar, and he took me down to the music shop in Reading. I still have that guitar.”

At the time, Adams’ family was constantly relocating due to his father’s role in the Canadian Embassy. After spending a year in Israel, he made the unexpected decision to give his guitar to a neighbor before returning to Canada—something he would later regret. “I was like, ‘Ugh, why did I do that?’” he recalled.

Years later, Adams received a surprising email from someone claiming to have the guitar from 1970 and offering to return it. However, the sender never followed up, and the story seemed to end there—until a chance encounter in a Berlin club roughly a decade later.

Adams bumped into someone who told him, “I have the guitar from your childhood.” As it turned out, the man was a friend of the original email sender, who had tragically died in a plane crash but left the guitar in his care. “It’s the stupidest story, but it’s what happened,” Adams admitted.

Though the guitar has since been modified and isn’t particularly playable, Adams still treasures it as a significant piece of his musical journey. “It’s just there. Just a piece of history,” he said.

Interestingly, Summer of ’69, which Adams co-wrote with Jim Vallance, isn’t autobiographical. Vallance has also clarified on his website that his first guitar was a Christmas gift received in 1965. Nonetheless, the song continues to resonate worldwide, and now fans can enjoy the real-life backstory of the guitar that kickstarted Adams' musical legacy.