10 Celebrities with Top Guitar Collections
Nikole Stewart
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Collections take a lot of time, effort, and money. For celebrities, they have extra money which makes their collections a lot more extravagant than most. These celebrities have worked hard to have some of the top guitar collections.
Whether it’s their love for the instrument in general, or just because they play so many of them on stage, these celebrities have invested in building their collection, and even working hard to auction it off for a good cause. To check out who has the top guitar collection, keep reading.
10. Kiefer Sutherland
Kiefer Sutherland might not be the celebrity you’d imagine with a top guitar collection, but he’s made the list thanks to his love of music and guitars. Kiefer Sutherland is a Canadian actor and musician and is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the drama series 24.
When he’s not on the big screen though, he’s building his ever-expanding collection. Of the 60 guitars in the collection, 50 of them are vintage Gibsons. His love for the Gibson is so impressive that a guitar was actually made in his honor in 2006. Sutherland also realized that not all of his guitars can be used, so he makes sure to give them away to other dedicated fans, like this Gisbon.
9. Rick Nielson
Of course, the lead guitarists of the popular rock band Cheap Trick will have a top guitar collection. Richard, or Rick, Nielsen is a guitarist and songwriter, well-known for his custom-made guitars from Hamer Guitars, including his famous five-neck guitar. But the Quint Neck Guitar is not the only thing that stands out in his collection.
From vintage Gibsons to lapsteels and shredders, Nielsen has obsessively found every guitar for his collection. But don’t worry, if you see a guitar that you might want, check out his shop where he sells his guitars, just to make room for new findings.
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8. Richard Gere
Richard Gere is an actor who began his career in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in Looking for Mr. Goodbar. Thanks to his role in the 1980 American Gigolo, he became more established and was even considered a leading man and sex symbol. But that’s not all.
Gere is also an accomplished musician, and with that came his love for guitars. The collection that he built for over 40 years was so large that it fetched almost $1 million at an auction for Christie’s charity in 2011. Some guitars that were for sale included a 1960 Gibson Les Paul and a 1931 CF Martin.
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7. John Mayer
John Mayer is a popular name in the music industry and also one celebrity who has one of the top guitar collections. The singer, songwriter, and guitarist released his first album in 2001 and is known for his hit songs “Slow Dancing in a Burning Room”, “Free Fallin'”, and “Half of My Heart”.
Thanks to his career, he’s also a guitar collector and has collaborated with elite guitar company, Martin Guitars, to design his own called OM-28 John Mayer, but owns around 200 guitars in his collection.
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6. Geddy Lee
Geddy Lee, a Canadian musician best known for being the lead vocalist of Rush, has one of the top guitar collections. His style, technique, and skill on the bass inspired several rock musicians such as Cliff Burton of Metallica, Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, and Tim Commerford of Rage Against the Machine.
Lee began his journey at the age of 14 when he got his first acoustic guitar, and has since been in love, obtaining around 300 guitars in his mighty collection. He also has a collection of baseball ephemera and wine, with over 5,000 bottles. However, as of recently, Lee has begun selling his guitar collection, which you can find here.
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5. Joe Bonamassa
Joseph, or Joe, Bonamassa is a blues rock guitarist, singer, and songwriter. His career started at the age of 12 when he opened for B.B. King. Not only is he known for his Grammy nominations and for creating his independent record label called Keeping the Blues Alive Records, but also for his extensive collection of vintage guitars and amplifiers.
Thanks to his parents owning a music shop in upstate New York, he was able to get his first vintage guitar, a 1963 Stratocaster, and began buying guitars compulsively to keep his collection growing. In 2019 he has more than 400 guitars and 400 amplifiers, one of the top guitar collections out there by a celebrity.
4. Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton is incredibly well-known as a rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter, and is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. He’s also ranked second in Rolling Stone‘s greatest guitarists of all time.
It’s fair to say that one of the greatest musicians has one of the greatest guitar collections as well. And thanks to his guitar collections, he also manages to auction them off regularly to support the Crossroads Centre, which helps others overcome drug and alcohol addictions.
In an auction in 1999, he raised more than $5 million for the center, and in 2004, he held another auction at Christie’s auction that raised $7 million. 2011 held another auction where he sold 150 items for the center once again, including the guitar that he played at the Cream reunion in 2005.
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3. Bob Dylan
Another huge name in the music industry is Bob Dylan, a singer-songwriter who is regarded as one of the greatest songwriters ever. From songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” to “The Times They Are a-Changin'”, he’s been an iconic figure in pop culture since the 1960s.
While he’s known for playing his 1933 Gibson Nick Lucas Special model guitar, he has many more in his collection. His collection is so big that no one’s sure just how many he has. But just like any other top guitar collector, Dylan auctions off his items regularly, with one selling for an astonishing amount of $965,000 in 2013.
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2. Andrew Watt
One of the younger top guitar collectors is Andrew Watt, or just Watt, who is a record producer, singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He’s produced albums for Post Malone, Miley Cyrus, The Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, and many others.
His love of guitars can be seen in Miley Cyrus‘ picture in Watt’s collection. While the number of how many he really has is known, we can safely say that it’s enough to make him a contender for one of the top guitar collections.
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1. Keith Richards
If you thought 400 or more was a crazy number of guitars, then watch out for Keith Richards, the guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-songwriter for the Rolling Stones.
This musician, songwriter, singer, and recording producer has a staggering number of around 3,000 guitars in his collection, making him one of the top guitar collections out of all the celebrities. But out of his hefty collection, he says to only ever plays 15 of them onstage or in a recording studio.