‘American Woman’ Rocker Finds Long-Lost Guitar in Tokyo with Help From Fan

Canadian rocker Randy Bachman, of Guess Who and “American Woman” fame, lost his favorite guitar more than 45 years ago. It took an internet-sleuthing fan and a Japanese musician to find it. Bachman told CNN that after he shared the story of how his orange Gretsch guitar was stolen, YouTube viewer William Long pored over thousands of photos and hours of video to find the unique instrument being played by a Tokyo musician named Takeshi. Bachman, Long, and Takeshi ended up connecting over Zoom, with Takeshi offering to exchange the guitar for a replacement. The two musicians are set to meet in Tokyo once COVID-19 travel restrictions ease. “To me, it’s the most incredible Cinderella story of all time,” Bachman said. “Except that when midnight comes the guitar won’t turn into a pumpkin, and neither will I, and I’ll actually have my guitar back.”