Photos: The Met Celebrates Rock History With Its First Ever Rock & Roll Instruments Exhibit
32 photos
Chuck Berry's ES-350T guitar greets you as you enter the exhibit.
Tom Morello is featured in one of the videos.
Eddie Van Halen is also featured in a video.
Prince
The Who's drum set
Jerry Lee Lewis' Gold Baby Grand Piano, which was Lewis’ home piano from 1957 until 2017.
Stevie Ray Vaughn's custom guitar
John Lennon's custom-made twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar, used on The Beatles 1964 tour and during sessions for "A Hard Day's Night" and "Beatles For Sale."
Paul Stanley of KISS collaborated with Jeff Hasselberger of Ibanez to create the "Cracked Mirror Iceman."
Don Felder of the Eagles used this white double-neck Gibson guitar in order to play both the six string and twelve string parts of “Hotel California” in live performances.
Jimmy Page's Gibson EDS-1275 Double neck, which he used to play the acoustic and electric parts of the song “Stairway to Heaven” without needing to change instruments. It was also used on “The Rain Song,” “Celebration Day,” and “The Song Remains the Same."
Elvis Presley used this acoustic guitar as his main guitar for rhythm playing during his Sun Studios sessions.
Born To Rock's unique F4B (serial no. 23)
Jimi Hendrix's "Love Drops" Gibson Flying V electric guitar (which he painted), and may have been used on the album "Electric Ladyland"
Jack Bruce's Fender Bass
Keith Richards played and painted this Les Paul Custom electric guitar during the Rolling Stones’ "Beggar’s Banquet" sessions in 1968.
George Harrison's commissioned this “Lotus” acoustic, which features a Jumbo-size body with flower petal-shaped wooden inlays around the soundhole. Harrison ordered this six-string model as well as a twelve string version and used them extensively for his solo work in the latter half of the 1970s.
Steve Vai's Performance Guitar, nicknamed "Bones."
Ravi Shankar owned and played this sitar, and gave it to Mercury Records executive Shelby Singleton as a gift on a trip to America in the early 60s.
Pete Townshend smashed this Gibson guitar in a photo shoot by Annie Liebovitz, titled “How to Launch Your Guitar in 17 Steps,” for Rolling Stone. This sculpture made from its remains has been on display in the Rolling Stone office building for decades.
St. Vincent MASSEDUCTION edition electric guitar, used it on her 2017 MASSEDUCTION Tour
Steve Miller's Les Paul Special electric guitar; painted by surfboard artist Bob Cantrell and used by Miller in live performances throughout the 1970s
Jeff Beck's Fender Esquire, called "The Ugliest Guitar." He used it while playing with The Yardbirds on songs such as "Heart Full Of Soul" and "Shape Of Things."
B.C. Rich's metallic red Warlock was played by Max Cavalera of the Brazilian thrash metal band Sepultura.
X-100 Blade Runner, of which only around 100 were made (one was used by Joe Perry, who used it in the music video for Run-DMC's remix of "Walk This Way")
Jimmy Page acquired this Gibson Les Paul Custom in 1960 while working as a session guitarist in London, and used it in the studio from 1962 to 1967.
Pete Townsend's "No. 6" Les Paul Deluxe, which he used throughout the 1970s until destroyed after it fell from a second-story window in London’s Hammersmith Odeon in December 1975 (it was restored in 2002).
Faces member Ian McLagan used this Wurlitzer 200 on tons of recordings, including as a session man on The Rolling Stones album "Some Girls."
Joni Mitchell used this Ibanez archtop on the 1979 live album "Shadows and Light" and also on the 1983 Refuge World Tour.