Sir Paul McCartney reunited with ‘stolen’ Hofner guitar after 50 years thanks to search driven by The Lost Bass Project
Sir Paul McCartney has been reunited with his bass guitar, on which he strummed the famous tunes Twist And Shout and She Loves You for The Beatles, after it went missing more than 50 years ago.
The Hofner 500/1 bass, which is now estimated to be worth £10m, went missing in 1972.
It was allegedly stolen from the back of a van in Notting Hill, London.
Its whereabouts were unknown for decades but in 2018 a group intent on tracking down the German-made instrument, The Lost Bass Project, launched a search for it.
The pace of the search was initially slow but picked up after worldwide media coverage and soon the project received dozens of leads and hundreds of people willing to help.
Receiving the tip-off that it had been stolen, the group – which includes Hofner executive Nick Wass – discovered the violin-shaped bass was allegedly sold to a pub landlord in the Ladbroke Grove area.
The project suspected it had remained in the landlord’s family.
After numerous TV interviews and media coverage, the group said the instrument had ended up in the attic of a house in Hastings, on the south coast of England.
Due to the widespread publicity, the owner realised they had the highly sought-after item and returned the bass to Sir Paul’s company in December, after which it was authenticated.
The Beatles in 1962. Pic: Black Country Images/Alamy
The bass is still complete and in its original case but will need some repairs to make it playable again, the project added in a statement.
A spokesperson for the former Beatle said he is “incredibly grateful” for those who were involved in the hunt for it.
Now considered one of the most iconic instruments of all time, Sir Paul bought the bass for £30 in Hamburg, Germany, in 1961.
Speaking in a 1966 Beat Instrumental interview, McCartney said: “I have had a Hofner ever since I started. I’ve got three models but the ancient one is still my favourite. It has seen so much work that some of it is held with sellotape!”
He used it in his decade-long career with the band, including on their first two albums, Please Please Me and With The Beatles.
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The Hofner was eventually dubbed the “Beatle bass”.
A statement from The Lost Bass Project said the group were “extremely proud” of playing a part in solving the mystery.
It added: “It has been a dream since 2018 that it could be done. Despite many telling us that it was lost forever or destroyed, we persisted until it was back where it belonged.
“We want to thank everyone who helped with the search, all those who sent us leads and ideas and many who just wanted to lend their support to us. Thank you all so very much. Very much indeed! We did it!”
The mother of Cassie Ventura has told a court she felt “physically sick” when her daughter told her Sean “Diddy” Combs had threatened to “release two explicit sex tapes” after discovering his long-time girlfriend was dating someone else.
Giving evidence on Tuesday, the seventh day of the trial, Regina Ventura said she did not initially understand the email Cassie sent her in December 2011, saying, “The sex tape threw me, [Diddy] was trying to hurt my daughter.”
The email said Combs was planning to release two explicit videos of her and send someone to hurt her and the man she was seeing, rapper Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
Regina said the family took out a home equity loan and paid Diddy $20,000 to recoup money he had spent on Cassie “because he demanded it,” angry that Cassie was now dating Cudi.
She said the money was returned days later.
During her evidence, jurors were shown photographs of bruises on Cassie’s body Ms Ventura said were taken when her daughter returned home for Christmas in 2011.
Regina’s time on the stand was fairly brief, as the defence declined the opportunity to question her.
Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi, who dated Cassie in 2011. Pic: Reuters
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs trial: Day 7 – As it happened
Prosecutors say Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, forced women to take part in days-long, drug-fuelled sexual performances known as “Freak Offs” from 2004 to 2024, facilitated by his large retinue of staff. Combs, 55, has pleaded not guilty.
The rapper faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
Combs and Cassie pictured in 2015. Pic: Reuters
Last week, the prosecutors’ star witness, Cassie Ventura, who dated Combs for over a decade, spent four days giving evidence.
Combs’s legal team has sought to show jurors that his relationship with Ventura was complicated, and while they acknowledge he was an abusive partner, and had substance issues, they say the sex acts described by the prosecution were consensual.
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A male exotic dancer nicknamed “The Punisher” also gave testimony, telling jurors that in the autumn of 2012, Cassie contacted him asking him to “create a sexy, erotic scene” Diddy, and using the pseudonym “Janet”.
Male exotic dancer Sharay Hayes, aka The Punisher. Pic: Reuters
Sharay Hayes said he went on to have eight to 12 more encounters with the couple, having sex with Cassie, while Diddy watched from a distance.
He described the hotel rooms as routinely being dressed with electric candles and sheet-covered furniture, and says Cassie told him not to “acknowledge” her husband, and to “try not to look at him and no communication”.
He says Diddy would often wear a cap, and he could not see his face, but he later realised it was the famous rapper.
“The Punisher” mentioned using a “considerable amount of baby oil” during the performances, saying “[Diddy] wanted us to keep our bodies covered, to shine”.
He later described the acts as “a fetish type thing,” and while he said he believed Cassie was fully consensual, he also said he “did occasionally see her sigh or wince” and said she would frequently look at Diddy “for cues”.
Paid between $1,200 (£900) and $2,000 (£1.500) for each performance, he said he was not called back after struggling to get an erection during one encounter.
He said he never saw Diddy use drugs or saw filming during any of the performances.
Car park dispute with Suge Knight
David James, Diddy’s ex-personal assistant, also completed his evidence and testified that he never saw physical violence between Cassie and his former boss.
David James, Combs’s former assistant. Pic: Reuters
James, who worked for Diddy for two years, said he left Diddy’s employment after he realised his “life was in danger” following a dispute in a car park with rival record label owner Suge Knight, which culminated in Diddy bringing three handguns to try to find Knight and his entourage.
He also detailed an altercation between Diddy and his personal chef, Jourdan Atkinson, and said he refused to file a police report after Diddy told him to say “Chef Jourdan hit him first”.
The final person to give evidence was a special agent responsible for planning the March 2024 raids on Combs’s Miami home on Star Island.
Steve Gannon showed photos of items taken during the raid, including sex toys, high heels and loaded guns, and explained how an armoured vehicle was used to break down the mansion’s front gate to gain entry while the family was away on a trip.
Combs has been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since September and faces at least 15 years or possibly life in prison if convicted.
The trial is set to last for around two months.
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