Bryan Adams has admitted that he didn’t get his “first real six-string” guitar in the summer of 1969 as his iconic song suggests—and it definitely didn’t come from a “five and dime” store.
Now 65, the Canadian singer-songwriter is best known for his 1985 hit Summer of ’69, which was released when he was 26. The lyrics nostalgically refer to buying a six-string guitar from a discount shop in the titular year. However, during a recent appearance on Chris Difford’s I Never Thought It Would Happen podcast, Adams revealed that the story behind the guitar is quite different from what fans might think.
According to Adams, he actually got his first electric guitar at the age of 12—not 10, which he would have been in 1969. The moment took place while visiting his uncle in Reading, England. “I told [my uncle] that I wanted to buy an electric guitar,” Adams said, “and he took me down to the music shop in Reading. I still have that electric guitar. It’s an Italian thing… an imitation Stratocaster.”
At the time, Adams’ family was constantly relocating due to his father’s diplomatic role with the Canadian Embassy. Not long after acquiring the guitar, the family moved to Israel, where Adams gave the instrument to a neighbor before returning to Canada and getting a replacement. Reflecting on that decision, he said, “I was like, ‘Ugh, why did I do that?’”
Years later, Adams received an unexpected email from someone claiming to have that very guitar. “I got a random email from somebody saying, ‘Hey, I have your guitar from 1970. Do you want it back?’ And I was like, ‘Whoa. Yeah, of course I want it back. Thank you.’” Unfortunately, the sender never followed through.
For a while, Adams assumed the guitar was lost forever—until a surprising twist of fate. Roughly a decade later, he ran into someone at a club in Berlin who turned out to be the new owner. “He goes, ‘I have the guitar from your childhood. Give me your address and I’ll send it to you,’” Adams recalled. “I said, ‘Wait a minute, are you the guy who wrote to me back in ‘94?’ And he said, ‘No, I’m his friend. He died in a plane crash and left it to me. He told me he was going to give it to you, so it came back to me.’”
Adams summed up the saga with a laugh: “It’s the stupidest story, but it’s what happened.”
Although the guitar eventually found its way back to him, Adams said it’s been altered over the years. “I tried playing it a few times, but I think it’s been modified in the neck… it’s just there. Just a piece of history.”
As for Summer of ’69, co-written with longtime collaborator Jim Vallance, Adams has confirmed that the song is not autobiographical. On his website, Vallance mentioned receiving his first guitar as a Christmas gift in 1965. The pair created the song with a different intent entirely.
In a 2008 interview, Adams revealed the deeper—and cheekier—meaning behind the lyrics. “A lot of people think it’s about the year,” he explained. “But actually, it’s more about making love in the summertime. It’s using ‘69 as a sexual reference.”
So, while the imagery of a youthful guitar purchase in a discount shop might be etched into pop culture history, the real story behind Bryan Adams’ first six-string is a lot more personal—and a little stranger than fiction.
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