Fake or Fortune viewers were left asking the same question after an alleged Ronnie Wood guitar was said to have been "saved from a skip". The BBC programme returned on Wednesday, August 26, with presenter Fiona Bruce and art dealer and historian Philip Mould investigating the backstory of two instruments.
While Fiona looked into a piano that may have belonged to John Lennon, Philip focused on a guitar believed to have previously belonged to The Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood. He travelled to Surrey to meet sisters Niki and Kerry, who showed him a "tatty" case containing a steel guitar.
Family story of the guitar
The sisters explained that their landscape gardener father began working for Ronnie in the early 1970s after buying a house nearby called The Wick. One of the sisters said: "The Rolling Stones left the country very quickly and became tax exiles and the house was being cleared."
She added: "Anita Pallenberg [Keith Richards' girlfriend] was there and told dad and several other people who were helping to clear stuff to take whatever they wanted because everything was going in a skip."
Viewers question the approach
Philip spent considerable time attempting to find a direct link between the guitar and The Rolling Stones, which raised an issue for several fans. Taking to X, one viewer said: "You can't tell me that nobody from the BBC can get in touch with someone from the Stones agents/management company, or either Ronnie Wood, or Keith Richards themselves."
A second echoed: "Is there a reason they don't just ask Ronnie if it was his?" A third wrote: "Should have just asked them both in the first place instead of f******g around", while another added: "You could have probably condensed this programme to about five to 10 minutes."
Manager's response
Philip later explained that the BBC was unable to contact Ronnie Wood or Keith Richards directly as they were rehearsing for an American tour. However, he did speak to Ronnie's manager, who was also a close friend of Keith's.
Philip read aloud an email from the manager confirming that Ronnie had "no memory of this guitar". The manager remarked: "It was an incredibly busy time with him creating the first recording studio at the house and where David Bowie, Mick Jagger and he created It's Only Rock N' Roll. Some people left instruments so it could have belonged to a visitor."
The team conducted further research into other potential famous owners of the guitar but found no evidence of who it belonged to. Fake or Fortune is available to watch on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
