“I’ve always wanted to buy a sunburst Stratocaster from Crowley’s”: Joe Bonamassa visits the store that sold Rory Gallagher his iconic ’61 Strat – and buys his own to mark the occasion

Joe Bonamassa Crowleys Music Store.

Joe Bonamassa has repeated history by buying a sunburst Fender Stratocaster from Crowley’s Music Store – the guitar gear retailer that famously sold Rory Gallagher his now-legendary 1961 Strat back in 1963.

Gallagher originally bought his 1961 Sunburst Strat from the same store in Cork, Ireland, for £100 in 1963. At the time, the blues rock ace may have been unaware of the things he would achieve with the instrument, but it quickly became his go-to guitar.