Matt Bellamy gifted Tom Morello a guitar… Now Morello has returned the favor

Tom Morello and Matt Bellamy
(Image credit: Matt Bellamy/Instagram)

Last year, Matt Bellamy took over Manson guitars, which had been making his custom creations for over two decades – and to celebrate, he gave his idol Tom Morello his very own ‘Power to the People’ model. And now it seems Morello has sent a gift in return.

In a new Instagram photo, Bellamy can be seen with Morello’s signature Stratocaster, with the caption, “Thanks @tommorello for gifting me this Fender Soul Power beast! Looking forward to plugging it in.”

Earlier this year, Bellamy said of his own gift for Morello, “I think he’s probably the most innovative guitarist of our generation. So I felt like I had to give him something to say thanks for all the amazing riffs.”

This, of course, isn’t Bellamy’s first new guitar of the year – he also bought Jeff Buckley’s ‘Grace’ Telecaster, and took receipt of a bonkers LED-equipped Manson violin bass.

Morello previously surprised 10-year-old Nandi Bushell with her own Soul Power Strat after her storming Rage Against the Machine cover in support of Black Lives Matter. She promptly put it to good use with a thoroughly rocking cover of Audioslave’s Cochise.

A post shared by Matt Bellamy (@mattbellamy)

A photo posted by on on Sep 2, 2020 at 5:48pm PDT

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Michael Astley-Brown

Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism from Cardiff University, and over a decade's experience writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as 20 years of recording and live experience in original and function bands. During his career, he has interviewed the likes of John Frusciante, Chris Cornell, Tom Morello, Matt Bellamy, Kirk Hammett, Jerry Cantrell, Joe Satriani, Tom DeLonge, Ed O'Brien, Polyphia, Tosin Abasi, Yvette Young and many more. In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.