The 77 year old had long forgotten about the vintage Billy Grammer guitar he had considered a prized possession at the start of his career in the 1960s, until he received a call from Bell Road Pawn Shop owner Mike Grauer.

He tells local TV station KPHO-TV, "I sort of forgot about it. I really did. Out of sight, out of mind. I don't remember what I did with it when I stopped playing it."

The singer, nicknamed Whisperin' Bill for his soft vocals, believes the guitar was loaned to a music museum which went bust and he didn't give it another thought.

Grauer, a self-confessed country music historian, reveals a customer handed over the instrument in April (15) and when he discovered Anderson's name etched on the inside of the sound hole, he promptly set about returning it to the country veteran.

Anderson flew Grauer and his wife out to Nashville, Tennessee last weekend (08-09Aug15), when he was reunited with the guitar, and even invited the couple onstage during his show at country music mecca the Grand Ole Opry.

Grauer admits the trip to the Grand Ole Opry was "just a dream come true", and says, "I wanted him to have it (guitar). It belonged to him. It meant something to him."