Volbeat frontman Michael Poulsen has opened up about his troubled youth. He revealed how he stole his first guitar as a teenager in a candid interview with Louder Sound.
Poulsen shared a surprising story about his criminal past when asked about when he got his first guitar. He admits he’s not proud of it.
“It’s not something I’m proud of, but I stole my first guitar when I was in school,” Poulsen said.
The Danish rocker went on to detail the elaborate theft he orchestrated with help from his girlfriend at the time.
“I had a girlfriend in school who was cleaning a house,” he explained. “She said, ‘You should see this room, they’ve got so many crazy guitars!’ ‘Oh really?’ I thought. So, there was one day where she had to clean the room and left the window open. By night, me and a friend went through the window and stole the guitars.”
However, Poulsen’s father quickly became suspicious of the instrument’s origins.
“Of course, my father said, ‘Where did you get that guitar from?’ I sheepishly said that I borrowed it from a friend,” Poulsen recalled. “He knew – he wasn’t buying it. ‘You return that guitar and you return it tomorrow!’ He had the sense that I stole it.”
The story concluded with Poulsen doing the right thing under his father’s guidance.
“Next night, I crawled back through the same window, put the guitar back and went home,” he said.
This early brush with crime stands in stark contrast to the successful career Poulsen would later build as one of Denmark’s most prominent rock musicians.
Wikipedia reported that Poulsen grew up in a working-class family in Ringsted, Denmark, about 40 miles from Copenhagen. His musical journey began with death metal influences, particularly bands like Death led by Chuck Schuldiner. He eventually shifted toward the rock ‘n’ roll sound that would define Volbeat’s distinctive style.
The transformation from troubled youth to rock star became complete when Poulsen formed Volbeat in 2001. Wikipedia noted that their debut album “The Strength / The Sound / The Songs” became the first Danish metal album in a decade to reach the top 20 of the Danish charts. This marked a significant breakthrough for Danish rock music on the international stage.
Poulsen’s personal struggles also shaped his artistry in profound ways. Louder Sound documented that his father’s death in 2008 deeply affected him and inspired some of Volbeat’s most emotional songs. This showed how personal tragedy became a source of creative expression.
The revelation about his guitar theft offers insight into how Poulsen’s early experiences with right and wrong helped shape the man who would go on to become one of Denmark’s most respected rock musicians. His father’s moral compass guided him through this experience. His journey from petty crime to international success demonstrates the power of family guidance and personal growth in overcoming youthful mistakes.
