Guitars that belonged to Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix and Rush‘s Alex Lifeson all fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars at the latest installment of Julien’s Auctions’ “Music Icons” memorabilia auction, which took place on May 20, 21 and 22.
A 1956 Martin D-21 model acoustic guitar that Cash owned and played onstage during the late 1950s brought in $437,500. Meanwhile, a 1964 Fender Jazzmaster guitar once owned by Hendrix and Lifeson’s custom-built 1976 Gibson ES-355TD guitar, known as “Whitey,” both sold for $384,000.
A wide variety of guitars owned by Lifeson were sold at the auction, including five others that fetched at least $112,000, among them a 1970 Gibson Les Paul electric model that Alex played on most of the band’s albums and tours during the mid-to-late 1970s that sold for $224,000.
Another high-priced piece of memorabilia that sold at the “Music Icons” auction was the complete ensemble Madonna wore in her 1985 “Material Girl” video, which included a pink satin dress, a pair of pink satin gloves, a pink satin bow, a white fox-fur stole, and three rhinestone bracelets. The outfit fetched $287,500.
The item that went for the highest price at the auction was the guitar that late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain played in his band’s iconic “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video, a 1969 left-handed Fender Mustang with a Lake Placid Blue finish. It sold for a whopping $4.5 million.
The three-day sale, which brought in nearly $15 million overall, took place at the Hard Rock Café in New York City, while bids also were accepted online at JuliensAuctions.com and via the phone.
Visit JuliensLive.com for a full list of items that were sold.
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