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The guitar, which once belonged to legendary Pearls member John Lennon, has not been seen or used for nearly 50 years. And now it has been sold at auction in New York.
The 12-bar acoustic guitar, called the Hootenanny, was used in the recording of the Beatles' albums “Rubber Soul” and “Help!” In 1965, according to Julien's Auctions New York times.
That same year, Lennon gave the guitar to Gordon Waller, a member of the British pop duo Peter and Gordon. Waller passed it to his tour manager, who took the guitar home with him, the auction house claims.
More than 50 years later, the new owners discovered the guitar in the attic during the move.
The auction house traveled to the UK to verify the guitar's presence in the house where it was kept and salvage the original case, which had been thrown in the bin.
Set a new record
Now the guitar has sold for a record $2.9 million, The Guardian reports. This equates to about 30 million Norwegian kroner.
This will be the highest price for a guitar owned by a Beatles member to ever sell at auction, according to the auction house Julian.
“We are extremely pleased and honored to have set a new world record with the sale of John Lennon's lost Hootenanny guitar,” says David Goodman, CEO of the auction house.
– This guitar is not just a piece of music history, but a symbol of John Lennon's lasting legacy. He continues, saying that today's unprecedented sales are evidence of the timeless appeal and reverence of the music of the Beatles and John Lennon.
The auction house estimated before the auction that the guitar would sell for between $600,000 and $800,000, which equates to approximately 6,300,000 and 8,400,000 million Norwegian kroner.
Thus, the sale of the guitar for NOK 30 million exceeded all expectations, and made it the fifth most expensive guitar ever sold, according to the auction house.
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